Jackson Jambalaya

I like this.

Cracker Barrel and "John Horhn finally sitting in the big chair". I see what you did there. Well done. (or it was unintentional but still valid)

Crime, schools, and infrastructure. If you want Jackson to make a comeback, those 3 things have to be the focus. Fix those things and everything else will fix itself. But it's been years since we've had a mayor and council that cared about those 3 things.

Yeah, and I want a solid gold commode too.

"Crossroads of the South" is trademarked by Crossroads Pump & Supply, Inc. It's also been a slogan for Corinth since the 1850's.
https://www.crossroadsmuseum.com/

Jackson is known as the murder capital of the U.S. It will take a lot of work to change it to anything else as long as the people keep electing the same type of people they have been electing.

The mayor doesn't have time to talk
branding cause his nose is stuck in
Jxn Water's job.

Excellent column. My father retired from AT&T. Jackson is definitely a crossroad for physical communication cables (phone, cable TV coax, internet backbone, etc...). Its a railroad crossroad, an interstate crossroad, electrical crossroad, and a business and commercial crossroad. The 'City with Soul' branding is fine and true, such as it is, but that speaks more to the artistic community. 'Crossroads of the South' is true and speaks to the business and investment communities.

How about:
"The City with Blight"
"The City with Potholes"
"Jackson, the new 'Murder She Wrote'"
"The City with Palm Grease"
"Federal Corruption Indictments are Us"
"Water, we don't need no stinkin' water"

Jackson is a little Detroit

Jackson is beyond saving

Saving Jackson is like doing cpr on a man who died years ago

I couldn’t agree with this more. We have to be THE logistical hub in the deep south. Halfway between Dallas/Atlanta and Memphis New Orleans. We should have trucking and train and air freight companies beating down the door to locate here. Cheap land and geographically centered in the fastest growing section of the United States. But unfortunately our congressional delegation and a majority of the state leadership is lightweight and they do nothing.

The “City with Soul” mantra is great but in a way it feels very Lumumba-esque, leaning into “culture” instead of industry. It would be different if we were competing with New Orleans to be the entertainment city, but we’re not. We can’t compete in that regard. We need companies to relocate here, and we need to be “The Capital of The South” or “The Crossroads of The South”. It just makes sense. Hopefully Horhn can work past the worthless city council and bring some real big $$$ to town soon.

Detroit 2

It would literally only take one billionaire to buy up some cheap land around I-220, raze all of it, and turn it into the United States' largest industrial park, and have every major manufacturing/logistics company locate some satellite facility there. Then you have quick (and cheap) access to everywhere in the south, plus the Mississippi river is 45 minutes west!

(Yes I am dreaming)

There are unfortunately a lot of retards in these comments missing the forest for the trees. Yeah Jackson has a lot of problems. You know how they get fixed? Major reinvestment. Then say hello to a larger tax base, paved roads, higher paid cops, better schools, better water etc..

Sure, with unreliable water, inadequate highways to support hundreds of trucks, torn up streets and highways...

This is what the crooked Madison Bo$ have done, i.e. they believe in build, build, build, and now the traffic in gridlock and the streets are torn up.

More bulls***! A slogan alone wont save anything, better have competent leadership and accountability in all departments! The next step will be to print t-shirts to sell in the airport and have a parade. The slide will continue, but the party never ends…

If the sales focus of Jackson centers on its proximity to somewhere else...we are losing. We have to make Jackson good on its own right. When that happens, capital and investment will follow.

Jackson, where Section 8 is not referring to the bleachers in a stadium.

Lumumba took Jackson down so far I don’t know how they come back. Infrastructure, crime, finances, image all in collapse. And the people voted for him. Twice.

Jackson is succumbing to racist and exclusionary policies

Has a public school system ever this far in decline ever recovered? If so, how can it be done? Let's say middle class residents flooded back into the City - who would be the guinea pigs that first sent their kids back into JPS schools?

Ha! Good one.

If I've said it once I've said it a 1,000 times, Jackson will not return to its distant greatness until it hits rock bottom.

Never heard of Amile, but I want some of what he is smoking.

The ripest thing in Jackson are some of the dumpsters at behaviorally challenged apartment complexes and restaurants...

Mississippi has other cities to invest in that would give better returns!

As long as democrats run the city it will continue to be a shithole and all the wishing in the world will never change that.