Memphis was a star of the Progressive Era a century ago, building a national reputation for parks, parkways and city beautiful programs that ushered in an era of economic growth.
History does indeed repeat itself, but normally, it needs people to make it happen. Today, the first signs of a similarly historic parks agenda are coming into focus, but before it becomes reality, Memphis will have to shift its traditional love for building projects to a newfound love of place-making.
A committee is overseeing development of a plan by an internationally known designer for the 4,500 acres of Shelby Farms Park – twice as large as New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park combined - that will maximize its fortuitous location near the center of the county.
Grand Plans
The Wolf River Conservancy is making progress with its 38-mile greenway connecting the eastern edge of Shelby County to downtown Memphis, and it’s already given birth to the magnificent Wolf River Wildlife Park, a 2,167-acre park in Collierville.
The Greater Memphis Greenline is envisioned for an abandoned 13-mile CSX rail line, creating a “Rails to Trails” project to include light rail and connect Cordova and Shelby Farms Park with Midtown and Orange Mound. (First, the railroad must quit looking to gouge local government and get reasonable about negotiating the price for the acreage.)
The Riverfront Development Corporation has already upgraded the appearance and maintenance of riverfront and has plans for improvements that would elevate the city’s waterfront (and hopefully bring a water fountain to Tom Lee Park).
Alone, each of these projects is a valuable and distinctive asset for Shelby County, but together, they could become an embarrassment of riches, a network of green resources that unite the new county with the old. While the Progressive Era proved how parks can transform a city, more to the point, a number of our regional rivals are today showing how investments in parkland pay dividends, including quality of place, recruitment of talent, urban neighborhood redevelopment, and economic growth.
Parks As Priorities
That’s why a renaissance of city parks is already under way. Since 1995, more than $25 billion in new funding for parkland has been approved at the polls, where more than 80 percent of all park referenda are passed.
Meanwhile, according to the Trust for Public Land, the minimum threshold for city spending on parks is $64 per resident, and Memphis doesn’t even come close. Also, the average percentage of a city’s land area dedicated to parkland is about 10 percent, and again, Memphis falls short by half. it’s no coincidence that Memphis ranks low on the list of cities investing in parks and high on the list of unhealthiest cities in Self and Men’s Health.
In the heated competition between cities for the 25-34 year-old, highly-educated workers who are the gold standard for the New Economy, outdoor recreation is proving to be an irresistible competitive advantage. That’s why Louisville is creating thousands of acres in new parks, Nashville has announced a $151 million park program; Atlanta is beginning a $2 billion, 22-mile linear park; the Research Triangle is adding 158,000 of green space over the next two decades; and Chicago built the incomparable Millennium Park which has already generated more than $3 billion in economic spinoffs.
Here, we have a chance to compete at that level. All of the projects under way can be completed and become part of an interconnected outdoor recreation system for a cost that is less than half of the FedExForum. The patron saint of the environmental movement, John Muir, said: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else.” That could be especially true in Memphis, but it won’t come without an unprecedented level of cooperation between government, green groups, and business.
Greening Memphis
Preliminary indications are promising, as some major environmental groups and Leadership Memphis have begun talks about the best way to create and stimulate a countywide “greening” movement.
Those involved in these talks can look to the research laboratories of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital if they ever question the importance of their discussions. Every year, about 250 of the smartest post-doctoral graduates in the world are recruited to the hospital, where its positive reputation for its working conditions and support for its researchers make it a highly desirable assignment.
Unfortunately, at the end of their research period, about the same number of researchers leave. When a representative of the graduates was asked recently what could convince them to stay in Memphis, the answer was quick and direct: “More outdoor recreation.”
That’s why in the end, we need to build more than projects. More to the point, we need to invest in the quality of place that ultimately is the difference between a good city and a great one.
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2 comments:
Memphis needs to stop annexing areas with few or no parks. That would help the ratio. And I'm sure those who were annexed would like to see their tax dollars for parks in their neighborhoods.
I do question the numbers tho so I'd like to see your source.
For instance, did the count include Shelby Farms? Shelby Farms isn't part of the Memphis Park system but it mostly certainly now an urban park.
Shelby Forest is probably one of most overlooked and underused secrets in the area and again not part of the Memphis Park system (which is probably a good thing).
The Wolf River Conservancy's plans go further than the boundary of Shelby County. The crown jewel of the Wolf River is the Ghost River section in Fayette County. Memphis is dragging its feet on its portion.
The Greater Memphis Greenline has to overcome the hostile reception to the idea by many of those who live along the line. I was at a meeting that got very heated.
What is the definition of "outdoor recreation" as used by the representative for those leaving the city? Was he referring to the ability to ride bikes and jog or places to go whitewater kayaking, hiking, scuba, etc. The first we can work on; the latter is a matter of location.
Then, of course, there is the issue of how to pay for your vision.
The city's surging economy has fueled a surplus after three years of deficits. But there is a lot of comepetition for that money ... more police to get crime under control, improvements to long neglected neighborhoods like Binghamton (Broad Street) and Frayser - just to name two, etc.
It's easy to pontificate from the peanut gallery but a lot more difficult to be answerable to constituents with competing interests.
Larry: Thanks for the comment. The source material is from the Trust for Public Land, and it includes about 3,300 acres of Shelby Farms that is open for park use. Even with that, Memphis is low on the rankings. Parks were once a top priority of city government, and the problem is that they no longer area. The first thing to do is to elevate the importance of parks in the city budget. It's affordable and it's doable without driving up the budget costs. It's a matter of making choices that are in the best interest of the entire city, rather than adopting a capital budget in which the Council treats Memphis as a Balkanized enclaves with no common goals. We've put together public budgets, so this isn't an abstract to us. It can be done. It only takes commitment at the top. The goal of city government needs to create a walkable, bikable city in which a park is within walking distance of every citizen. It's not about community centers; it's about parks. You may think we're in the peanut gallery now, but we've all worked in the public sector and we understand how this can be done. That's why we are frustrated by the inaction.
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