Jackson Jambalaya

He seems to have done well in every city so far. When I lived in D.C. a few years ago this type of development was beginning to happen alot... the black city council members opposed it because it turned D.C. majority white... Atlanta same way recently. The black political class will do same thing here to oppose change. Atlanta demographics changed and that didn't favor the political incumbents

I don't know if this is a good thing. Jim Hood and some others have been griping about foreign businesses in this state. Don't know if we need these foreigners when we have plenty of Mississippians with money.

Let them invest in the country. Why would we not want the development. Jim Hood is a clueless moron in every sense of the word.

@1:25 while Hood isnt my favorite and is rather foolish if he does indeed believe that outsiders shouldnt invest in MS... you are the clueless one in this scenario. Kingfish is using a literary tool called sarcasm and you my friend didnt pick up on that. Clueless indeed.

Stay tuned.....

Do we actually have citizens in Mississippi that believe New Orleans is "foreign"? We should welcome every penny anyone is willing to invest in legal enterprise in our city. And the "we" should be whatever race we happen to be. Lordy, I am so tired of the class and race wars. Damn, I am a Mississippian and an American and my sex, race, religion, nor age should make a bit of difference. I say welcome and make yourself at home Mr.G-Bear.

Stay tuned. The tip of the iceberg is rearing its welcomed head......Stay tuned.

I still live in Jackson. (I know, I know...)

We desperately need private investment, and we DESPERATELY need a more diverse population (in the racial and the socio-economic sense).

Most of all, we need elected officials who are not racist... and are competent and striving to improve quality of life and opportunity for ALL constituents -- by facilitating economic development, reducing crime, and improving infrastructure.

12:48, I hope that happens.

New Orleans= foreign... they talk funny they are catholic and like to name things in french. Oh and mostly they're LSU fans...

Jackson making a comeback?
YAWN..........
In other Jackson related news, murder rates continue to rise and .......well, good luck with that "Jackson making a comeback" program.

Check out any Mardi Gras season and most other nights in town if you think they are not foreign.

11:51
If you look at cities across the nation that were doing poorly and struggling with crime they are doing well now. Atlanta Detroit has gained more population than any us city last year plus that city has loads of wealthy families to help this economic boom they have experienced. Unfortunately people around Mississippi aren't exposed to such examples of success and trends it's a real problem. Look at Washington DC for a example of a revived city as well.

While I agree with you on Atlanta demographics and DC city white massive influx... it's not race of city demographics that determine success or lower crime rate... Chicago city proper is only 29% black and has a huge crime problem. It's basically a tale of 2 cities south side alone gives the city a bad image nationwide.

Whether it's called " across the tracks", " the poor side of town" or has it's own name like " Southside", every city and town that has ever been has had that area.
You know who lives there. For some, it's a matter of misfortune and for others, it's bad decisions or a lack of ability. But, there's always a bad side of town where poverty and crime flourishes.
Whether or not that defines an entire city or town is completely up to all the other citizens in that city or town and surrounding areas.
If those who suck the joy and hope out of any room they enter prevail, it won't get better. It can't get better because those people are obstacles. They are the fault finders who see no fault in themselves.
They are a self fulfilling prophesy that nothing can be made better or improved or repaired because they don't try and won't try.

Nothing can save Jackson; too far gone.

8:47 #trollingyetagain

January 28, 2018 at 6:39 AM
I thought this topic was about Jackson. Just because some other major cities have had some luck, doesn't mean Jackson will follow suit.
(In the voice of Sam Kinison)
SAY IT, SAY IT
Jackson is gone as a thriving city that we all knew it to be at one time.

Actually Downtown Jackson “ain’t half bad”. Infrastructure (Roads/water), Education, and the criminal justice system can be improved with some sort of long term strategy in regard to the overall city/county that doesn’t incorporate a philosophy of “phuck it.”

In any situation, you have to realize the hand you’ve been dealt and go from there, including realizing assets both tapped and untapped as well as liabilities.

Jackson can’t go back in time, but it can evolve over time into something better than it is now.
If a business venture doesn’t adjust to a market, it will fail. The same premise applies to politicians.

@ January 27, 2018 at 12:48 PM

Most black political classes DO want development in their constituencies, however, the problem is the developers rarely let the people in the area have a seat at the table. In other words, closing off economic opportunity with new business.

@ January 27, 2018 at 6:58 PM

I get Mississippi is gone to the wind three Ku Klux Klan sheets Protestant, but many of its residents have close ties to LSU and the state of Louisiana, which is baffling to me that there aren't more Catholics. And here's one proud Mississippi Catholic talking back at ya ;-)

@ January 28, 2018 at 8:01 AM

There are so many layers to crime. The first one is an economic opportunity. Where there is nil, there will be significant crime. Another layer is community outreach from the police department. The last layer is funding for a police department. Jackson is deficient in job opportunities; the job infrastructure is not set up for upward mobility due to poor public transit; with the revenues, the city does bring in, we are stretched thin because of poor management from fiscal to physical. It's a perpetual downspin, where its own state barely wants to toss it a bone, regardless of the benefits. So there's barely any money going back into properly funding the police force, from training to poor salaries. At the end of the day, you just have officers collecting a check and just trying to protect their necks.

New York is actually a good example of a big, diverse city, with a successful police department and excellent crime per capita numbers.

Jackson is fixable because its a man-made problem. Anyone that says it's not is simply lazy in the brain and are part of the problem. A thriving Jackson is and/or would be most beneficial to Madison and Rankin county's, period.

Yes the politicians that run Jackson need to be held accountable, but it wouldn't hurt for the politicians in the surrounding suburbs to toss out an olive branch to get on the same page. If you are not part of the solution, then you are definitely part of the problem.

ROFLMAO. That's rich. Kenneth Stokes has evolved.

This is a good investment for downtown Jackson. Give it time and Jackson will bounce back. It will take a lot of hard work and determination from the citizens as well as the businesses that are in the city. It would be nice to have in state developers but sometimes the only people who can see the beauty of something is an outsider. I must admit Jackson needs to improve in areas of education and crime (right now crime is everywhere including Madison and Rankin County). Right now Jackson either has or is close to a $$Billion dollars in developments inside the city limits. Let us stop calling everything racism. Most of the problems I been hearing about are not racist but just a dispute. As for downtown Jackson if all of the metro can pull together and decide on what needs to go where the metro as a whole will be a better place to live, play and work (it already is just need tweaking a little).

You must be new to these parts 8:43 AM. Been hearing that same spin for 25 years. Jackson ain't bouncing back until after the BK and state takeover.

A city cannot bounce back as long as the elected politicians and the citizens encourage crime.
As long as a city is a sanctuary for thugs and criminals there is no bouncing back.
Why would anyone want to invest anything in downtown Jackson when it isn't safe for people to walk down the streets?

So glad to see this. The rest of Capitol (east of Mill Street at least) is now in decent shape and improving. This eastern part has been in need of investment for more years than I can remember. Good luck, Mr. Gibert and don't listen to the nay sayers!

Aside to Kingfish: Thanks too for the Kennington's and Paramount Theatre add. 1938 was several years before my time, but I have fond memories of both businesses later.

to 5:12, 6:58 and 3:16: The MS Sec of State website considers any company not registered/incorporated in the state of MS, a "foreign" business. Anyone who has any knowledge of LLCs and other registered businesses should be familiar with the term "foreign."

65% of the private property downtown is owned by investors that do not live in Mississippi. They are not buying this property for the "greater good", they are buying it to make money, and they will.

@3:20
Buying it to make money? Wow... shocker, just what a novel idea... I own property in Baton Rouge and Memphis but I live in Northeast Jackson. What's your point exactly? Miami, Orlando both have foreign owned property in the cities. What's wrong with buying it to make money?

@ January 29, 2018 at 7:19 PM

Miami - the city that Cocaine built

Spent plenty of time down there. The amount of money and debauchery that flows through that city is astronomical.

Oh, how I miss it.

I'm with you on that who would by property not to make money. Unless you are donating it to charity. There is currently about $12.9M worth of construction going on downtown and another $105M planned. This does not include infrastructure. I think what everyone in the metro need to understand is downtown Jackson is slowly becoming the focal point for all of Metro Jackson as well as the whole state.

3:20 here. The point I was attempting to make is that developers from around the country obviously believe in downtown Jackson's future, as witnessed by how heavily they are investing in it. So many of our "city fathers" that live in Jackson have chosen to invest their capital in the suburbs, and outside investors have seized the opportunity.

Hmmm, let me think. I have some $$ to invest and I want to make a good return. I can:
1) buy low-fee stock index (or bonds, or REIT) funds;
2) buy Treasury bills;
3) buy individual stocks/bonds;
4) select an investment advisor, pay him/her a fee to invest my money; OR
5) buy commercial real estate in shithole, crime and incompetent leadership world capitol downtown Jackson, MS.

CHOOSE WISELY . . .