Urban Current

The Aerotropolis, a project of the HUD Community Challenge Grant, contributes to the ongoing plans of the city and region to reinvent Memphis by highlighting its best assets.

A study published in 2011 found that people can become addicted to the internet and will actually experience changes to the physical structure of their brain. It’s called “Popcorn Brain.”

Recently, the Ohio Attorney General found that on average only 63.5% of the recipients of State of Ohio economic development incentives (loans, workforce training grants, tax credits, and guarantees) were in substantial compliance with the terms and conditions of their awards.

Nearly every city (large and small), state and federal government, and several non-profits, had some type of MWBE outreach policy or set of guidelines.

From March 10-14, the Urban and Regional Policy Program of the German Marshall Fund hosted a peer exchange as part of the Detroit –Torino Partnership. The exchange focused on informing the development of the Energy Center Piemonte (EC), a new energy research and development incubator facility in Torino.

A recent New York Times investigative series found that state and local governments in the United States give away $9.1 million per hour in incentives to businesses, adding up to a substantial $80 billion per year.

The Cities in Transition Initiative held its third and final study tour from November 10-18, 2012 in Germany.  A total of 16 delegates from Detroit and Flint, MI, Cleveland and Youngstown, OH and Pittsburgh, PA, explored how German cities are aligning their education and workforce policies behind coordinated economic development strategy. After gaining perspective on [...]

As anyone who attended high school will tell you, cool can not be manufactured. Although it’s possible to copy the look and actions of the coolest kid in school, true coolness transcends designer labels, fast cars and fancy zip codes. Cool is organic, intangible and requires perfect timing. It’s hard to come by, but when you find it, you are instantly drawn to it.

This year I’m doing my holiday shopping in downtown Detroit. The City is not known as a retail destination, with most of the area retail spread across its multiple suburbs, but a number of businesses and entrepreneurs are out to show that it can be. And they’re using pop-up stores to do it.

My name is Genna Petrolla and I am one of three Strong Cities, Strong Communities fellows working in the City of Cleveland. In the Department of Economic Development, my main role is to coordinate the selection of a vendor and oversee the implementation of a new branding initiative and website for the Department.