How to improve our city... (Memphis: houses, live, law)

[PhillyIndy]

Originally Posted by Tigertate

That seems like a great idea for Memphis.

OK, who is connected or understands the process of getting ideas in front of some sort of group?

I would love to discuss this with some sort of Memphis development group or something...

[Tigertate]

We could always send the information to the City Council people. Their individual e-mail addresses are on the COM web site.

Memphis City Council


You have to click the district link to see the representative and get their e-mail address.

[Kabluey]

Originally Posted by PhillyIndy

An approach that worked in my now adopted hometown of Philly was propery tax abatement within the city.

If you fix up a house, you can file for an abatement that will hold the taxes at pre-renovation rates for 10 years.

It brought people into the city, and they brought their money, population didn't grow much but there were more home owners. More eyes and feet on the street, certain schools got better, vacant shops were filled, etc

Give people a financial incentive to come and own in the city, and over time the city will improve. It might also slow down the sprawl to the east

I don't know if Baltimore's Reservoir Hill attracted interest for young professional redevelopment of abandoned or neglected homes through tax abatements, but I know that it appears to be pretty successful. Reservoir Hill Improvement Council

Maybe a combination of these two ideas (and maybe more) could be applied, using one city neighborhood as a test case, then broadening it. I love the tax abatement idea, maybe limit it to homeowners, and not homes that turn into rentals?

[psi2007]

Originally Posted by Joyce234

Maybe Memphis would be safer if we could come up with a better school bus system. My Grand daughter lives in Cordova and the bus has left her 10 yr. old daughter standing at her school bus stop 6 times this year. That is not safe for little girl. The school says they don't care and the number they gave her to call just gives run-around. Help!!!

Stop making calls and start writing. Write a letter to the school principal, the transportation division and the superintendent. Also write to the First Student Bus company headquarters (find their address on the internet). Call the Mayors Service Center (901-576-6500). They investigate pretty quickly.
Call or write to Senator Cohen too. Memphis cannot keep this half-a**ed performance up and think they really are a city. This is how we lose people and companies that affect our reputation. Attack this problem from all sides and you'll fix it. I'm with you.

[mjtinmemphis]

Organize, densify and regionalize.

If Memphis where to plan to densify areas between downtown and midtown (20 to 30k people per sq mi). Increase the workforce in that area to 200 to 250k. Have a city population of 1.2 million metro of 2 million. Memphis will have a vibrancy that will make it the king of the south.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

Organize, densify and regionalize.

If Memphis where to plan to densify areas between downtown and midtown (20 to 30k people per sq mi). Increase the workforce in that area to 200 to 250k. Have a city population of 1.2 million metro of 2 million. Memphis will have a vibrancy that will make it the king of the south.

the city of manhattan does not meet such a requirement for the density numbers listed above. why would memphis be realistically expected to do so?
i certainly agree that memphis should return to its former density numbers, if not more. i saw the show on detroit the other night in which the mayor was proposing the reduction of the city proper, move the one or two families living on entire blighted blocks, but needing and expecting the services and infrastructure that should be given to them, move them to a consolidated number of blocks in an area of many citizens, and decrease the city proper, thus its infrastructure requirements. it may be a viable option for many cities.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by psi2007

Stop making calls and start writing. Write a letter to the school principal, the transportation division and the superintendent. Also write to the First Student Bus company headquarters (find their address on the internet). Call the Mayors Service Center (901-576-6500). They investigate pretty quickly.
Call or write to Senator Cohen too. Memphis cannot keep this half-a**ed performance up and think they really are a city. This is how we lose people and companies that affect our reputation. Attack this problem from all sides and you'll fix it. I'm with you.

i would, first, dismiss the individual that is responsible for the 6 missed appointments to catch the bus. if that didn't correct the problem, i would use the power of the pen.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by Kabluey

I don't know if Baltimore's Reservoir Hill attracted interest for young professional redevelopment of abandoned or neglected homes through tax abatements, but I know that it appears to be pretty successful. Reservoir Hill Improvement Council

Maybe a combination of these two ideas (and maybe more) could be applied, using one city neighborhood as a test case, then broadening it. I love the tax abatement idea, maybe limit it to homeowners, and not homes that turn into rentals?

too, when you add the homeowners component requirement then you add the shareholders initiative, which tends to stabilize the deals.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by PhillyIndy

OK, who is connected or understands the process of getting ideas in front of some sort of group?

I would love to discuss this with some sort of Memphis development group or something...

what about the uptown district, crosstown (sears building), the pinch district, and stabilization of the neighbors around rhodes, to name a few.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by kingchef

the city of manhattan does not meet such a requirement for the density numbers listed above. why would memphis be realistically expected to do so?
i certainly agree that memphis should return to its former density numbers, if not more. i saw the show on detroit the other night in which the mayor was proposing the reduction of the city proper, move the one or two families living on entire blighted blocks, but needing and expecting the services and infrastructure that should be given to them, move them to a consolidated number of blocks in an area of many citizens, and decrease the city proper, thus its infrastructure requirements. it may be a viable option for many cities.

The borough of Manhattan has over 70k ppsm.

The entire city of Memphis doesn't need to be as dense as the downtown and midtown area. Those are very doable numbers given the size of Memphis. That would give the city a vibrancy that people talk about and would be healthy for brt and lrt.