The Brookings Institute has released a ranking of the economic vitality, or lack thereof, of the world's 200 largest metropolitan areas, with Nashville in the 89th position.

The 200 areas account for nearly half of the entire global economy. Brookings titles the work Global MetroMonitor 2011: Volatility, Growth, and Recovery.

Houston, at 19th, is the only U.S. city to crack the top 20. Memphis ranked 171st and is the only other Tennessee city on the list. Nashville peer city Charlotte finished at 145th.

The information can be viewed here.

Today's Chattanooga Times Free Press features a fascinating piece regarding the Choo Choo City's 2012 (and longer-term) economic prospects.

The Milken Institute has released its 2011 rankings of U.S. cities of all sizes based on how well they are creating and keeping jobs. Nashville had a good year on the list — primarily because of its recent job growth — moving up to 42nd from 84th a year ago and getting much closer to peer cities such as Raleigh and Austin. Charlotte, meanwhile, fell more than 50 spots to 114th.

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has promoted Allen Borden to statewide director of the nine regional jobs base camps established earlier this year. Borden was previously the Northeast Tennessee regional director and is moving to Nashville to be the point of contact for "all nine regional directors and ECD’s sister agencies throughout state government."

Tennessee ranks 10th in the nation, earning a C, in terms of doing the best job possible (or, in this case, minimizing doing a poor job) in terms of spending on tax credits, cash grants and other subsidies that create few, if any, jobs and that lack wage and benefit standards covering workers at subsidized companies.

In short, we are doing poorly, but not nearly as terrible so as most states. Read the report from Washington D.C.-based Good Jobs First here.

Mayor Karl Dean this morning threw his weight behind recommendations from consulting firm Parson Brinckerhoff to go with bus rapid transit over streetcars for the busy West End/downtown corridor. The cost of building out a two-lane line through East Nashville's Five Points area would be $136 million, less than half that of a similar streetcar plan.

Metro installed a light BRT system on East Nashville’s Gallatin Avenue in 2009. Under consideration for Broadway-West End is a more sophisticated BRT version in which buses would occupy lanes exclusively.

Paul Skoutelas, transit market director of Parsons Brinckerhoff, said consultants explored four options for the east-west corridor: doing nothing, light rail, a streetcar and BRT. He said consultants emphasized finding an option that could begin operating within a short timeframe.