Will the Crosstown Concourse development significantly enhance the surrounding area? (Memphis: 2015, landscaping)

[Blutbad]

Just interested in folks' opinions on the topic. I live nearby and am excited about the situation.

[Blutbad]

I voted "Not sure," in case you're curious.

[CristenS]

The area is not terrible so it won't get significantly better, but it will improve. Especially to the west where the neighborhoods are not as nice. It should bring a more urban feel to the area, which is a good thing (artsy, younger folks, diversity, etc).

[jabogitlu]

I believe there will be a few major changes:

- Tutwiler, Faxon, and Snowden north of Sears - a solid neighborhood that I think will gentrify slowly

- the classic "Crosstown" neighborhoods - the residential area southwest of the Sears building - will see an immediate big boost

- the Poplar Ave commercial corridor around Kroger - I think this area will see a slow/steady resurgence with better landscaping, building maintenance, steady tenants, etc. Scenes like this will hopefully go away: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1436...7i13312!8i6656

- North Parkway between I-240 and Watkins will definitely be improved


Other changes are harder to guess at. I think everyone hopes a project of this magnitude will have a huge effect on Speedway Terrace (thereby linking Uptown and Crosstown) and on Washington Bottoms.

[Jardine8]

Hopefully it gets better. I hate going to the Kroger on Cleveland and there are tons of homeless/vagrants always hanging around on Cleveland in general. I know displacing them isn't a good answer but I don't know a better answer for that area.

[jabogitlu]

One thing the City could do (in addition to the money they've contributed to the Crosstown development) is step in to clean up the streetscape along Poplar. This will make a wider variety of people feel safer and more welcome in that part of town.

For example, to apply a few modifications to the Google Streetview image I linked earlier:

[Jardine8]

People would riot if you cut Poplar down from 6 lanes to 4 because you stole the far right lane for bicycles. I know we want to encourage alternate forms of transportation but that is the busiest street in the city.

[jabogitlu]

This is the age old question: do we create neighborhoods for the people that live in them, or the people that drive through them? Memphis has engaged itself in the latter for the past 60 years, with disastrous effects.

The traffic counts are lower on this stretch of Poplar Ave than on nearby Union Ave (1). Plans were announced earlier this year to reconfigure Union Ave with two thru travel lanes for each direction with a center turn lane and bike lanes (2). This is the same configuration that I've shown on the rendering above.

1. https://www.tdot.tn.gov/APPLICATIONS/traffichistory
2. http://www.memphisflyer.com/NewsBlog...o-union-avenue

[Blutbad]

I'm certain there would be opposition to those types of modifications, but I think they're a great idea regardless. We'll all adjust. There's traffic on the these portions of Poplar, but not enough in my estimation that it'd be disastrous to reduce the lane count in certain stretches and maybe at least look for ways to widen the sidewalks in others. Four lanes, each wider than the current ones by at least a bit, may even nudge some of us into safer driving habits. Maybe, maybe not.

[Blutbad]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I believe there will be a few major changes:

- Tutwiler, Faxon, and Snowden north of Sears - a solid neighborhood that I think will gentrify slowly

- the classic "Crosstown" neighborhoods - the residential area southwest of the Sears building - will see an immediate big boost

- the Poplar Ave commercial corridor around Kroger - I think this area will see a slow/steady resurgence with better landscaping, building maintenance, steady tenants, etc. Scenes like this will hopefully go away: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1436...7i13312!8i6656

- North Parkway between I-240 and Watkins will definitely be improved


Other changes are harder to guess at. I think everyone hopes a project of this magnitude will have a huge effect on Speedway Terrace (thereby linking Uptown and Crosstown) and on Washington Bottoms.

It'd be a big win to see some improvement to that stretch of Poplar, as well as the blocks of Cleveland between Poplar and Madison. If that could happen and we also see improvements on Cleveland north to Jackson and beyond, I think the adjacent neighborhood would benefit significantly.