Comments on: Urban Indifference: Planters, Parking, Cobblestones

By: Urbanut

Urbanut — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:36:56 +0000

Pack- true. I am still curious as to the exact nature of the responsibilities of the downtown comission as a BID.

By: packrat

packrat — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:33:10 +0000

“In contrast, Nashville has allocated $15 million for sidewalks this year.”

Most Nashville streets never had sidewalks to start with, most streets in Memphis did. Nashville is playing catchup on the sidewalk issue.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:55:57 +0000

want do you people expect ?? it’s MEMPHIS ! not some dynamic, progressive or really forward-thinking, prideful city that’s “on the move”.

get real

and the CVS structure does scream stupidity, so do the cobblestones, so does the airport design/element, so does the school system, so does the crime, so does the racism and blame, so does the design of Germantown Parkway/Cordova, so does I40….and a ton of other things.

gee, I’m not surprised one bit

By: Urbanut

Urbanut — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:14:29 +0000

Now I am confused, perhaps not a surprise to some regular readers. I though the purpose of a Business Improvement District (BID) such as the Downtown Memphis Commission was to provide for the beautification of the entire district- am I mistaken?

In this case, we seem to have beautification projects outside the responsibility of the DMC- fine and good as long as they are maintained. This probably goes back to the very basic issue regarding the range of responsibilities addressed by the DMC.

SCM et al – I know this will require a rehash of previous discussions, but can we review the very specific maintenance tasks for which the DMC is responsible for the sake of clarity?

By: Smart City Memphis

Smart City Memphis — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:59:18 +0000

j.c.h.summer: This planter is on the north side of Union near the intersection of Front Street. Whose responsibility is it? How do we know which ones are city responsibility and which are not? Perhaps, we could then contact non-city parties and ask for better maintenance.

By: j.c.h.sumner@gmail.com

j.c.h.sumner@gmail.com — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:24:58 +0000

Regarding the picture of the overgrown planter: you would have a very difficult time finding one that is the responsibility of the city that looks that terrible! The Downtown Memphis Commission spends plenty on planting and maintaining the planters at the civic center, Court Square and all the planters along Main Street Mall. We will post some current photos ASAP.

By: Judith Johnson

Judith Johnson — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:50:45 +0000

Me thinks Mr. Lendermon offers a very disingenuous reply to Joe Spake’s observation about the current condition of the cobblestones. The RDC has practiced demolition by neglect on the Memphis Cobblestone Landing for the pastdecade that it has been under their control.

If he would bother to ask Jimmy ogle, one of the RDC’s current employees, they would find out that herbicides were hand applied for decades to curtail vegetation growth which by the way was never a problem when it was working landing). And furthermore the current plan for restoration as proposed insures that this Industrial-age artifact will never be a working landing, free and avialable to the general public, again.

By: eat

eat — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:38:35 +0000

A couple of observations about sidewalk condition and maintenance, a subject about which I am currently somewhat obsessed. First, the maintenance of sidewalks in front of private property is the responsibility of the property owner. Many owners are not aware of this and others may just not have the money because those repairs are expensive. Second, the city has not (as I understand it) put any money for sidewalks in the CIP budget for the past three years. In contrast, Nashville has allocated $15 million for sidewalks this year. As Mayor Wharton and others work to make the city more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, I hope that sidewalks get the attention they deserve. Sidewalks aren’t as sexy as bike lanes, but they are key to transportation, recreation, and the appearance of the city and its neighborhoods.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:30:35 +0000

If you really want to get a sense of the extent of the neglect of our sidewalks downtown, go for a run. I did the other day and avoided the waterfront because of the wind. I ran around the south main area and back around to the redbirds stadium, spending some time on Danny T., Beale, etc. Even in the south main area where we are trying to create some kind of restaurant/gallery/living space, the sidewalks are abysmal. Cracked, uneven, disgraceful. Every city has some bad sidewalks, but this is nuts. At least in the areas where we hope there to be some pedestrians every now and again, we really need to do something about this. (and don’t get me started on the rest of Main, with its odd collection of gravel pits that have spilled all over the place.

By: the real anon

the real anon — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:10:27 +0000

Good Lord. That CVS building has ‘Nashville’ written all over it. No offense, Nashville.

By: Urbanut

Urbanut — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:23:56 +0000

I continue to do my best to avoid the corner of Cooper and Union whenever possible. This excuse for contextual design is patronizing and I agree it is perhaps the ugliest building built along a major city street in years.

Regarding the issues of downtown planters- if maintenance is such a difficult task and adjacent property owners are uninterested in taking it upon themselves to care for the planters, would it be better to simply remove them completely?

Per the parking- if the police refuse to address this issue, perhaps it is time to simply eliminate a lane of travel in those blocks, stripe for parking and add parking meters. The city be able to gather some sort of monetary compensation for the use of this public space.