How's Memphis Doing? (Walnut Grove, Adams: neighborhood, university, quality of life)

[LindaSG]

I lived in Memphis from 1987--1992 and really enjoyed it. I haven't been
back to the city since then, but my children and I remember it so fondly.
I hope the city has seen progress and still has the friendly, small-town
atmosphere we enjoyed. Do you still have Memphis in May? Do you still let
people have real fireworks on the 4th of July? I miss Seessel's groc. store!!
We lived in East Memphis on Sequoia Rd, near Walnut Grove. I worked at U
of Memphis back when it was Memphis State.

[JoeCartpath]

Progress? Nope.....the mayor and other local politicians have managed to effectively avoid that.

Friendly, small town atmosphere? Depends on where you are. People are still generally friendly, but not the type of "friendly" you get in smaller towns.

Memphis is May is going strong and fireworks occur in several areas.

Seesels? Yeah....we miss it too They closed up several years ago. Schnucks (from St. Louis) took over the Union Avenue location and built several new stores.

The area where you lived hasn't changed much at all since then.

The University of Memphis will always be Memphis State to a lot of us!

[expatnortherner]

Memphis is in that turbulent stage were a small-town grows into a real big city. The mentality is slowly catching up with the geography and that is always a painful process.

Ex-Pat

[JoeCartpath]

In order to move ahead Memphis needs leadership that puts the interests of the city ahead of personal interests, finding nice jobs for your friends, etc. Unfortunately, I don't see that on the horizon...

[strumpeace]

Memphis has lost a considerable portion of its population since 1992. In fact, if the 1992 city boundaries were still in place, the city's population loss would be more than 100,000 people. Few cities have lost so many residents in such a short period of time. The city has pursued an aggressive annexation policy to make up for the loss of population and tax revenue.

[Tunky]

My husband's employer has had an opening for a specialized chemical engineer for months...they have five different recruiting firms working to fill the position, but nobody wants to come to memphis. I think that is rather telling about the direction of the city.

[expatnortherner]

Originally Posted by JoeCartpath

In order to move ahead Memphis needs leadership that puts the interests of the city ahead of personal interests, finding nice jobs for your friends, etc. Unfortunately, I don't see that on the horizon...

I don't know how this mentality set in, but it's very prevalent here and in my opinion a cop-out. The "soul" of America has never been waiting for leadership, it's always been in the individual.

Change comes from the bottom up, not the top down.

You want something done? It starts with you. Get active in your neighborhood, politics and government!

Part of my relocation here was due to the inexpensive quality of life, part because I see a great city getting high off apathy and cynicism. Well, it's time to kick the habit and get busy.

Ex-Pat Northerner (Activist/Brewer channeling the spirit of Samuel Adams)

[plattsburgher]

Yes, in most cases, change occurs when many people (at the bottom) tackle problems and attitudes and demand change...........

However, in Memphis's case, I think a lot of people are truly amazed and disheartened and discouraged by Herenton's lack of leadership and general "I can do whatever I want/you can't touch me" attitude. I don't get the feeling that he answers to any of his constituents which ultimately allow the people in the city to feel as though whatever they do will not make a difference since nothing seems to improve as far as leadership goes.

When are the next mayoral elections? Think Detroit got it right by finally getting rid of that sleezeball of a mayor...........There has to be someone out there who could actually lead the city of Memphis in a positive direction again, right??????????

[ComputerMan]

Technically Cousin Willy lost the last election because he got less than 50% of the vote. But for some reason in Memphis all you need are more total votes than either of your opponents. (In other words, if you have 300 voters, and 3 opponents, and 2 of them each get 80 votes and you get 140 you still win even though 160 people voted against you because 140 is more than 80.) It's really not fair.

He will always win unless this is changed, or he only has one opponent.

But, more on topic, I too left Memphis and came back to find some of my favorite places gone. Luckily I found some new favorites, and some of my old favorites are still here.

Fireworks depends on who you are. If you're in your front yard, no. They are illegal in Shelby County. If your like a church or something you can put on a fireworks display.

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by strumpeace

Memphis has lost a considerable portion of its population since 1992. In fact, if the 1992 city boundaries were still in place, the city's population loss would be more than 100,000 people. Few cities have lost so many residents in such a short period of time. The city has pursued an aggressive annexation policy to make up for the loss of population and tax revenue.

Really?? I wasn't aware of that...I knew they were annexing...but 100k over 15 years? yeah, that's pretty bad...not Detroit-bad, but definitely "bleeding" people. You wouldn't know it due to the census. They have Memphis staying pretty consistent--going up down 10-15k or so...