In recent years many failed public housing projects have been redeveloped into mixed income HOPE VI neighborhoods. The theory goes that concentrated physically isolated low income housing projects trapped people in poverty and kept families dependent on government aid from generation to generation. By integrating different kinds of people at a variety of economic levels … Continue reading Legends Park
Memphis is full of commemorative plaques that declare the spot where so-and-so once lived or operated a successful business, or where a prominent religious or cultural center was erected. These were genuine millionaires, bankers, insurance executives, war heroes, political figures, scholars, and philanthropists. I learned a lot about the trajectory of the city and its … Continue reading Solvent Savings
Danny Thomas Boulevard is technically State Highway One which runs the full breadth of Tennessee and cuts a deep north/south trench through Memphis. Highways are important. They connect towns and cities and facilitate commerce and all the rest. We need them. But in the center of a city they can be designed well or poorly. … Continue reading Danny Thomas Almost Killed Me
. . . . . This is the Bass Pro Shops flagship store inside the Memphis Pyramid. It feels like the love child of Dolly Parton and I.M. Pei. It’s part civic icon and part retail fantasia complete with an indoor climate controlled cypress swamp. A mermaid in a seashell brassiere invites guests to a … Continue reading Easy Payments
I just returned from a week long confab with a group that’s trying to revitalize a long neglected neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee. I go to these gatherings because I love the people. They’re smart, charming, and passionate. We hang out, talk late into the night, eat well, and bounce ideas off each other. The people … Continue reading Memphis: Setting the Scene
Last year a neighbor began flying a State of Jefferson flag on the side of his house that faces mine. I had no idea what it represented, so I looked it up. Short version: the 23 rural northern counties of California want to break away from the rest of the state so they can do … Continue reading The State of Jefferson
Granola Shotgun 