The rebirth of many major American cities is paying dividends to the meetings and events industry, as once-empty, and sometimes dilapidated, urban areas have come back to life full of inventive restaurants and entertainment offerings for attendees.
To mangle the words of author Gertrude Stein, “There is some ‘there there.’”
A shining example in the South is Memphis, Tenn., which transformed its famed Beale Street from a somewhat sketchy area of town into a hopping entertainment district, with nightclubs from the likes of blues legend B.B. King.
Other Southern rising stars include Raleigh, N.C., which is adding a new convention center along with a massive, $1.3 billion downtown redevelopment, and Birmingham, Ala., which is breaking ground on a entertainment district next to its Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex that will be highlighted by two major music venues associated with American Idol stars Ruben Stoddard and Taylor Hicks.
Our “City Life” story explores this phenomenon.
There’s a town coming to a town near you!
