Memphis Mayor AC Wharton is right when he says that the new Unified Development Code (UDC) making its way through legislative approvals is “the beginning, not the end, in creating the kind of city and neighborhoods we want.”
More to the point, he said during his campaign that even after approval, he will continue to reform our code to protect our neighborhoods and give residents the ability to control their own destinies. In addition, the languishing Sustainable Shelby program recommended creation of a “Great Neighborhood Score” so every action, zoning, and public investment in neighborhoods is graded for its impact in creating the neighborhoods of choice that are needed for our people. For example, when a Planned Development proposal from a politically connected developer comes up for approval, professional planners would grade it on whether it’s creating the kind of neighborhoods that we want and need, and that grade would be communicated to neighborhood leaders and to politicians.
We hope, and strongly expect, Memphis City Council and Shelby County Board of Commissioners to approve the new Development Code post haste and that the Wharton Administration will turn its attention to the additional reforms that are needed for it to achieve its full potential.
At the same time, we hope city government will get serious about the much-needed and badly overdue Comprehensive Plan for our community. Memphis has not had a Comprehensive Plan for decades, which means that land use decisions and city policies lack a framework or a vision for the kind of city we’re trying to create.
Block and Tackle
These are building blocks for planning a quality community and walkable, bikable neighborhoods. We should pause to celebrate approvals of the UDC but this success should inspire us to aim even higher. Most of all, we hope that Mayor Wharton will emphasize to his management team, particularly in engineering, that the UDC means little if they do not have a change in attitude in keeping with its sensibilities about our community.
Although well-intended when they were first introduced into city governments, zoning codes became an instrument for sprawl and unsustainable growth. They up-ended walkable neighborhoods, increased greenhouse gas emissions, contributed to unhealthy lifestyles and driven up government spending. Often, it seemed that our communities might have grown better if there had been no zoning codes at all.
That’s certainly true here. We have created a community with the worst economic segregation among the top 51 metros. We have urban neighborhoods whose survival was undermined by the codes themselves.
Just think about it: list the cities that you enjoy visiting – New York to San Francisco, Provincetown to Savannah – and the downtowns that you like best – Seattle to Chicago, Charleston to Portland. They’re the ones that have the mixed uses that zoning codes prohibited in cities across the U.S.
Zoned Out
When the codes were put in place, it was for the best of intentions: to solve the “enormous losses in human happiness and in money which have resulted from lack of city plans which take into account the conditions of modern life,” in the words of then Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.
The notion that people shouldn’t be living next door to a factory belching out black smoke inspired the idea of setting up “zones” in cities where specific kinds of functions could be isolated – residential here, commercial there, industrial way over there.
Unfortunately, zoning codes proliferated just as cars came to dominate the American landscape, and once crowded neighborhood sidewalks gave way to enclosed shopping malls and office parks, ushering us into an age where politicians seeking political contributions and developers seeking greenfields converged to give us the sprawl that brings no net benefit to our community – its economy, its social ties, its civic life and its environmental impact.
And yet, anyone who questioned the futility of the zoning codes was treated like he was caught poisoning the mayor’s dog.
Code Red
As a leading smart growth advocate put it, “if zoning is the DNA of sprawl – the coding that endlessly replicates the bleak landscape of autotopia – then what is the DNA of a livable communities?”
It’s a fundamental question that Memphis and Shelby County need to answer, because in the past 25 years, zoning codes have given us a community that we cannot afford and cannot sustain. Compounded by a lack of concern about urban design and roughshod public works projects, it makes the importance of the UDC paramount.
The form-based code making its way through city and county governments is just that crucial.
Hopefully, in the future, its emphasis on smart growth principles, New Urbanist sensibilities and public engagement will be expanded and strengthened, but for now, the new Unified Development Code (UDC) is light years from the previous code that allowed a proliferation of Planning Developments (PDs) that neutered any semblance of planning for a quality urban fabric.
Good Form
Here’s hoping that the proposed forms-based code – which will emphasize the form of buildings rather than the use of buildings – will change all that. At its heart, the lack of interest in a smart code until now fundamentally mirrors our civic lack of self-worth and the pervasive attitude that we simply don’t deserve the best – in our downtown, in our neighborhoods and in our urban design.
It is the antithesis of the UDC’s attention on forms, because if anything, too much of our community, particularly its suburbs, is formless. So, the question is what do we really want our city to be and what principles should we follow?
Here’s the beginning of our list (and we invite you to send yours):
Build great places – recognize the importance of the public realm and set out to make it exceptional. For those who say that our people don’t “get” this, keep in mind that when the opinions of 125 people who developed the Sustainable Shelby were combined with the public polling, creation of high-quality public realm was the #1 priority. This requires us to take the quality of the public realm out of the hands of the city engineering department because we need to re-establish streets as the primary public space for the city.
Principled Planning
Walkability – put simply, we have to care more about people than cars. We need to develop neighborhoods with mixed uses so people can walk to the store, to the park or to the school.
Traditional Neighborhood Structure – neighborhoods need to be connected to the rest of the city by streets, sidewalks, greenways and complete streets. We have to get serious about walk-bike issues.
Connectivity – we need to concentrate on streetscape that is human scaled, we need to surround big box retail with liner buildings and we need to locate parking to the side or rear of stores.
Design – we need to care about urban design and use the soon-to-be-adopted Unified Development Code as the smart code to guild development and to design a city where the best architecture is not just pursued but expected.
High Drama
As we’ve said repeatedly, Memphis has no margin for error because we are dangerously near the tipping point from which we cannot return. We are like a frog in water that gets hotter and hotter until it’s too late. We need dramatic action, and approval of the UDC is one of those changes.
To survive in today’s economic climate, local government needs a new way of thinking, flexibility, a new business model and an injection of optimism. That’s why we strongly support consolidation of city and county governments after years of antipathy. It’s time to shake things up, to do things differently and to send a message that we are unwilling to accept business as usual any longer.
I like this post, you put it out there pretty well.
I would add that in MEMPHIS particular condition, that we need to be very careful not to shove racial crimes under the legal carpet, like we do now. Yes we do, like a knee-jerk.
For Memphis to be perceived a s a city that has an atmosphere egalitarian enough to attract good people, we will have to make sure to arrest and prosecute people OF ALL RACES who commit race crimes. Whites getting away with it is bad enough, but, people of color getting away with it is no better, in fact it’s worse, so, we need to be more even handed when addressing those issues and not try to hide them or run in fear from doing the right thing no matter what. If you never arrest people for it, they’ll think it’s OK and will become a big problem, as it has here, which is not a good example for the nation.
I think Memphis could come out of it’s decline, and you’re right that the tipping point is close, much closer than our public officials let on and they all know it. I think a livable community for Memphis, is one where you go out of your neighborhood to take a local vacation on a weekend, but, during the work week, your neighborhood should support you needs.
Groceries, office supplies, dry cleaners, libraries and safe parks with equipment, professional style track and field, heck we have pools, we need QUALITY staff, we need community gardens, local coaches, an anti graffiti team (for neighborhoods, not to clean but to catch) and penalties if they’re caught.
But THE biggest problem in Memphis is MCS and the legacy that it’s lackadaisical oversight, if there was any at all which I doubt, has left behind. Some schools have improved, and K Whalum’s paddling proposal got a second, but, there needs to be some serious proactive removal of trouble makers at MCS and that includes those entrenched employees, admin, and teachers that serve only their backwards union, and do not provide quality education for MCS students. There are some that engage in revenge for being looked at as a problem, a clear sign that they are one. We need to get rid of the board and turn over control to the mayor. The board has it’s collective head firmly entrenched somewhere undesirable and unfortunate.
The money trail at MCS has yet to be looked into.
As I have posted before, I have a relative that runs a few well thought of colleges overseas and when I showed her the MCS budget she could hardly contain herself at the size of the budget, the low census of students, and the abysmal results made it even harder to accept.
Considering this person meets with the leaders of nations frequently, I value the opinion.
So, this is your most pressing problem in memphis: MCS.
The budget is so bloated out of proportion an no one is looking into where the money has gone and is going, because it’s obviously not going to the students.
Anyone who says it’s going to pensions is a dunce and thinks they are talking to dunces. Pension plans are investments and are not EVER payed out of the budget after a person retires.
YOU NEEE TO LOOK INTO THE MCS MONEY TRAIL. If you don’t, it won’t matter what you do in Memphis to make it walkable,because there won’t be anyone here to walk it.
Epitaph: Here Lies memphis TN, Died from Lack Of Interest, I told You I Was Sick!
People who live “next door to a factory belching out black smoke” have always been able to sue the polluter for the tort of nuisance, long before Euclid v. Ambler ratified the Socialist practice of zoning, that a major metropolis in Texas has done better without than we have WITH.
That major metropolis in Texas has benefited from an economy based on huge amounts of energy wealth; it doesn’t have a lot to do with their lack of zoning. If someone had struck Spindletop oil in Fayette County 100 years ago, we’d be Houston too.
Glad to see you’re so hopeful Zip. That’s encouraging. Let’s hope the strong sense of purpose and enthusiasm of our current city administration spreads into the rest of city gov. Personally I don’t see this happening but we can always hope.
“professional(sic) planners would grade it on whether it’s creating the kind of neighborhoods that we want and need, and that grade would be communicated to neighborhood leaders and to politicians.”
So it can be ignored or sent back for a ‘comprimise’ between the neighborhood and the developer-who will say that the two people HE met with support his plan.
bidness as usual. At least SOMETHING might get built inside the loop, sooner or later.
Winter: Please specify and support “People who live “next door to a factory belching out black smoke” have always been able to sue the polluter for the tort of nuisance.”
According to the University of Houston, “ranked by amount of sprawl, Houston is second in the nation, just behind Atlanta” complete with longer commuting times, poorer air quality and a greater degree of economic segregation than one finds in the other 10 largest urban centers in the United States. You should also know that the popular idea that Houston developed without zoning is a superficial truth. Instead of zoning, Houston utilized land use regulations and municipal codes which had a very similar impact on guiding development as zoning did in other communities. Certain industries and businesses were prohibited from building within a certain radius of residential developments, lot sizes were specified as well as street sizes along with their block dimensions and the spacing of intersections, etc… The only thing Houston was missing was a colorful map that illustrated what land uses would occur where based on the restrictions and ordinances.
Zoning is always viewed as socialist until someone decides to build a industrial waste processing plant next door to their home.
Zoning itself is not evil, in fact without the act there would be no way to empower neighborhoods through the flexibility allowed in form based codes. This issue has to be viewed through historic context.
NYC enacted the first comprehensive zoning regulations as we would recognize them today in response to (among other issues) building heights, the proliferation of power and phone lines and industrial creep towards the Village, Chelsea, the East Village and Midtown. Herbert Hoover- who thought that society could plan its way out of any difficulty and most problems were the result of inefficiencies- lead the Department of Commerce in their dissemination of the glories of zoning across the county. What they failed to understand was that Standard State Zoning Enabling Act they were actively pushing on communities around the nation was specifically tailored towards the needs of New York City and the issues it faced at the time and would not have the same impact as experienced in that city (Edward Basset, the father of the 1916 NYC zoning act, lead the Dept. of Commerce committee that drafted the Standard Zoning Enabling Act). We have to remember, this occurred during one of the great waves of rapid urbanization that predated World War I and some cities were in a state of near chaos as a result. The issues were shared by similarly congested or rapidly growing cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans but were hardly critical for the vast majority of the still rural country. As states and then cities adopted zoning, instead of tailoring the topics and guidelines to reflect their local needs and values, adopted them as they were written (for NYC). The result was a model act that could be implemented on a national scale that would address issues unique to urban conditions and could be implemented from the top down quickly and efficiently. It failed to realize that while the issues might be universal, the solutions to address them would likely be unique to each region and city.
One of the critical missing elements that was originally intended to be included in the zoning act was that zoning could only occur after the creation of a comprehensive plan. The two ideas- a comprehensive plan and zoning- were detached before the act was passed and thus zoning was permanently distorted in a way not envisioned by its creators. If only we had listened to Bartholomew when he sought to clarify the “in accordance” language found in that first act. Instead of guiding growth in accordance with well planned goals in mind, zoning became reactionary and, at times, arbitrary.
Try reading “Free Enterprise City” by Joe Feagin, if you think Houston is the way to go. As for me, I am glad I got the hell out of there when I graduated from High School.
Aaron,
thanks, I am hopeful, but, I won’t be here to see it.
Interested observer,
I hope that “plan” they had died with the recipient of that illegal grant.
I lived in Houston for a small bit and from what I remember, it sucked, but, Memphis sucks far worse right now. That seems to be changing, although the recalcitrant entrenched incumbents are working against it with stupid resolutions designed to subvert any ethics or policy changes.
Okay,
So I attended the meeting last night. I was pleased with what I saw even if I was a little surprised at its lack of scope as it seems to be focused primarily on commercial corridors in the district. However, I do understand this focus. Most potential for development within the area covered is focused along Madison, Cooper, Union and Central. Current zoning does not permit mixed use development in these areas and only encourages the strip/ highway development that has all but consumed Union. This overlay will address these issue.
If we really are talking long-term, and I mean LONG term (assuming the fortunes of Memphis are reversed and we experience an urban renaissance never before seen in this city), attention will need to be paid towards building heights, densities and permitted uses within the residential neighborhoods themselves.
I know the point of the plan is to put out a set of guidelines regarding new development in light of recent proposals for Overton Square and the new CVS. In that context, it is critical this plan be approved as quickly as possible.
Did you say experience an urban renaissance?
I’ve been researching this kind of stuff for years. If you don’t have a hidden agenda to stop all progress, read on:
We can actually do this!
DISCLAIMER: I don’t sell these things or have any kind of tie to their companies in any way shape or form what so ever. I DO NOT receive any money on the sale of anything made by either of these companies in any way.
Finally the technology, economics, and manufacturing ability have finally come together in such a way that Memphis is FINALLY in one fortunate position to capitalize on right now:
We can now ACTUALLY reduce the city budget by MILLIONS, maybe more, A YEAR for only a small investment!
If you’ve seen the city’s electric bill you know, it’s ridiculous!
http://www.powerplaysolar.com/powerdish.html
makes a unit anyone can purchase very very affordably
and:
http://www.stirlingenergy.com/
makes units that can ONLY be had in large orders
You could buy a hundred or more of these units every month for what the monthly bill is on one city building. ONE of these can power a city block or a small town and they are VERY affordable!
One from the first manufacturer, the infinia powerdish, is being used to power Bozeman Montana right now.
The intent is to keep them tied into the grid, not as a backup, but, as a primary system, and the grid will become the backup and barely used.
IT GENERATES 3 KW OF AC of Grid ready ELECTRICITY, per unit, no need for conversion.
No photovoltaic cells to require a lot of space.
No need for special plumbing and it can provide more hot water for heating than the city can use. That means lower CO2 emissions from natural gas heating and a very low or nonexistent heating bill on the back of the citizens.
One on top of every city and MCS building at a cost of around $2k/unit will save billions of dollars, and they have a life of 25 years on the generator. The generators are not expensive, hermetically sealed, have a lifespan of 25 years, lubricated by helium that is pre-charged into the unit and hermetically sealed in = no maintenance. This thing is only 15′, the size of a sattelite dish, it is produced like automobiles, it can be assembled by anyone.
These things can power an entire building or a city block.
These could translate to MEMPHIS JOBS. Possible part of a prisoner rehabilitation work program that could translate into a livable wage, social training and psychological support, training programs for successful family, and a solution to the flip-side of the core problem in Memphis, possibly the beginning of a technological revolution in education here, thinking outside the box. That’s a great long term benefit.
We can power our electric trolley with green energy. What do you think national opinion of that will be?
It could power the animal shelter, would that make it a national model when it can afford more improvements with it’s electric bill off it’s back?
It could power vehicle inspection stations, that would reduce the drag on the economy of free inspections in addition to current plans.
It could power the jail, court buildings at 201 Poplar, and the correctional facilities, reducing the effects of crime on the tax structure.
We can use them to power and heat schools, police department, government buildings, and MLGW who could also begin deploying them in neighborhoods to power city blocks at a time.
We can use it to power THe MED. Imagine the windfall that would be for the med. It could conceivably eclipse the shortfalls from unpaid out of state medicaid payments.
It could be part of the revitalization of the pinch district, could power the Pyramid, the Fedex Forum, and be part of the building code.
We could power park services, such as water coolers, centers, swimming pools, lights and pumps, reducing the drag on the city budget.
We could power public housing.
We’ll never suffer the fate of California’s grid and instead of going broke over-investing in inefficient technology of the past for exorbitant amounts, that require vast amounts of real estate. We can do it at an affordable price with a system that is also affordably maintainable. MLGW could actually reduce rates for citizens dramatically while not having to fire employees to do it.
The economics of these things is that they will payback investment in one year or less.
These are truly green technology and the benefits will make Memphis a desirable location to choose to live in.
We can save Billions of dollars.
The company who makes them has a factory that mass produces them like cars. They can satisfy very large orders such as solar energy farms.
If we are smart, we will aggressively pursue and find a way to get this company to relocate here.
Green jobs that really make a difference for Memphians will become a national model.
Here’s why: The company sells them to individuals, anyone can own one.
This technology is beyond the efficiency of windmills, is a primary system, requires no conversion to be tied to the existing grid, and can be augmented by vertical or horizontal mounted drum type wind powered generators which only need a 6mph breeze to work at night and on windy days, or on non windy days when thermal effect makes wind in excess of 6 mph on rooftops. No need for a hydroelectric plant. No need for nuclear or coal power plants. GREEN.
THIS will put us light years ahead of any other city and increase our ability to more quickly turn Memphis into a City Of Choice!
Convertors “could” be used to store excess energy to be used at night via battery back up units.
As I have seen, Memphis regular food costs per person, utility bills, monthly mortgages, medical charges, transportation charges, gasoline charges, vehicle licensing and inspection charges, double taxation, and MCS $7k per student per year charges in Memphis are UNSUSTAINABLE AND UNAFFORDABLE to most Memphians living in central Memphis. This one move can alleviate a lot of that. This will be a big step in eliminating poverty here for the hundreds of thousands of impoverished Memphians. This could bring costs closer to alignment with affordability for Memphians.
It’s time for all of us to step up and try out a bit of second order change in Memphis. This is fearless, fierce, bold action based in a sound economic principle is response to current conditions and it will work, and it will yield unprecedented results for decades, maybe longer if we create a matrix structure and language designed to support ongoing operative practices such as this consistently.
uh, okay.
just get the city council and county commission and june west and bubbles the monkey and maybe mongo if he’s back and have a Great Big Meeting like maybe at that Forum place at the University where the talked about consolidation or something last nite.
bring spray paint for bike lanes and NO SINGLE BEERS, this time.
Ah, I see, if YOU don’t think it’s good we’re all a bunch of wing-nuts, but, your response is the one that reads a little strange.
You might want to lay off the beer, Sophocles.