Akron, Ohio, the former Rubber Capital of the World, is utilizing its anchor institutions to revitalize its core. By uniting the University of Akron, three major hospitals, and Akron Public Schools, Akron is powering a new downtown through collaboration. The University Park Alliance, led by Executive Director Eric Johnson,…

This discussion on My City raises some interesting questions about how our universities can simultaneously better their own services and their cities.

Could universities better integrate with public transportation systems, increasing ridership and revenues while providing transportation options for their students?

Can universities better use the land they…

James Wagner, president of Emory University, makes a compelling case today in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on how universities are key contributors to a city's growth.  He cites their sustained impact, their role as large employers, and their ability to attract, develop and retain talent.

Wagner adds, "And unlike…

Thursday, I spent the day with Marilyn Higgins at Syracuse University seeing the community work inspired (and pushed hard) by Chancellor Nancy Cantor.  Nancy and Marilyn are both smart, can-do leaders who are working to give downtown Syracuse and its Near West Side neighborhood new energy. 

The Connective Corridor…

NYU President John Sexton is introducing Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin and he had a lovely phrase about Judith, "She engineered a marriage between her university and her city."  He was speaking, of course, about her work at Penn which has inspired so many college presidents and urban leaders.  That…

CABE and English Heritage have collaborated to release a new site that helps teachers “exploit the world’s biggest teaching resource” by providing resources, suggestions and information on learning “through the whole built environment, from grand historic buildings to the streets and neighbourhoods where we live”.  It also connects…

When universities use the essence of their work to change a community, that's the best example of an anchor institution at work.

The University of Houston-Victoria is doing that by becoming an unlikely hot spot for experimental fiction and the humanities. But, according to Inside Higher Education, "this 3,200-student…

Two pioneers in the anchor institutions movement and I were in Philadelphia Monday night to exchange ideas on the challenges to anchors.  Hank Webber, now at Washington University but long at University of Chicago, and Ira Harkavy at the University of Pennsylvania have led ambitious initiatives on behalf of their…