It’s hard to imagine that other cities get as worked up as Memphis does when it ends up on one of the endless stream of cities’ lists that include words like “worst” or “most miserable.”
Then again, maybe that’s a sign of progress.
It wasn’t too long ago that if something critical was said about Memphis, there was always a chorus of people here willing to join in in a game of dozens with the city as a target; however, these days, people get outraged and push back hard on any criticisms. The Greater Memphis Chamber in particular has done a good job of challenging the measurements and the methodology to the point that some of the sources of the negative rankings have rethought their processes.
But that didn’t keep a list of the “50 worst cities to live” from being shared widely a few months ago. In fact, the outrage probably led it to be circulated and seen by more people than it would have otherwise. This latest list was compiled by 24/7 Wall Street, which bills itself as a news site but posts provocative and superficial rankings to attract readers to its website. In other words, the more we clicked on the story, the happier they were.
Lazy Journalism
Here’s the thing: while Memphis has some indicators and trend lines that concern all of us, no city – including this one – is merely the sum of its data points, and because of it, these lists purporting to determine the best or worst cities are one-dimensional at best. The major flaw is that the lists cherry pick statistics, and the outcomes change based on which ones are chosen. For example, some include per capita income – which is low here – but not cost of living, which is also low and makes a dollar go farther.
More to the point, best and worst are of course value judgments, and values can’t be determined with raw numbers alone, because livability is about intangibles like affordability, friendliness, accessibility, creativity, and authenticity. In other words, how do you rank whether a city is the best or worst place to live without knowing the attitudes of its residents? After all, they are the ultimate experts.
That’s not to say that we don’t have to come face-to-face to problem metrics like concentrated poverty and violent crime that regularly drag down Memphis on these lists. Meanwhile, the lists never measure the number of grassroots groups and civic organizations working to solve these challenging problems, because that’s a metric that Memphis excels in.
Put it as simply as we can, these lists are simplistic and misleading, but some in the news media (think: lazy journalism of USA Today) repeat them but do not no independent assessment of their own into the methodology.
Turning Things Around
As for the “worst cities” list, Memphis is in good company. The list includes the usual suspects, but also, Miami, San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., and Houston, which more than anything, underscores the fact that all cities have problems. Yesterday, Travel and Leisure magazine reported that its readers ranked Memphis as the ninth least attractive city and others on the list included Atlanta, Cleveland, Tampa, Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Baltimore (which was ranked #1 least attractive).
In most of Memphis these days, there is a palpable sense of optimism as new momentum and high-profile projects prove that the city is finally returning to its pre-Great Recession economic levels. Memphis, one of the cities taking the longest to recover, is projected to get there late next year. With $5 billion projects recently completed or under way, there is new vigor in the economy and indications that the optimism, energy, and money generated by these projects will be leveraged to tackle the revitalization and repopulation of inner city neighborhoods.
Here, we think everyone knows that Memphis has a unique vibe and that it punches way beyond its size in music and business, but we are mistaken. These days, the curse of cities in the middle of America is that they only make the national news when something goes wrong, so it’s no wonder that we are often thin-skinned to critical rankings. With all that’s going on right in this community, we are indeed in the process of shaping Memphis’ modern reputation, and best of all, it’s sparked by a deepening pride in our hometown as evidenced by our willingness to fight for it.
All that said, none of these rankings are as ridiculous as one a few months ago in The Tennessean (Nashville) under the headline, “Nashville vs. Memphis? We win!” The reporter chose three categories, evaluated them with snark, and declared that Nashville is finally cooler than Memphis.
Of course, just the fact that the article was written underscores the real answer: anytime you’re willing to spend so much time obsessing about Memphis, you already know you’re not the coolest.
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I hear more and more anecdotes about musicians leaving Nashville because they feel stifled there. Nashville is becoming Atlanta or Dallas. I’ve never considered them “cool”. Big, rich and successful – yes. Good places to shop – yes. Funky – no. Hopefully we continue to build on what makes Memphis, Memphis and don’t feel the need to become something we’re not and will never be.
The many reasons Memphis always ranks so poorly in every single survey or poll should be so apparent to even the most ardent cheerleaders.
Memphis is a city of poverty, high crime, poor education, weak job market, low wage, unskilled workers, and the list goes on and on.
Even the Big 12 Conference eliminated U of M in the very first round because of poor academics. We don’t have a world class university — not even a decent state university for that matter.
The Memphis “misery index” will do nothing but get worse here.
38120, why do you continue to live here if everything seems so hopeless and dire to you?
University of Memphis didn’t even make the first cut in list of finalists for the Big 12 expansion. The news stories are citing the below par academic standards at UM, but it may also have a lot to do with Fred Smith trying to buy a way in with FedEx sponsorship. And it’s also very likely the Big 12 committee had taken a look at our rankings in those surveys. In any case it’s a bad reflection on the school and on the city.
Oh bullshit. The Big 12 dog and pony show is all about trying to “appear” that the Big 12 is making this expansion about anything but the crass money grab that it is. Rejecting the U of M was the perfect foil the Big 12 used to make themselves look like they value academics. Anyone who thinks that the Big 12 is seriously considering taking Tulane, Rice or SMU is delusional. They’ll take Cincy and probably Houston, and in about 6-8 years, when the ESPN contract comes up, Texas and Oklahoma will bolt for the Pac 12 and SEC (most likely candidates) and the Big 12 will implode again, triggering another round of these ridiculous conference realignments that are making a mockery of so-called academics and “amateur” athletics.
You people know nothing about big time college sports and the cynical business that it is.
The U of M is an urban public school that serves a huge number of students from poor families who are the first in their family to attend college. You act as if that is something to be ashamed of. It isn’t. It’s a badge of honor. Fuck off, losers. BTW, I graduated from UTK.