The Memphis region is being whipsawed by unrelenting, and potentially debilitating, trends – economic segregation and income out-migration – that are pulling apart the fabric and threatening the future of our community.

That’s why we have no time for politicos with political power bases in the urban core or in the suburban fringes who are willing to delude voters with platitudes about how great things are or how our futures aren’t interwoven.  Whether you favor or oppose consolidation of Memphis and Shelby County Governments, it’s one disturbing fact of political life to see how the two polar extremes are willing to default to their “we versus they” views of the world and act as if one part of the region can succeed if another part fails.

The tendency of some politicians to put their own political ambition ahead of the cold, hard facts is a disconcerting part of life in our community.  It’s been particularly amplified during the consolidation discussion as many of both sides look at the tough facts put together by the Charter Commission and go blithely on their way with politics as usual.

Boiling Point

In May, 2006, we wrote this in a post: “Sometimes in Memphis, it’s as if we’re the city equivalent of the frog sitting in the pot on the stove as the water gets warmer and warmer until it’s boiled to death. We rationalize away the low Milken ranking or a poor showing on another competitive list. We justify our lack of impact on the ‘Places Rated’ types of rankings. We dismiss a negative Tennessee study or a national Brookings report.  All the while, we’re slowly boiling to death.”

It seems to us that perhaps our analogy needs an update.  We’re not boiling slowly any more.  The temperature is all the way up and we’re boiling quickly.  For some people to marginalize the serious state of affairs where we find ourselves in the interest of their own political self-interest is unforgivable.  For elected officials in the suburbs to suggest that they are islands that can survive without Memphis and for some in the city to suggest that the suburbs are irrelevant is just plain dumb.

Most of all, it ignores the fact that the troubling trends for our community are regional in nature and not just problems that exist inside the city limits of Memphis.  It’s not that the City of Memphis is bleeding talent, losing jobs and failing to compete.  It’s the region.

Losing Where It Counts

Most of the data and statistics we feature on this blog are in fact regional in nature.  There are many trend lines that are troubling, but for us, two of those that matter most are the ones that show how much wealth we are losing to other regions.

From 1998 to 2007, the good news is that the Memphis MSA gained households – 6,259 – but they tended to have lower incomes than the people who left, leaving us with a net loss of $435 million in income.  That put us at #89 in the increase in households, but #318 among the 363 metros for new income.    

As point of comparison, Nashville was #15, attracting 51,563 households with incomes of $2.3 billion.  In fact, we contributed 2,530 households to that number along with $162 million income.  To put this into perspective, fewer than 50 households moved from the Nashville region here. 

Push and Pull

Meanwhile, 1,975 Memphis region households moved to Atlanta ($97 million in income); almost 1,000 to Dallas ($46 million in income); 588 households to Miami and Tampa ($100 million); and almost 1,000 households to Denver and Phoenix regions ($100 million in income).

The top 15 places where Memphis families moved were Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Tampa, Knoxville, Denver, Phoenix, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Destin, Orlando, Charlotte, Birmingham and Austin.

Meanwhile, the top 10 places that sent families to Memphis were New Orleans (1,326), Chicago (1,264), Jackson MS (925), Detroit (433), Los Angeles (347), Virginia Beach (298), Little Rock (276), San Diego (228), Jonesboro (181) and Pine Bluff (156).

Separate and Unequal

That’s one stress fracture for our region and it’s compounded by the reality of economic segregation.  Of the 51 largest MSAs in the U.S., we are #1 in economic segregation.  In other words, no other region has greater separation between neighborhoods that are poor and those that are wealthier. 

Economic integration provides lower income families with more access to economic opportunities and greater opportunities.   It’s obvious that all cities have richer and poorer neighborhoods, but they are not segregated to the same degree as the Memphis region.

There has been slow and steady progress in reducing racial segregation, but at the same time, economic segregation has been largely increasing.  In other words, we’ve swapped one kind of segregation for another.  

Tough Times

When regions like ours are economically segregated, every problem is amplified and the policies to address them become more complicated.  That’s because low-income people in our highly segregation city are less likely to come into contact with employed people who act as mentors and provide information about employment opportunities.  Low-income neighborhoods are normally located from the areas where the highest growth of jobs is taking place. 

As people leave the neighborhoods, there are few role models, and because density is reduced, it is harder to police and provide safety net services.  Public health is normally worse, and it is customary to find fewer public health agencies willing to locate in the poor neighborhoods. 

The end result for government is that the increased needs of the neighborhoods push taxes higher, which in turn discourages private investment and drives further flight to the suburbs.  Meanwhile, declining neighborhoods push down home values, eliminating a key path to social mobility.  Teenagers in particular are at risk because of economic segregation because the norm of single headed households, wide unemployment and dropping out of school as common, they are at high risk of falling into similar behaviors and situations.

Running Up the Risks

That risk is compounded by the fact that poor families don’t reside in Memphis in proximity to middle and upper-income families, and as a result, the schools often mirror the general conditions of the neighborhoods themselves.  As years pass, the schools become different, reflecting the lack of importance the city itself places on these neighborhoods. 

There are often lowered expectations by teachers and parents, there is less support for academic achievement and less resources to support enrichment programs.  In some cases, to pursue good grades and academic success is slammed as “acting white.”

Economic integration addresses all of these problems, which have been made even more challenging by the out-migration of income.  In the Clinton presidential campaign, “it’s the economy, stupid” was the focusing theme for all that was done.

We have our own.  It’s the region, stupid.  

Turning Down the Heat

Because this is so, it calls on us to set aside platitudes, to cast out politicians who would divide us for their political benefit and to adopt a laser-like focus on the troubling trends from a regional perspective. 

Are we really willing to just let the water boil?