MODERATOR:Nancy LeaMondis the executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer for AARP.
She has responsibility for driving AARPs social mission on behalf of Americans 50-plus and their families.
Share this video viaYouTube.The presentation transcript (below) was created by an automated transcription tool.
New programs under these laws will enable low-income Americans to access reliable internet at far cheaper rates.
And other provisions are helping states and communities expand access to areas that previously lacked adequate access.
Again, you could visit aarp.org/livable to find these tools.
Mike Watson:Thanks, Coralette.
And hope they will be useful to communities and elected officials across the country.
And speaking of elected officials, now I’d like to turn to our closing panel for today.
A fireside chat, with no fireside, with two local leaders who are taking action.
This next conversation will focus on how mayors are fostering transformative economic development in their communities.
And as before, there will be opportunities to ask questions and respond to polls.
So c’mon be sure to share your thoughts.
Now without further ado, let me introduce our moderator and guests.
Nancy has responsibility for driving AARP’s social mission on behalf of Americans 50 plus and their families.
Nancy LeaMond:Thank you.
Welcome, Mayor Barnett.
Mayor Bryan Barnett:Good to be here.
Mike Watson:Thanks for being here.
Her top priorities include public safety, affordable housing, and access to opportunity.
Welcome, Mayor Kincaid.
Mayor Indya Kincannon:Thank you.
Glad to be here.
Today’s topic of economic development ranks high up on that list.
We’ve heard from some incredible panelists and speakers today and still have more to come tomorrow.
And so with that, let’s begin.
Mayor Bryan Barnett:Sure.
Well, first, Nancy, thank you for the invitation.
This isn’t called Old Town, this is the Brooklands!
Call everything the Brooklands!
And from then on, we changed everything we did.
Nancy LeaMond:Well, Mayor Barnett, thanks for that.
And I’m just trying to envision you singing and dancing at the beginning of your opening address.
Now I’d like to turn to Mayor Kincannon.
One example is if you see behind me, that’s the Tennessee River.
For decades, no one was developing on the south waterfront.
We want fun things to be able to do for all ages and all ability types.
Again, listening to the community, this is something that we had for a hundred years.
It left at the end of the 90s.
Nancy LeaMond:Well, Mayor Kincannon, thank you for that.
Glad to do that and looking forward to visiting Knoxville and your team.
Everyone should see the instructions on their screen now.
And the question is, what change should your community prioritize to encourage economic development near your mainstream?
So if you’re free to vote now, vote for one.
Mike, what do you see coming in?
Mike Watson:Thanks, Nancy.
We’re getting a lot of good answers here.
I feel like I’m watching a horse race before Mayor Barnett’s State of the City address.
One of the top answers as folks can see on their screen is building more affordable housing options.
Missing Middle, and other approaches.
Mayor Kincannon, coming back to you, do you have any initial reactions to those responses and themes?
Mayor Indya Kincannon:Well, I can say in Knoxville housing is the biggest issue.
We’ve had more growth between the last census and the most recent one.
We’ve grown more than we have in over 50 years.
And as you know, missing middle is just what is old is new again.
Nancy LeaMond:We and the residents of your great city will wait to hear your plan coming forward.
As you say the middle housing issue is huge across the country.
Mayor Barnett, what are some of your reactions to that poll?
I pointed out some unread emails over my shoulders.
Those kinds of conversations change and it’s much more attracting talent.
It’s about affordable housing.
It’s about those public places.
We have great proximity to natural amenities, natural beauty.
Those things move the needle for people and hence real economic development.
And that’s a dramatic sea change from last year.
And do these investments positively impact your residents, especially older adults?
Mayor Indya Kincannon:Yeah, absolutely.
So our investments are leveraged through partnerships.
Public power has been really crucial to the development of industry and manufacturing.
We are also the center, thanks to Oak Ridge National Lab, of nuclear small modulators.
I don’t really understand it all.
But what the way the city helps that is we are supporting our clean tech energy hub.
So we help pay their expenses for these fellowships.
Nancy LeaMond:Great.
Well, thank you, Mayor Kincannon.
Same question to you, Mayor Barnett.
How is Rochester Hills strategically funding and investing in infrastructure to promote economic development?
And how have these projects benefited your residents?
And you know, we’re always interested in your older residents.
Mayor Bryan Barnett:Well, Mayor Kincannon rallied off a lot of lists.
We just got voted cooler than Knoxville this morning in a in a new study.
Mayor Indya Kincannon:In a one, one person election.
Mayor Bryan Barnett:I can’t, I can’t cite the study.
I promise you it was,it was thorough.
The research was credible.
And everything we focus on is really centered around those sort of three attributes, those three major areas.
And when we look at our economic development strategy, it’s similar.
We don’t have a University of Tennessee.
We have Oakland University.
And so they have some certain strengths and some certain programs that we really build off.
We know we look at our international strategy.
Where are companies locating from around the world here?
Who are their buyers?
Who are their customers?
And how do we draw sort of concentric circles around their interests so that ours match theirs?
So much in local government is really about partnerships.
That’s really find your success.
You have to be innovative.
You have to be really creative.
You’re thinking about Rochester Hills from wherever you are across the world.
Nancy LeaMond:Oh, that’s great.
The puppy image is going to live with us, probably, probably forever.
With that in mind, what should we be ready to do differently as a result of this panel?
What, what’s your, you know, I always use this as an opportunity for free advice.
So I’m looking to the mayors to give out some free advice, starting with Mayor Barnett.
Find a way to get involved.
Ours and citizens have so much to offer.
Experience in relationships, in perspective.
In Metro Detroit, we have a huge group of engineers, many of them retired.
A lot of them start new businesses and have ideas to start new businesses.
And it’s partnering that experience with maybe Young Energy and Young Capital, to deliver some.
If it’s not about being a business, it’s just about getting involved with your community.
We’re also talking about our volunteers.
And that’s in the same spirit.
So thanks for that.
Turning to Mayor Kincannon, what’s something we each should be ready to do differently.
What can we do to confirm you will give us another few years?
Nancy LeaMond:Well, great.
Well, I obviously could go on and on, but I’m not going to.
Now it’s time for audience questions that are coming in from Slido.
So I’ll turn it right back over to Mike.
Mike Watson:Thanks, Nancy.
And we do have a lot of questions coming in.
Mayor Kincannon and Mayor Barnett, you’ve been fantastic and we’ve got some more coming at you.
So now we’re going to go ahead and jump into our first question.
So if you’d like to use it, use the Slido Q& A function.
Again, those instructions are on the screen.
And our first question is going to be for both mayors.
And it’s around, how do you measure success?
So how do you measure if your economic development strategies are working?
Mayor Kincannon, we’re going to go to you first, and then you, Mayor Barnett.
So just seeing an active, engaged, community in our public spaces.
That’s one sign of success.
So an active, engaged street and high quality incomes for a high quality of life for our residents.
Mike Watson:That’s a great response.
Mayor Bryan Barnett:I think that, that answer is spot on.
I would add, there’s, there’s quite a few ways to measure it.
Your housing values, are all interesting.
And then there’s those intangibles about quality of life that are so important.
So, where do people want to be in our community?
Property values are rising and businesses are moving here.
Mike Watson:That’s a great answer.
Mayor Barnett, you talked about the intangibles here and kind of some of the messages.
This next question, I think, is going to get to this.
Our community has a heavy focus on youth.
The Parks and Recreation Department was renamed Youth in Recreation.
I wonder how we can reorient the direction to be inclusive of all.
So I think part of it is we just have to start thinking in a way.
You have all ages exercising, enjoying and having a great time together.
It’s, it’s really been a wonderful recognition for us.
And, and the person that asked that question, yeah.
Pickleball is the hottest thing to have.
So, there’s, you know, a good department is going to be tuned into its community.
We have a wonderful organization called the OPC that really connects our senior community.
We listen to them, we find out what the recreation trends are.
Mike Watson:I love that.
Mayor Kincannon, do you have anything to add to that?
So I appreciate the AARP’s, guidance and support on these efforts as well.
We have a very active community here in Knoxville.
It’s also helping people get more engaged and feel comfortable.
So those programs have been very popular and successful and we hope to continue doing that kind of thing.
Now we’re going to touch on two final questions.
I think the first here we’re seeing is maybe in the challenging space now.
So you both have talked about your visions and your progress you’ve made.
Surely that has not been without some opposition.
So one of the questions we’re seeing here is how do you overcome that opposition?
What are some strategies to put in place?
Mayor Kincannon, let’s start with you and then we’ll go to Mayor Barnett.
They’re worried about change.
They’re worried about, will it affect the character of the neighborhood.
Some of it’s NIMBYism.
How will this impact that?
So one is sharing information.
Two is sharing stories.
Mike Watson:Thanks, Mayor Kincannon.
It sounds like bringing folks together and lining up the advocates to speak.
Mayor Barnett, is there anything you’d like to add to that?
Mayor Bryan Barnett:Well, Mayor Kincannon is, spot on.
You have an idea you wanna push through.
You have a, a concept, a plan, a thought.
You see something somewhere that’s working.
But it has to really match your community.
It has to match your community’s needs.
And that’s why I think getting in touch with, with your community is really important.
Because seniors think differently then.
Business owners, oftentimes, but then our youth.
What are we missing?
What, what could make us a better community?
Mike Watson:That’s really, really great advice.
So folks are asking some advice of how they can help get things done.
Nancy, Mayor Barnett, Mayor Kincannon.
They’re talking about how to keep doing what the people of their city need them to do.
Mike Watson:Thanks, Nancy.
On that, Mayor Barnett, do you have anything you want to share?
Any advice to folks?
And Nancy, I think the last time we saw each other was last month in the White House.
But, you know, there’s a difference between local leaders and national leaders.
It means something different to everyone, but get involved.
Mike Watson:Love that guidance.
Mayor Indya Kincannon:Well, it’s, what an honor.
So, anyway, I do admire and learn a lot from him.
Nancy LeaMond, Mayor Indya Kincannon, and Mayor Bryan Barnett: Thank you again.
Mike Watson:Good to see you all.
Another one, older adults are often underestimated.
Deb Socia started us out talking about the importance of older adults, reinforcing that they get things done.
And Mayor Kincannon just shared with us the importance of common ground.
Another theme that popped out today is right in that common ground realm.
And then finally, I kind of sum this up as listen and tell.
Residents and communities, we can control our own economic destiny.
Sometimes it can start with that action.
We heard multiple people tell us today to call that local elected official.
Call your state broadband office.
Reach out to local organizations.
Take those small steps that can lead to change.
So those are a few that really stuck out to me.
And I know there’s going to be more when you join us tomorrow for day two of programming.
So we’ll see a lot more of you for day two of programming tomorrow.
you’re free to do that by texting LIVABLE to 50757.
Again, that’s LIVABLE to 50757.
Plus, all of the recorded content from this workshop.
Thanks to them, we have an equally dynamic and thought-provoking content program and planned for tomorrow.
Now, Coralette, it’s been a real pleasure to be here with you today.
Can you share some themes and take it out for us?
Coralette Hannon:Thank you, Mike.
And likewise, it’s been a great day.
I’ve appreciated being here.
I also want to thank you all for joining us and thank our presenters and moderators.
c’mon be sure to come back and join us tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
We’ll have a keynote from Ilana Preuss, founder and CEO of Recast City.
And you’ll once again hear from national experts and community leaders.
Finally, like join us for small group discussions starting momentarily.
We hope that you will join us.
Again, thank you for being a part of the 2023 Livable Communities Workshop.
We’ll see you tomorrow.
