What were the turning points for Memphis?

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by Jardine8

On the "defund the police" topic, there was a push at the County level by certain Shelby County Commissioners to cut some funding to the Shelby County Sheriff's department in 2020. Thankfully, it failed. Tami Sawyer was the most visible County Commissioner pushing for it but "defunding" cuts at the County level were supported also by Van Turner, Reginald Milton & Mickell Lowery. Thank God that Tami didn't win when she ran for mayor.


https://www.commercialappeal.com/sto...nd/5333681002/

That's what I was writing about. People want to blame defund the police movement that didn't exists. Police departments don't prevent crime. They never have and never will. Its all about guns, drugs and a vulnerable and misguided population on many levels.

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I'm missing the link why Memphis should be involved in AI careers? Technological advancement at the forefront requires deep ecosystems and infrastructure of engineering talent, capital funding, etc... that we typically see in DC/NOVA, Seattle, the Bay Area, NYC, Boston. I'm not saying Memphis and Tennessee shouldn't work with their strengths, but I think it would be an incredibly heavy lift for Memphis to enter the AI labor market in a meaningful way.

There is no link. I never wrote that there was. There is no story because Tennessee and Memphis decided not to create and build it.

With Memphis being a distribution and logistics hub, the area could have easily been preparing to take off but there was no planning.

Why let Boston and Seattle have all the prosperity from STEM?

[Johnny Wadd]

I think the real downfall was when King Willie started his consolidation of the rest of Shelby County a couple decades back. Memphis before that was a mess yes, but it did have good suburbs in the unincorporated county and you had development and businesses move into Memphis itself (Autozone and Fedex). The idea was to increase tax revenue by incorporating the richer suburbs, but consolidation simply brought the Memphis plight, the bad schools, the drugs, the useless uneducated police force, into the rest of the metro area except for a few areas outside of Willie Herenton's fiefdom - Germantown, Collierville, and of course Desoto County to the south. White flight and even middle class black flight moved en masse to these sanctuaries, can you blame them? The North MS suburbs became some of the fastest growing areas in the US at that time.

The final blow was the Memphis Pyramid debacle, basically a useless ego structure that made a bunch of Memphis politicians rich via kickbacks. What was meant as the symbol of Memphis sophistication and growth became an embarrassment. It went unused for years until finally selling to an outdoor recreation retailer.

[Jardine8]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

That's what I was writing about. People want to blame defund the police movement that didn't exists. Police departments don't prevent crime. They never have and never will. Its all about guns, drugs and a vulnerable and misguided population on many levels.


There is no link. I never wrote that there was. There is no story because Tennessee and Memphis decided not to create and build it.

With Memphis being a distribution and logistics hub, the area could have easily been preparing to take off but there was no planning.

Why let Boston and Seattle have all the prosperity from STEM?

The very fact that a "defund the police" movement even gained any traction at all among certain "leaders" in the city is pretty damning of those leaders and of the population who elects them. No matter what anyone thinks about the capabilities and competencies of MPD, they have to exist and Memphis would look like scenes from "Escape from New York" pretty quickly without MPD or with a greatly-diminished MPD. So, yes, defunding didn't happen but the fact that it was even discussed or seriously considered was absurd.

[Spartan Burger]

Originally Posted by odieluck

Half my family is from Memphis, and I was born there, and there are a lot of aspects of the place I love. The culture, the music, the hospitality, is all quite comforting to me when I am there. But the negatives unfortunately outweigh the charm when it comes to choosing a place to live, and keep Memphis from moving forward. We all know what the problems are: crime, poor race relations, bad schools, corruption, etc. I know the history, from Crump to Herenton, and I wonder sometimes at what point along could things have gone differently? Could Memphis have ever been a great southern metropolis like Atlanta or Houston?

I wasn't born in Memphis but lived there in the 90's. First, let me say that Memphis' problems began long ago with the Yellow Fever epidemic of the 1870's. This city lost its charter and thousands, especially the wealthy, moved away never to return. The city moved on from that but I'm not sure it has ever really recovered. Moreover, the city has lost a lot of industry and commerce since World War II. Meanwhile, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc. began their rise about this time.

It hasn't helped that Memphis has experienced crime, corruption, and urban decay. Race relations have never been good. Even the city's great Mid-South location is a double edged sword. The city is surrounded by the mostly low-income agriculturally-based states of Arkansas, Mississippi, and the Missouri Boothill. Most of West Tennessee to the east of Memphis is rural, conservative, and slow-growing.

I was in Memphis, Dallas, and Nashville last week. Downtown Memphis has scant corporate presence compared to the others. I don't think downtown has seen a decent skyscraper built in 35 years. That said, downtown has a thriving tourist economy and the never ending East Memphis suburbs continue to grow and prosper. You cannot underestimate the presence of FedEx to the Memphis economy and its not going anywhere.

I think Memphis has gobs of potential to move forward. Its location is unbeatable. Four mainline interstate highways (I-22, I-40, I-55, and I-69) converge in or near the city. It has a marvelous if not world-class airport anchored by FedEx, a river port, and overall good infrastructure. Cost of living is low. Beyond the region Memphis has a good reputation for food, music, and history, and attracts tourists by the boatloads. And then there's Ford's Blue Oval project. A long drive from downtown Memphis but it will help the region.

[recycled]

Memphis before Elvis.
Memphis after Elvis.

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by Spartan Burger

It has a marvelous if not world-class airport

LOL, are you SERIOUS?!?

[Comingtomemphis]

The new airport is quite nice.

[jjbradleynyc]

I think the region's historical connection to the poorer region of the Mississippi Delta and the lack of high paying job opportunities, are factors that hinder growth overall, for Memphis.

And the high-paying, big name companies largely don't ever include Memphis in their relocation/expansion conversations.

I think the beginning of Memphis' turning point in the wrong direction was definitely the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. And the 1970s saw a movement out of the city, and residents taking up residence in the suburbs.

And the region did not see a huge benefit in growth like a lot of cities did, in the 90s, 00s, and twenty teens--in infrastructure, new towers, jobs and population growth.

I still feel like Memphis is a hidden gem in a lot of ways, though. And I think it could potentially grow well in the future, with a few changes to lower crime, bring jobs to the area, and take advantage of the fact they are in a fast-growth, low tax state like Tennessee.

[GWoodle]

One turning point may have been with the routing of I-40 that could have gone thru Memphis but as built has a roundabout way around town. A similar problem exists with 1-55 coming up from the south. You had 2 bottleneck interchanges. Maybe now once the Crump interchange is completed this could be corrected.

Memphis dodged a bullet with the problems on the I-40 Mississippi bridge. Surprise there isn't a plan for a 3rd interstate bridge someday.

I-69 is waiting for funding to complete a route north to Dyersburg someday. Not sure about route of I-22. In a way this shows poor planning by TDOT.