Will Memphis surprise us? (Germantown, Collierville: apartment complex, condo, homes)

[eastmemphisguy]

Memphis has been an overgrown hick town with "problems" since forever. I've had family here since the 1910s. Posters here would lead you to believe we've witnessed the fall of Rome. It's true that quite a few specific neighborhoods have changed quite a bit, and we're certainly not booming the way Nashville is, but the sky is not falling either. East Memphis, in particular, is rock solid. For what it's worth, my home's Zestimate is up 10% in the last year. Midtown and Downtown are much more vibrant places than they were 20 years ago. In short, what I'm trying to say is that it really depends on where in Memphis. I won't try to pretend for one second that Hickory Hill hasn't fallen apart, but it wasn't even part of the city back when it was nicer.

[NewNashville]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Did you live in Memphis for any period of time before 1991?

Yes. I was born there. I don't remember all this propriety people speak of. It's not saying much but current day Memphis is the best it's ever looked, imo. You can only do so much with all the separate municipalities scattered about the county. Herenton knew this all well. He was ruler over a crappy empire.

[NewNashville]

Until Shelby county goes metro, Memphis won't be a real contender. And yes, violent crime is hurting Memphis. No one outside Memphis thinks the city is some shining oasis.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by NewNashville

Yes. I was born there. I don't remember all this propriety people speak of. It's not saying much but current day Memphis is the best it's ever looked, imo. You can only do so much with all the separate municipalities scattered about the county. Herenton knew this all well. He was ruler over a crappy empire.

You lived there in the 1980s?

[NewNashville]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

You lived there in the 1980s?

Yes. I was born in the 70s.

[RebelRebel]

For all of it's warts, Memphis is still a pretty great place to live. It's fair to say that all of the years since you left haven't been kind. Massive white flight in the Herenton years reshaped this metro area. These days the suburbs stretch from Atoka in the North, Oakland to the East and Hernando to the South. Major suburban development occurred without much in the way of metropolitan population growth, leading to lots of underpopulated, poor, and rather dangerous areas within the City of Memphis.

Still, somehow Midtown is thriving, hip and cool with lots of great restaurants. Downtown is still crying for commerce, but is lively, fun and full of tourists. Cooper Young has re gentrified and East Memphis still looks great. In town living is making a comeback in Memphis. It's more of a trickle than a surge, but still, who saw that coming?

I recall the era when you left as being a time of pervasive racial fears and overall pessimism about Memphis future. You've seen the pessimism, it's still here. Racial animosity isn't gone either, but I would say it's generally throttled away from rage and morphed into more of a quiet resentment with increasing pockets of downright tolerance. Really.

Economic development is still something of an alien concept here, just like it was when you left. I sometimes wonder if we even try. Other places with similar demographics and lousy public schools somehow eek out a little growth. We don't.
Oh, and we do have too many murders. Don't go where they happen. It's that simple.

Still, the Magnolias are beautiful, ditto the azaleas, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle hangs in the summer air. Life in Memphis is laid back, dirt cheap, and deeply authentic. Things have somewhat settled down here. It's safe to come home.

[sldream]

Beale Street was abandoned in the 80s. You could count the number of people living downtown on two hands. Harbor town wasnt built yet. East Memphis was full of modest ranch homes, now they're mostly gone and have been replaced by much grander and more expensive homes. Midtown has remained classy through the years and has weathered many storms. There was no Pyramid or Fedex Forum. St Jude was not the research behemoth it is now. No hometown breweries. Overton Square was pretty sad.

These are just a few of the examples and I can name many more differences between then and now. People have some skewed sense of reality of Memphis then. It was never actually anywhere near as good then as people think they remember. There is hard data to substantiate the improvements and development dollars spent.

People were saying the same thing in the 1970s and 1980s compared to the 40s and 50s when Memphis was more a destination then as Nashville or Austin is now. At one time it was the center of the fashion industry even more so than New York. And again these are well known facts that can be backed up by reading old magazines and books available in the Memphis library if anyone wants to see for themselves.

Memphis is certainly better now than it ever was in most respects.

[jabogitlu]

Sometimes periods of stagnation lead to interesting results. Look at Asheville, NC: it was gutted by the Great Depression, and took the next 60+ years to pay off its debts. At the end of that period, very little in the way of civic improvements had happened, leading to the amazing collection of Art Deco and Beaux Arts buildings, and an intact century-old urban environment.

While Memphis isn't quite that lucky, the city is regenerating itself through assets such as the TN Brewery and Crosstown, which laid mostly dormant in the 1980s. South Main was a deserted wasteland in the 1980s, and now it's one of the most densely packed neighborhoods in the region and is still growing. Evergreen had scores of houses torn down and Cooper-Young was just in the early-middle of its renaissance. If I had to choose between booming suburban areas in 1988, and a slowly blossoming central core district in 2016, I'll take the latter, thanks.

I'm interested to hear more about the economy from folks who lived it, though. Was Memphis more of an economic powerhouse in the 1980s, with companies like Holiday Inn? What about current players like AutoZone, International Paper, and St. Jude? Were they around then?

[sldream]

IP wasn't around then and Autozone was a much smaller company then whose offices were on the property where the central library is now. They're in a beautiful building overlooking the river now. And again St Jude had a much smaller footprint and was just building momentum in research then.

[TheGameHHH]

Just imagine a full scale gentrification of areas such as Orange Mound.

Yoga studios, Whole Foods, and independent coffee/whatever else shops lined up along Park Ave/Lamar, within walking distance to the newly built condos.

The hood and everything else Orange Mound is currently known for no longer exists.