Wrapping Up 10 Things We Love About Memphis

Here's one more list of 10 Things You Love About Memphis, and a final comment by Charlie Santo, whose "Live Where You Live" movement started it all. Thanks to all of you for your contributions.

From Aaron:

1. Trees everywhere
2. Central BBQ
3. Being anywhere in 30 minutes
4. Being 3 blocks from Cafe Eclectic
5. The music at the Levitt Shell
6. Snowden Elementary
7. Slower pace of life- watching my plants grow in the spring with a fresh cup of coffee each morning
8. Memphis inner city kids and the organizations that work with them
9. Memphis blogging community
10. Watching the Mississippi M-bridge sunset.

A Word from Charlie Santo:

Thanks for giving so much time to this dialogue. It has been very encouraging. We started the Live Where You Live campaign in part out of frustration with the tired, but overwhelming negativity, that pervades here. So this concentration of positivity has been refreshing.

I recognize now that our affection for Memphis is not rare -- and it’s not only there when we ask for it. Memphians love Memphis all the time. And even those who complain loudly often do so only because they are so affected by what is wrong with the place they love. We’re just hoping that when we face challenges, rather than letting negativity take over, we focus on why Memphis is worth fighting for.

On Saturday, I took my daughter to a friend’s birthday party at the Happy Mexican restaurant near South Main. While she played with friends from her class at Downtown Elementary (which should have been on my list), I chatted with a few of the other dads. Unprompted, the conversation turned to the virtues of Memphis: diversity (we were white, black, and Indian), authenticity, friendliness, etc. All of us in the conversation had spent significant parts of our lives in other places – New Delhi, New York, Richmond, Portland, etc. – but none of us had ever felt more at home than we do in Memphis.

If anyone wants to share more, please check out Live Where You Live and click on the icon in the upper left or join our Facebook group.