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Oh the state has tried. They gave millions to Electrolux to bring 1200 manufacturing jobs to Memphis just a couple of years ago, and already Electrolux is closing its brand new Memphis factory and moving it to just outside Nashville. There's not much the state or anyone else can do when Memphis is full of people who have no desire to get an education and improve their lives or even just show up at work. Meanwhile, as the above article alludes to, Mississippi is able to poach businesses and residents away from Shelby County with lower taxes and better schools. Still, it's a zero-sum game, as all it's doing is shifting businesses and population around the area. The Memphis MSA has been stagnant for decades and doesn't appear to be changing. It still has awful schools, generations of residents happy to live on the dole, and an economy that just can't get any traction. It's not the state's fault.
Oh the state has tried. They gave millions to Electrolux to bring 1200 manufacturing jobs to Memphis just a couple of years ago, and already Electrolux is closing its brand new Memphis factory and moving it to just outside Nashville. There's not much the state or anyone else can do when Memphis is full of people who have no desire to get an education and improve their lives or even just show up at work. Meanwhile, as the above article alludes to, Mississippi is able to poach businesses and residents away from Shelby County with lower taxes and better schools. Still, it's a zero-sum game, as all it's doing is shifting businesses and population around the area. The Memphis MSA has been stagnant for decades and doesn't appear to be changing. It still has awful schools, generations of residents happy to live on the dole, and an economy that just can't get any traction. It's not the state's fault.
The Electrolux closure has more to do with a changing business climate, than it's location, and it seems to stem from the Sears bankruptcy. They went from 1200 employees just a year ago, to 530 today. The Memphis plant wasn't the only plant slated for shut down to consolidate with an already existing Nashville area plant.
Now that Nashville, the favorite child, has clearly surpassed Memphis, maybe the state will make an concerted effort to aide in giving Memphis an economic boost and develop a competitive strategy to minimize AR and MS parasitic relationship with it.
Memphis is definitely underrated and far better than people give it credit for. I'm saying it.
Memphis has a ton of development and redevelopment on the table now, either planned or underway. It's an understated city and and while people throw shade on it constantly, it's on its way to a better future.
Just like other cities with poverty, blighted neighborhoods and low income like St Louis, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit and New Orleans, Memphis has some major obstacles to overcome.
I hate Indianapolis, and would prefer Memphis, but the truth is Indianapolis is a more livable city. At the end of the day I would not want to live in either city TBH. But I like Memphis more as a city, Indy more to live.
I hate Indianapolis, and would prefer Memphis, but the truth is Indianapolis is a more livable city. At the end of the day I would not want to live in either city TBH. But I like Memphis more as a city, Indy more to live.
Sadly, I agree. The Blues, the BBQ, the history... Indy has nothing but a few posh suburbs surrounded by... I can't even articulate it. Ugh. Just don't like Indy, or Indiana for that matter.
Really hope Memphis can overcome its poverty and crime issues.
I would not say Indy is a better sports town. Indy has the edge in NASCAR and football (Memphis is not a football town), but Memphis is without question a bigger golf and baseball town. I equal them in basketball--yeah, Indy is a hotbed of basketball but Memphis is probably the biggest basketball city in the entire South, all things considered (prep/college/pro). Basketball is king in Memphis...
I know this is an old post Murk, but I'm surprised you omitted Indy's large and robust sports tourism sector in your analysis here which is arguably just as important of a contribution to Indy's sports scene/climate than its actual teams. Besides attending games of its resident teams, folks in Indy have tons of opportunities to attend tournaments, championships, special annual events, etc. of all sorts of sports every year, both professional and amateur. It was a very smart move on the city's part to essentially build its convention industry around sports tourism and it's been reaping the rewards ever since.
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