Why do so many people think all of Memphis is bad? (Jackson: neighborhood, new construction)

[TheKernel91]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

So what areas are we going to de-annex? The City is a business and as such should look at areas where we spend the largest amount of capital and receive the lowest amount of revenue, with a long eye toward the future. (E.g., Raleigh will probably never be the "it" neighborhood in this city.)

It's easy to reel off a list such as, "Hickory Hill, Southwest around TO Fuller, Raleigh, Frayser," but I wonder if anyone in the government has even thought about this or has data in a presentable format (investment vs. income). even Memphis inside the loop + the downtown core seems to be a large city with substantial problems and a majority suburban format. We need to start a planning process around existing urban nodes (such as Summer/National intersection, or Mississippi at Walker). But even then - without growth in jobs and population, who or what is going to revitalize these areas?

To me that's the main reason many people think Memphis is a craphole. The overall feeling in the air is of decline and stagnation. We can plan for better days, but are they coming?

I don't want to high jack the thread, but I'm going to start a discussion on these boards about this, and the real issues that the city faces and what can/should be done. Its time to start a movement!

[jabogitlu]

Sounds like you're the one with the good ideas. The area I want to redesign is the McLean / Madison intersection. There are several vacant/underutilized parcels right there. Gilmore is there, and just west are the McAlpin and Biltmore, and the commercial strip ending w/ Zennie's. It could be an awesome urban node.

As far as Washington/Jefferson avenues (your field in the middle of town) - that's Washington Bottoms. An Atlanta-based development company has assembled all those parcels and petitioned for the roads to be closed. Looks like eventually we will be getting a big-box on that site. Probably Target or a grocer, or both. Hopefully it's urban form.

[Darkseid]

Originally Posted by tigerphan

The city is 320 square miles. It has to recruit business and redevelop areas all over the city. It's an impossible task especially considering the staggering amount of unfunded liabilities the city has to deal with over the next few decades. They don't even seem to be trying to mitigate that particular fiscal disaster.

All of this is difficult from the gov't side, but they have to take it one step at a time and start with a few areas. The local gov't(s) needs to work on recruiting more businesses into the downtown area. They could also rezone for more mixed use developments around town - particularly downtown, midtown and the airport area. Other than Main St., there are appallingly few mixed use developments in the downtown area. Even a lot of the new developments under construction now are only for residential use. This presents a shopping dilemma for downtown residents. Along Elvis Presley Blvd, they should reduce the speed limit in the Graceland area, widen the sidewalks and increase the density for the zoning in the area and approve mixed use development.


This picture of the Clarendon community in Arlington, VA (which was very suburban until the last decade) gives an idea of what I would like to see in downtown Memphis, Midtown, parts of the "Soulsville" area and EP Blvd/Graceland area:



Yes, that is probably a little ambitious for Memphis, but it gives you an idea of what I mean. If the city could choose a couple of areas to do this type of mixed use development (starting downtown) it would be an excellent start. There is not much they can do about places like Frayser, Parkway Village and many other areas except demolish the abandoned homes.

The city should never have annexed so much.

That is very, very true, but the horse is out of the barn now. They can concentrate on urbanizing a few small areas and getting things right

[cocaseco]

Originally Posted by eastmemphisguy

Granted, there are quite a few rough parts of town, but we have no shortage of nice areas either. And I'm not just talking about mediocre areas that are good enough for plain people like me. Just to name a few areas, Harbor Town, Central Gardens, Chickasaw Gardens, River Oaks are all very exceedingly fancy and full of doctor and lawyers and such. And yet there's this common perception that the whole town is run down that one has to live in Germantown or Collierville or else. I don't get it.

Not sure of the confusiuon as the answer is black and white.

[VSRJ]

Regarding previous posts about the city's government, yes, the government is in shambles in some ways. But I don't think the city can rely solely on the government to fix all of our problems. We also need private investors and nonprofits to step up to the plate and help move the city forward. However, I realize that all of these groups should be able to work together. Perhaps that's not the case for Memphis right now. But blaming everything on the government and throwing our hands up and giving up isn't the answer. We need to take the cards we've been dealt and make the best of the situation.

And let's not forget: we elected our government officials.

[Darkseid]

Originally Posted by VSRJ

Regarding previous posts about the city's government, yes, the government is in shambles in some ways. But I don't think the city can rely solely on the government to fix all of our problems. We also need private investors and nonprofits to step up to the plate and help move the city forward. However, I realize that all of these groups should be able to work together. Perhaps that's not the case for Memphis right now. But blaming everything on the government and throwing our hands up and giving up isn't the answer. We need to take the cards we've been dealt and make the best of the situation.

All I'm saying is that the gov't officials can do things like change zoning laws, recruit businesses and perhaps create some type of enterprise zones. Of course gov't can't do everything, but the private sector will follow their lead from there. For the past 40-50 years, the Memphis/Shelby gov't has fostered sprawl with their zoning laws, building new sewers and water utilities and the widening and expanding of roads that lead east. The private sector followed their lead by applying for developments further and further east and gained approval from the gov't. Through the years the city tried to get in front of the flight east by annexing those areas. Fast forward to today and you have a city whose footprint is larger than New York City's yet with only about 2000 people per sq mile.

At this point, what they city can do is tear down the blight and promote "smart growth" policies that encourage mixed use and transit oriented development in the place of what is currently there. Imagine the blighted area in front of the Commercial Appeal building looking more like the picture I posted in the picture above...

[det2011sb]

It's a little bit of a catch-22, ambitious development will not be successful unless you have the population base to support it. I was in Memphis when Peabody Place opened, and I actually loved it. I regularly went to the movies, shopped there, ate there. It was great. I've moved away, but when I came back to visit after several years I was saddened to see what had happened to this great project.

Hopefully, the same will not happen to Sears Crosstown, but unfortunately, I'm a little pessimistic (I'd be more than happy to be wrong). I've said it earlier, and I'll say it again, the most important investment I think the city can make is in its universities, but it's got to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. (UofM's endowment is a paltry 183 million. Vanderbilt's endowment is 3.4 billion, U of Cincinnati's is 1 billion, U of Pittsburgh's is 2.6 billion, Harvard's is 30 BILLION)

Memphis lacks a net in migration of talent... the people who are going to make the next big app or are going to design the next economically feasible solar panel or are going to make the next big breakthrough in whatever field they're in don't come to Memphis. Even the ambitious small business entrepreneurs don't come to Memphis.

The city's a nice enough city to have a job, a nice affordable house, decent shopping, and an easy commute, but it's not a good city to be somebody. Some people like the small town feel, but big cities get that way and stay that way because they are desirable for whatever reason (ie networking, culture, scenery, business opportunities). Thus, I get a little uneasy when people are fine with the small town feel of the city because that is just asking the smart enterprising young ones to leave. In fact, I don't even know if there can be a balance (ie Austin - no longer an off the radar mid sized town)

Pumping hundred's of millions into universities will broaden the research efforts of the school, help fund more joint ventures with industry, and will attract a higher caliber of students (attracting even natives) year after year. Most of them will leave, but enough will stay each year and they will be the ones developing the city in the future.

[VSRJ]

Originally Posted by det2011sb

Memphis lacks a net in migration of talent... the people who are going to make the next big app or are going to design the next economically feasible solar panel or are going to make the next big breakthrough in whatever field they're in don't come to Memphis. Even the ambitious small business entrepreneurs don't come to Memphis.

The city's a nice enough city to have a job, a nice affordable house, decent shopping, and an easy commute, but it's not a good city to be somebody. Some people like the small town feel, but big cities get that way and stay that way because they are desirable for whatever reason (ie networking, culture, scenery, business opportunities). Thus, I get a little uneasy when people are fine with the small town feel of the city because that is just asking the smart enterprising young ones to leave. In fact, I don't even know if there can be a balance (ie Austin - no longer an off the radar mid sized town)

I disagree with these two points. Memphis' start-up community seems to be growing rapidly. And Memphis is a place to be somebody. Because the city is "smaller," there is more room to do things that will get noticed. There are more opportunities to get involved in the community. Everything hasn't already been done.

[det2011sb]

I hope you're right but unfortunately I don't see it. Stanford and Harvard get a lot of credit for starting Google and Microsoft because they bring so many extremely bright and hard working visionaries together to socialize, collaborate, and exchange ideas. They attract smart people year after year such that there is now a good infrastructure for financing and mentoring start ups. This kind of climate does not exist in Memphis. If you say the start-up culture is gaining traction, I'll take your word for it. But I'd be doing bright young students a disservice by telling them that their chances at being a leader in their field of choice are going to be greater in Memphis than say, Chicago.

[Darkseid]

@ det2011sb

I hear what you are saying about the brain drain and it is definitely an issue. I know plenty of educated people that have left Memphis (including myself) for better opportunities elsewhere.

I feel that Peabody Place was too ambitious for Memphis at that time. It may yet still work - perhaps as a hotel. What I am talking about is less ambitious; buildings with some commercial space on the bottom floor (say a Walgreens and/or a local coffee shop and/or small grocery store and/or fast food) with condos on top of that. The South Bluffs area for example could use a small grocery store, and/or a Walgreens-like establishment within a mixed use development.