The following is the conversation by our very smart readers and sparked by our recent post, City Council Members Take Aim At DMC and RDC:
Anonymous says:
The truth is that downtown Memphis looks pretty much the same as it did in 1977. The skyline has hardly changed except for the Pyramid and former Morgan Keegan building. We have two totally empty and deteriorating skyscrapers in the Sterick and 100 Nirth Main. It’s still pretty empty and devoid of street life. Downtown is emblematic of a city in decline. Embarrassing.
38120 says:
What I find to be poorly done is the whole riverfront area. So much wasted potential there. But then you need a vibrant downtown behind that and we just do not have that.
Agree about the Sterick building and 100 North Main. They are both fire traps and just beyond rehabilitation. What ever happened for the plans to build the One Beale tower?
38103 says:
I have been trying to get information regarding One Beale and the trail goes cold. It would be useful if DMC posted periodic updates regarding this, as well as empty Sterick and 100 N. Main. They should not ignore the big elephant in the room as all three hold significance to the downtown skyline. Maybe they have done so and I just have not found it yet.
Don’t get me wrong, much has happened in the past couple of years in the downtown area that, while overdue, is not to be taken for granted. Somewhat fragile since we all know things can always go the other way.
I have to go back to the beginning of this post, to glimpse into the past. Forty years ago , people probably couldn’t have imagined downtown to be what it is today. I only wish the momentum to pick up significantly at this point.
Anonymous says:
The downtown skyline of Memphis is totally underwhelming. Blessed with a beautiful natural setting on a bluff above Ole Man River. However, the man made part is dated and just plain ugly.
Steve Redding says:
Anonymous, do you prefer the downtown of 1977 or 2017?
Anonymous says:
One Beale won’t happen. No real demand and developers (Carlisle) won’t risk speculative big bucks in downtown Memphis. Soon the city is going to have to take some type anti-blight, public safety action against the owners of 100 N Main and Sterick.
Anonymous says:
Didn’t downtown still have Goldsmiths, Lowensteins and Gerbers back in 1977? I think so. It would sure have been more active along Main St then than it is today with broken trolleys, empty storefronts and not much more than a big Bass Pro Shop way up Main.
Dan says:
Granted, it’s very unfortunate Sterick and 100 N Main are in the shape they are but to say Downtown was more vibrant in 1977 than now is just trolling. Again, like the article says- Beale was boarded up, Peabody was boarded up, there was no nightlife or many people living there. I understand the Sterick is a very complicated issue due to ownership/size of the building and hopefully 100 N Main has something done eventually. Is no one going to mention the Tennessee Brewery or Chisca renovations? Complete eyesores that have been success stories. Or all the redevelopment of S Main which has created an entirely new district of nightlife/retail in the past 15 years? Of course not, because it’s easy to point out negatives.
38103 says:
Thank you, Dan, which is why it is more important now than ever to put focus on the positives. The redevelopment/revitalization of downtown is why we have chosen to live in the 38103 zip code area of Memphis.
We moved from Nashville seven months ago.
Paul Taylor says:
Both Boyd and Spinosa owe their council seat to Fred Smith and the Chamber of Commerce.
“Spinosa said FedEx vice president Richard Smith is his campaign’s finance chairman.” – Commercial Appeal
From Spinosa’s official bio: “Councilman Spinosa is a lifelong Memphian and a believer of hard work and positivity” “Serving as an exemplary example to the rest of the city, he is active in the community by volunteering his time.” So he believes in “positivity” and he’s an “exemplary example to the rest of the city” So clearly he’s a policy wonk and an intellectual.
Fred Smith is a Trump man and he controls Memphis and the Chamber. A majority black city is run by a old white male land owner who supports policies that harm the majority. So it’s the same as 100 years ago.
Linda R says:
The DMC and RDC are more proof that nothing ever really has a chance at getting done well in Memphis. All of these groups and efforts over 40 years and very little has happened. Politicos of the very worst kind.
I work at City Hall and can tell you it’s just really bad even during the week. Very little to go out of the office for at lunch. The north end of Main Street from City Hall to Union especially is rundown and derelict and just a disgrace to the city.
Ray Brown says:
“…over 40 years very little has happened.”
Let’s think about that a bit. Here’s a (very short) list:
AutoZone Park
FedEx Forum
South Main Arts District
Re-opening the Peabody
The Madison
New restaurants including McEwan’s, Felicia Suzanne’s, Aldo’s, Majestic Grille, Belle.
Converting vacant buildings for housing throughout downtown such as the Commerce Title building, the Chisca Hotel, the Lincoln America Tower, and the Lowenstein building.
Converting vacant buildings for new boutique hotels such as the Napoleon.
New performance venues such as the Halloran Center. Entertainment venues such as Ghost River brewing, Loflin Yard, and Old Dominick’s.
Almost all of these investments were aided by the persistent, patient work of the Downtown Memphis Commission.
Yes, the department stores, shoe stores, fur stores, dress shops, and hat shops are gone from downtown Memphis, just as they are from almost every other downtown in America. Multiple factors aided that transition including our local preference for travel by automobile, the national expansion of the suburbs and the resulting migration of retail, a desire to flee school desegregation, and yes, the panic that followed the subsequent civil disturbances associated with Dr. King’s assassination.
At this point the evolution of American downtowns, including our own, we must all accept that downtowns will never again be the retail centers that they once were. In fact, retail in general is shrinking, thanks largely to our own preference for the convenience of online commerce. Likewise, with no viable transit system on which to rely, Memphians’ dependence on auto travel has driven many formerly downtown employers to seek suburban sites that offer “free” parking for employees. (As an aside, consider how inconvenient is can be for those employees to find a place for lunch.)
Admittedly, much remains to be done in order to achieve a greater degree of downtown vibrancy. However, if those Memphians who decry the current state of downtown would, instead of yearning for an impossible return to imagined past glories, regularly visit, experience, and support the downtown we have, their mere presence would add vibrancy, and would spur the additional investment they seem to want.
In other words, as a city planner friend once said, “To get the city you want, you have to begin by using the city you have.”
Anonymous says:
Ray, unfortunately there are few reasons Memphians need or want to go downtown. The developments you mention are small potatoes when you compare our downtown to what’s happening and continuing to happen in other cities. Forgive me for bringing up the dreaded comparison of Nashville, but their downtown is just 100% more developed and vibrant than ours. There are literally dozens of huge new hotels, restaurants, condos and the crowds there are huge any day of the week. There were 240,000 people in downtown Nashville for July 4th with the largest fireworks display in the country. Same thing happens at New Years. Their Music City Center has sparked a lot of this driving big time visitor traffic and a active street life. Retail is returning too with the H&M department store just announced as one of the anchor tenants for the 5th & Broad development where the old convention center was located. Memphis downtown can’t even come close.
Anonymous says:
Well who can compete with Nashville at the moment outside of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami?
In the southeast no city besides Miami can. So it’s not just Memphis.
Ray Brown says:
Anon 1: You’re quite correct. Memphis is not Nashville. If you prefer it, I invite you to move there, pronto.
However, for those of us who do love Memphis, there are indeed reasons to go downtown. Apparently, given the steady expansion of apartment developments both large and small, a growing number of young adults think so too. (I know, I know…”Nashville has more, and better”.)
Perhaps, instead of focusing on what we are not, we should decide to be the best Memphis we can be for the people who already live here, and want to. A psychologist friend once told me that the surest way to make yourself unhappy is to compare yourself with someone else. Apparently, many Memphians seem to enjoy being unhappy. How unfortunate that they are unwilling to contribute to making Memphis better.
Go to a ball game sometime. It might cheer you up.
Anonymous says:
Reminds me of this. https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2017/01/26/why-louisville-should-stop-comparing-itself-to.html
Ray Brown says:
Great article! And some lessons for us to learn.
Anonymous says:
https://fox13memphis.relaymedia.com/amp/top-stories/vandals-damage-100-north-main-building/507221123
Anonymous says:
Ah, a Fox watcher. Well, that explains everything.
Anonymous says:
Question. What exactly are the main reasons that downtown has not developed as much as it might have? The north end seems especially in need of help. Bass Pro is mostly cut off from most streets.
Outsider-In-The-State says:
Maybe it is time to change a few things. Perhaps, you need real activity on Main Street mall. Open it up to street traffic. Bring Memphis in May back downtown into the streets. Use Mud Island as a venue for concerts and charge at the entrance. Instead of concentrating all your “upscale” grocery stores out in East Memphis/Germantown, perhaps bring one into the Medical District.
Your transit system could be re-designed. Instead of concentrating your bus transfer points close to the airport, one should have been north/northeast of there close to Poplar @ Highland for a more North/South East/West orientation in the city.
Perhaps Beale needs more than just music and alcohol. Good restaurants, ice cream shops, things to round out a visit to a tourist attraction.
I know that there is a push to develop the Pinch but be careful. Too much bad design has occurred across most of the country. Keep it real and make it Memphis.
Tons of things that can be done and I sure that the locals have a lot more suggestions/improvements.
Mark Drews says:
Good points Outsider. Agreed about Beale Street. Right now it’s not family friendly. Better quality music bars and good restaurants are badly needed. Right now it just doesn’t seem very authentic.
Something needs to be done about North Main before tackling the empty lots of the Pinch area. This will take decades and St Jude alone won’t be the magic answer. Bass Pro attracts shoppers but I doubt many visit the rest of downtown. They just get on the interstate and head east or back to Arkansas.
38103 says:
Pet friendly gathering spots like Loflin Yard. I personally would prefer a cat cafe. South “Mane” Cat Cafe or “Cat Square” feline film festival.
Just dreaming out loud…
Outsider-In-The-State says:
I don’t how many “external” visitors that Bass attracts but have you’ll ever considered have some type of tourist bus/trolley that would stop at the Bass store? Perhaps if visitors spend a certain amount of money they could ride for free to all the downtown attractions? Sorta of a get on and get off at any stop along the way. But make it a circulator, so that the tourists would know that it would circle back to Bass. In some ways, Bass could act as a paid parking lot for visitors.
Also, if you really want to jump-start the Pinch, build a walk-way across those tracks and put some restaurants over there. Surely, there could be a decent Bar-B-Q restaurant that would open up there. A mix of designs, (historical and modern), would make the Pinch more interesting to visit. Could Memphis relocate one of its many museums to that area?
By the way, some of us on the East side cannot wait to play U of M in basketball again……..
RGee says:
If you consider downtown from a tourism, dining, spectator sports, or even residential inventory perspective, downtown is probably as strong or stronger than its even been in the past 40 years.
But…there are major issues in other aspects related to downtown that have remained unresolved for many years, despite isolated success stories. My priorities would be:
- End-to-end connectivity, usefulness, and integration of the riverfront (plus Mud Island) into the modern urban lifestyle (as well as connectivity to the rest of downtown).
- Adaptive re-use of the “big empties” (namely Sterick and 100 N. Main) in a fashion that hopefully brings more office jobs back downtown, among other potential re-uses.
- A larger-scale convention hotel to attract bigger events (perhaps at One Beale, perhaps elsewhere).
- Stable, long-term, forward-thinking management for Beale Street so that it remains a culturally relevant and economically viable tourism magnet for years to come.
I believe that a strong civic push behind these four priorities would strengthen downtown and would spur the market to fill the remaining holes (Pinch, etc.) in the area in a useful, complementary fashion.
**
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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.
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 renewell. Let nature prevail where
Commerce has failed.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I love walking downtown on Harahan Bridge, the Bluffwalk, or in Mississippi Greenbelt Park–occassionly on Mud Is. Then pick up breakfast at Miss Cordilia’s, Blue Plate Cafe or The Office. I’m not sure I would stay in Memphis without the wonderful riverfront and the Old Forest of Overton Park!
I admit, its hard not to be negative about downtown and Memphis in general. However, most of the complainers are not bringing up anything new. This city has been in deep trouble for more than a half century. This is a poverty stricken city and downtown reflects that. I go downtown a lot and my greatest frustration is with the unbelievable potential that has not been realized. Oddly enough, I’ve lived in Atlanta and like to live here better.