The South Main District is one of my favorite areas of town. One of the older areas of Memphis, it was once devoted to light industry when cotton was king ,and Mom and Pop stores were the norm. It is being re-imagined as an arts and restaurant area and doing reasonably well. When I took these pictures it was Saturday morning and not much was happening and I plan to go back at night to show off the contrast.
Memphis like many cities, just isn't sure what to do with the downtown area. There is Beale street, and the Fed-Ex Forum, and the one thing the city really did right: Auto Zone Park. I am not a huge baseball fan but no matter where you sit to see the Red Birds play the vantage point is just great. Leaders in Memphis are trying to stretch out the convention trade. They are also surrounding all of the major attractions including the South Main District with luxury condos. I am not sure who will be living there, and I know the argument: luxury condos are better than empty buildings. I remain unconvinced of that. Near where I work, also in the downtown area, there has been a half hearted attempt to build some "mixed social housing". The idea is great there is nothing surrounding it that will contribute to the formulation of an actual neighborhood: grocery stores,or any kind of shopping. So, whoever buys there, will still have to hop in the car and drive somewhere to seek out essential services. In that sense, it seems designed to fail so that folks can promote the argument that mixed social housing just doesn't work.
Rebecca Solnit wrote an excellent article about Detroit, "Detroit Arcadia" in the July issue of Harper's Magazine makes some observations about that city that apply aptly to Memphis. She notes that," Detroit has become a fortress of urban poverty, surrounded by suburban affluence, the city's waterfront has become a fortress within a fortress, with a convention center, a new ballpark..." (p67) Memphis like Detroit has been subject to white flight. When I lived in Memphis, I lived in the city not the suburbs, and my white colleagues were horrified. Solnit reminds us that many American cities has shed their past," San Franscisco"... " was a blue collar port town until the waterfront dried up and the longshoremen faded away." (p70) Many American cities in what was once the manufacturing belt had a vibrant working class living in the city and while suburban growth has always been a feature of post WWII America, cities themselves have become something else entirely. Solnit argues that," new American cities trade in information, entertainment, tourism, software, and finance. They are abstract." (p70)
I fear that as much as I enjoy the South Main District with the restaurants and small art galleries, it ultimately exists to serve the growing luxury condo and housing population downtown to create the illusion of a city thus ignoring the poverty just a few streets away and tacitly admitting that most people will elect to remain in the suburbs.
The Arcade Restaurant is both a National Historic Monument, and the oldest restaurant in Memphis. The food isn't fancy, but it is tasty, and they serve breakfast all day. I have only ever had breakfast there and it attracts a real cross-section of the city. Artists, old time locals, and politicians eat there. Memphis is really a big small town, I used to see the mayor at the grocery store and Starbucks on a pretty regular basis. Nice guy in person, very gracious. Very unpopular because he tends to lose that with the press, sometimes for legitimate reasons.
The dog waited patiently outside while his owner zipped inside for a moment. He got a treat but it did not look like bacon or eggs.
Driving around the city I still occasionally see corner stores that carry "sundries" and this place now sits empty.
The Central Train Station has been mainly converted into boutiques and some small art galleries. I have been to a few showings mainly because one of my buddies dates an artist who actually makes his daily bread living by being a tennis coach.
There was actually an idle train behind the station, note it comes complete with graffiti.
Looks like a generator or pump station.
All is quiet on a Saturday morning.
Music still gets made in Memphis, the place with the black sign is a small recording studio I am not familiar with.
A free trolley runs in the downtown area. Although I hear it gets under used, when I hit South Main at night for food and drink I see folks.
Is this progress? I am not sure, my suspicion is that it will become condos that the average Memphian cannot afford.
Walking down the street I ran into some random "wall art", artist unknown. Maybe the Buffalo once almost destroyed, are a metaphor for the way modern America has become a suburban society supported by an urban shell. I hope to come back at night to capture the night time vibe, but I wanted to give you a sense of what the downtown once was and how it is trying to re-define itself.
Hope y'all enjoy the pictures. Share your photos of the downtown of your city.