Friday, July 24, 2009
Roads V. Retail
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 8:30 AM
[In this week's Memphis Flyer, I wrote about Memphis' new outer loop, I-269. For the next few days, I'll be posting extra maps and graphics that go along with that story.]
For a presentation to the Memphis City Council, consultant John Lawrence prepared several maps that plotted retail development against highway construction.
"People can argue that [highway expansion] isn't the only reason [for sprawl], and that's true: crime, education, old homes —Â there are a million arguments," he said. "But there is no question that where people have moved and built has followed some type of road expansion."
In the paper, we showcased two of his maps, one from 1964 and one from 2009. But to see a more clear progression, all one has to do is view retail development in 10 year intervals.
This, understandably, might make some people nervous.
Alan Gumbel is the interim head of the Southeast Memphis CDC. He says that area of town stands "on a knife's edge" because of the new I-269 loop, and cites the new Norfolk Southern hub in Fayette County among his concerns.
The new intermodel hub, which will employ 400 people and was built in part to its proximity to I-269, will mean new warehouse space in Fayette County.
"In this case, development will move out of Shelby County and into Fayette County. You have to wonder what's going to happen with the warehouse space already here. ... Vacant warehouses don't provide tax revenue," he says.
Vacant buildings, if not maintained, can also contribute to blight and safety concerns.
"The people who are left in the neighborhood are those not able to move on," he says. "It creates a concentration of poverty in the neighborhood, and that's part of what's happened in Southeast Memphis. It's not white flight; it's economic flight."
I was particularly interested in this point and asked U of M grad student Dane Forlines if he would chart the migration of income. He, of course, could and did.
First, here's the key.
Comments (2)
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To understand the sprawl and spread East, you have to take into account the geographical location and origins of Memphis.
Memphis was a cotton trading city. So the river was the money and life of Memphis. Since this started before the era of cars and interstates, people needed to be close to the river because you could only ride your horse so far.
And since you can't really develop on the Arkansas side of the river, this caused the unique position of the metaphorical center of town being on the literal edge of town as the population boomed. (See St Louis as an example where you can develop on the other side of the river)
Now that cotton is over and cars and interstates are around, the center of town is moving to the literal center of town which is where and why the Clark Tower was built where it is. "Downtown Memphis" was doomed to die the day vehicles where born and the cotton industry went global.
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Wicketr. As you can see, Clark Towers location was real inspiration. It has nothing to do with pansy ass people fleeing to the suburbs, then fleeing again, then fleeing again, then fleeing again,fleeing again, then fleeing again, then fleeing again,fleeing again, then fleeing again, then fleeing again,fleeing again, then fleeing again, then fleeing again,
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