Jackson Jambalaya

Best comment is at the 29 minute mark, when an actual businessman talked about crime and high property taxes. All these people who want to see hip hop venues and numerous live music options came at it as a consumer. This guy came at it from a provider and Yarber et. al. would be wise to listen to him and people like him.

Orient entertainment towards the needs of students. They are abundant here more so than other temporary residents...Suburban state workers or tourists. Education is a central activity here.

There's a building out on High Street called the coliseum. For more than 25 years that area was a central venue for entertainment. Then the annual Children's Rodeo pulled out and went to Hattiesburg because of crime. I can remember driving to Jackson's coliseum for concerts throughout the year. Ball games at the Stadium were also 'entertaining' for thirty some-odd years back when major colleges played here. There were open air concerts, gumbo festivals and Christmas parades. But I reckon none of that is viewed as entertainment any more.

Now entertainment has to be Battlefield Park, clubs on Medgar, parades for deviants featuring green beer and LGTB revelers, free stuff so you can drag along seven kids under nine and events with the word 'black' in their title. It's all relative I suppose.

Right on 8:35, they will draw patrons as far away as Canton, and Vicksburg.

8:35 am I suggest you look at crime stats by precinct.

You are assuming that because something happened 25 years ago that changed things for the worse, change for the better can't happen.

If everyone had your attitude New York City would never have turned around and with that many more people, they had a bigger problem to solve.

If you don't TRY, you are guaranteed never to SUCCEED!

And, the truly successful never let a failure keep them from staying with it! Failure about for learning, not about quitting!

During the 'golden era' of the stadium and coliseum-where did JSU play football and basketball?

hey 11:44 what an interesting correlation to New York City. P.S. there were at least 20 reported shootings in New York City last weekend. Maybe Chicago would be a better comparison.

Also, New York voted in a kick ass mayor who said he would turn things around and he followed through on his promise. How can that be compared to Jackson?

Oh, 11:53; We're talking here about crime here and what drives people away, not where some school played basketball. There was no end to the groups, both black and white and mixed that played the Coliseum thirty five, even forty years ago and lasting for many years. But, that's when we had a kick ass police force who kept the peace, as opposed to a mayor who simply hopes for the best.

I have news for Tony and Ben. You will never be successful attempting to bring business, events and construction to Jackson and hoping crime won't happen.

The converse is the only common sense approach and the converse requires that first you solve the crime problem and then you will have to beat the prospects away with a stick.

6:11 nailed it.

Jackson has everything necessary to be successful, except safety.

More reasonable taxes and permitting would also help.

Education is another key issue Jackson must address to be successful. Until people can live in Jackson and send their kids to a quality public school, there is little hope of attracting middle class residents back into the city.

Never has there been an example of an 'inner city' revitalized by taking back the schools. If I'm wrong, please cite the example. The problem is no longer how to get middle class children back into the school system. That will never happen; no matter what is done.

The only solution (and the one that no mayor in twenty years has tackled) is getting crime under control. Do that and businesses and people with money to spend will flock to town.

Just for starters, the mayor should show up unannounced at Jackson's traffic court division on any day and count at least fifty cops hanging around flirting with all the skirts that show up for court, to pay fines or to transact bidness with city employees at the 'next window please' counters.