Two ThinkTennessee board members share insights from the Our Changing State report in an Op-Ed.
THE TENNESSEAN
June 16, 2107 — In 1986, Tennessee Homecoming celebrations honored more than 3,000 communities spanning the state from Mountain City to Memphis. Then-Gov. Lamar Alexander used the occasion to call on residents of big cities and crossroads alike to take pride in their hometowns.
A comparable celebration in 2017 would span the globe to encompass communities from Pigeon Forge to Mexico City to New Delhi and back to Humboldt – because the hometowns of today’s Tennesseans are that diverse.
While our diversification — like any change — may bring some challenges, it presents even greater opportunities.
ThinkTennessee recently analyzed data provided by “States of Change: Demographics and Democracy,” a collaboration of the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution and the Center for American Progress, and uncovered four striking demographic trends in Tennessee.
The op-ed also ran in The Knoxville News-Sentinel and the East Tennessee Economic Development Agency website.
