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Here are a few more comments from readers regarding downtown and the future of Downtown Memphis Commission

38103 says:

It really does seem at this point it is a waiting game to see what happens with the downtown skyline. While much attention has gone to how frustrating it is to envision its potential, it is worth noting the smaller projects underway that warrant equal importance to the overall schematic. Also, if our visual scope is broadened to include areas such as the Edge district, Victorian Village, Crosstown, Soulsville, as well as Pinch, South Main and Urban Core, it’s how these areas develop and connect to downtown as well.
Smaller projects with innovation are deserving of appreciation as it is their efforts that are playing a huge role right now.

One example is a recent read on the Choose 901 post. A young architect, only 25, developing a small area in the Edge District, with three retail spaces and living studios adjacent, if I read it correctly.

Thomas Hill says:

Other cities provide an example for Memphis to emulate. Remove the blight and restore the result with parkland. Trees, walking and bike paths.  Think outside the box. Deterioration has lasted too long already. Think renaissance. Make Memphis again a beautiful city on a one of a kind bluff setting. No other city had this one in the world kind of advantage. Think renewal. Let nature prevail where commerce has failed.

Anonymous says:

I live Downtown. I moved to Memphis two years ago from another Southern state — a top three in the Fortune/Forbes states in which to live, move, or retire.

I am a native Tennessean (not Nashville, so relax), and Memphis is one hot mess. Unless Memphians have lived in other booming Southern cities, Memphis seems okay. But the reality is different. The crime, poverty, education, jobs, and blight in Memphis are staggering. And we all hear it daily.

Crime is the first order. If this is not solved, few organizations will relocate, business or otherwise. Crime must be the reason Publix Supermarkets will not build here (they are in every other major city in the state). Next is infrastructure: roads, bridges etc. Stress technology. Why has Google Fiber not yet begun in Memphis? Why not entice Amazon or Apple to build centers here? Memphis seems about 10 years behind in technology.

There are many nonprofits who are doing incredible work here. Without nonprofits, Memphis could be headed toward an almost East St Louis destiny. Invite more nonprofits for startup. Get more churches and synagogues involved. No one thinks crime, poverty, poor education, and a lack of good jobs are acceptable. Though until the Memphis culture changes (e.g. zero tolerance for crime), little else will. And the faith communities should be well-positioned to address that task.

Why not ask every celebrity from Memphis to do a PSA, inviting people to consider moving?

Mayor Strickland should be all over every platform of media, all the time. He should be the best-known mayor in America. He is the chief brand ambassador. Is he visiting other cities to see what they have done to change their cities? Detroit has been rebranded (take a peek at Chrysler, Carhartt, Shinola etc.) as a cool place to live and work. Memphis can do the same.

Memphis has incredible potential. As a new resident, the Bluff City appears to be trending upward, but very, very slowly. Memphis didn’t get into this mess since 1977. What we now see has been percolating for nearly a century.

It will take some creative thinking, wise choices, risk-taking, and a long focus.

Ray Brown says:

During the last several years, the DMC has aggressively pursued both political and legal actions in repeated attempts to resolve the issues with 100 N. Main. As you may have seen in the news, a foreclosure and subsequent auction of the property has been postponed many, many times by the Environmental Court as the lender and owner spar.

Until the court finally forces a sale, and the property changes hands or goes into receivership, neither the DMC nor the City can act. Unfortunate in some ways, but that is how private property rights work. Likewise, although the circumstances are very different, the Sterick has its own issues with private ownership that prevent any public agency from taking substantial action.

Downtowns develop incrementally. Over time, small scale developments add up to large impacts in vitality as more and more people come to enjoy and experience the unique urban qualities of a downtown. Remember that downtowns are experienced by people at street level. A bright, shiny skyline can be impressive, but that must follow from the individual interventions along the streetscape.

Although we’d all like to see downtown Memphis filled from end to end with stores and restaurants, and more importantly, people, we should take heart from the activity one can experience nightly between Union Avenue and the Orpheum, or along Third Street from AutoZone Park to Beale.

Encouraged by that activity, more and more small developers are purchasing buildings north of Union and reviving them for housing, and in some cases, small entrepreneurial retail. Admittedly it’s not the same as having an Apple store on Main Street, but each of these independent shops adds activity that is slowly spreading. It hasn’t yet reached critical mass where it begins to explode, and there are still plenty of “missing teeth” along the street, but the trend is positive and worthy of our collective support.

Big moves such as the repopulation of the Sterick are unlikely to happen soon. Nevertheless, lots of little moves made over time might add up to something better.

Marie L says:

We also live downtown. It is certainly not the best larger city downtown by a long shot, but rents in Memphis are fairly cheap. I guess the lower housing costs are because downtown is so gritty. There have been just far too many car break-ins and harassment by sketchy types while walking that we are looking to move elsewhere and that’s probably to east Memphis. We just don’t feel safe in downtown Memphis and that’s really a shame. We love our apartment but the atmosphere and environment of downtown is just too sketchy.

Andersson says:

Memphis needs to extend the trolleys out to Cooper Young. People enjoying Memphis nightlife should be able to board a tram from CY and Overton Square to get to Downtown. Ideally the trolley should take a turn from Cooper and Southern and arrive at the university. A student discount tram ticket could be popular. So now we have nightlife goers and students using the trams.

Right now the trolley suffers from not existing and having a point A but no point B. It ends in the middle of nowhere on Madison. Who would take it anywhere? Complete it to Cooper Young at least and incentivize the development of grocery stores and dense residential projects around tram stops. I would also like modern streetcars to be used on this Midtown line. Memphis needs a modern streetcar to show Memphians what is possible. Look to the future and not to the past. The old trolley’s are cute as a tourist attraction, but if we want to be a relevant city, we need modern trams.

A successful tram line would be the first step to growing public transportation in the city.

The city needs a heart. A heart is where people meet and where festivals are had. Memphis in May needs to have a month long celebration on Main Street. Set up market stalls and hold events there. The honored country should have a greater presence here. Have a (Poland/Sweden/Canada/Colombia) Festival there. Court Square is absolutely forgotten, except for Food Truck Thursdays. This could be the main attraction for these festivals.

People need to be able to live here (access to everyday needs like groceries) and they need to be able to get here (easy to use public transit). Unfortunately Memphis is prisoner to car culture, so most people can only drive downtown. If they aren’t confident they can find parking, they won’t go. Car culture has dealt a serious blow to the livability of Memphis.

So maybe start at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid. Food, shelter, and safety first.

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