There are 27 article(s) tagged John Zeanah:

• February 2026

  • Memphis sets goal of 10,000 units of new or renovated housing by 2030

    Memphis Mayor Paul Young talked about housing goals during his State of the City address.

    By Bill Dries February 12, 2026

• October 2025

  • Memphis’ pothole problem is jarring. But leaders have a plan to smooth the faults in asphalt.

    Director of Development and Infrastructure John Zeanah and Public Works Director Scott Morgan hatch a schedule to patch teeth-rattling roadways and clean stormwater inlets.

    By Samuel Hardiman October 20, 2025

• September 2025

  • Why aren’t there more starter homes in Memphis?

    “Right now we’re at a point where the cost of constructing housing is so high,” the City of Memphis’ chief of infrastructure and development said.

    By Bill Dries September 27, 2025

• July 2025

  • Memphis Mayor Paul Young shook up his cabinet. Here’s why.

    Memphis Mayor Paul Young has reshuffled his cabinet in recent months and on July 10, hosted an overnight executive retreat at Bass Pro Shops, which he called “an opportunity to really recalibrate the team.”

    By Samuel Hardiman July 21, 2025

• June 2025

  • What John Zeanah says his new job will be all about

    John Zeanah’s new role with the City of Memphis boils down to an essential question: “How do we best pull the levers of city government in order to advance goals for housing, for community development, for economic development?”

    By Samuel Hardiman June 02, 2025

• May 2025

  • John Zeanah to be city’s new head of infrastructure and development

    For years, he has led Memphis’ efforts at smart growth. Much of that smart growth work was embodied in the city’s comprehensive plan, known as Memphis 3.0. 

    By Samuel Hardiman May 30, 2025

• May 2024

  • Flood prevention, climate change project underway in Southwest Memphis

    Thirteen years after historic flooding in southwest Memphis, officials broke ground on the South Cypress Creek restoration project.

    By Kambui Bomani May 14, 2024

• February 2024

  • Where does Shelby County’s waste go? An $850,000 study aims to find out

    If county officials know where waste comes from and where it ends up, they can send less of it to Shelby County’s five landfills and meet local climate goals. 

    By Keely Brewer February 27, 2024

  • Solar panels at Memphis Zoo could be first for city

    The Memphis Zoo consumes more than a tenth of all the power used at city-owned facilities, not including the city’s wastewater treatment plants. 

    By Keely Brewer February 22, 2024

  • Shelby County solar farm rules are outdated. How they could change

    Under current zoning rules for solar, a resident of unincorporated Shelby County who put five solar panels in their backyard would be regulated the same as a company with a 1,500-acre solar farm. 

    By Keely Brewer February 08, 2024

• May 2023

  • First countywide solid-waste study since ‘90s gets city, county support

    The study will consider how much waste enters landfills compared to recycling, composting or other waste-processing facilities over the course of at least two seasons.

    By Keely Brewer May 01, 2023

• March 2023

  • Solar panels are a first for Shelby County government

    County government celebrates its “MLGW independence day.” 

    By Keely Brewer March 14, 2023

• July 2022

  • Bucking national trends, affordable housing in Memphis is a problem of quality, not quantity

    Even as housing prices are rising substantially in some parts of the area, the value of housing in other areas has been stagnant or even falling. 

    By Shera Avi-Yonah July 27, 2022

• February 2022

  • City shuts down Orange Mound homeless shelter

    City officials cited unsafe conditions and the shelter not being up to code, including no working smoke detector and no sprinkler system in case of a fire. 

    By Julia Baker February 01, 2022

• October 2021

  • Rodney Baber Park renovations bring excitement to community

    Neighbors and sports fans who previously appreciated the park for its baseball and softball fields have more to anticipate once construction on the project is completed.

    By Omer Yusuf October 22, 2021

• March 2021

  • From suburban sprawl to Greenprint to Memphis 3.0

    John Zeanah talks about the evolution of regional planning on this week’s episode of The Sidebar.

    By Eric Barnes March 09, 2021

• December 2020

  • Lamar Avenue leads the way in how Memphis 3.0 could change city’s look

    The six-mile stretch through Orange Mound is changing, using the year-old Memphis 3.0 land use and development plan. Lots of other parts of the city want to follow the same path.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2020

• November 2020

  • Harris order begins county green fleet pilot

    With $500,000 in federal grant money, the small-scale pilot includes electric vehicle chargers as well as a broader reconsideration of how county government makes the decision of which vehicles to purchase.

    By Bill Dries November 18, 2020

• May 2020

  • Planning and Development division goes to online permitting

    The $2 million “Develop901” system was in the works before the COVID-19 pandemic. Planning and Development division Director John Zeanah talked about the extensive overhaul on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast and a slight drop in permits that may be cyclical and not pandemic-related.

    By Bill Dries May 17, 2020

• March 2020

  • Rodney Baber Park to rise from watery grave

    Construction on renovations for Rodney Baber Park and Kennedy Park are expected to begin this fall. 

    By Omer Yusuf March 12, 2020

• November 2019

  • New bus rapid transit route to be more like light rail in its wait times

    Planning and Development Director John Zeanah said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that federal funding announced this week for the Downtown-University of Memphis corridor promises to change the image of public transit in the city.

    By Bill Dries November 08, 2019

• April 2019

  • North Memphis 3.0 showdown moves from courtesy to accusations

    The latest meeting on the Memphis 3.0 plan demonstrated the lingering confusion – and some suspicion – about what the long-range development plan recommends and how it works.

    By Bill Dries April 18, 2019

• March 2019

  • Memphis 3.0 plan draws more questions than reviews in first council discussion

    Memphis City Council members looked for a quick bottom line in the Memphis 3.0 plan during their first discussion of the 400-page proposal Tuesday.

    By Bill Dries March 06, 2019

• February 2019

  • Memphis 3.0 plan seeks to change development concepts

    Putting together the comprehensive 20-year Memphis 3.0 development plan required trying to change some ideas about what it means to encourage development in very different parts of a diverse city.

    By Bill Dries February 07, 2019

• December 2018

  • Memphis 3.0 draft includes area anchors and ‘degree of change’ ratings

    The city’s long-range development plan for the next 20 years begins with what is already there, gauges the market and public sentiment and builds from there. A draft of the Memphis 3.0 plan debuted Wednesday on a city website, www.memphis3point0.com.

    By Bill Dries December 19, 2018