One of the great success stories of the past decade is creation of the conservancy to manage Shelby Farms Park. It produced a visionary masterplan, it raised record amounts of money to upgrade the park, it brought a new level of professionalism to park operations, and it expanded its vision to include connectivity, which made the Greenline a reality.
Now lovers of Overton Park want to do the same for the most important 342 acres in Memphis. The good news is that all of us have a chance to have a voice in the decision and to share our opinions.
Overton Park is not just a model urban park. It’s Memphis’ best public realm. It’s also a reminder of one of the most impressive chapters in the city’s history, when Memphis was a beacon in the U.S.’s Progressive Era.
A Proud Era
Memphis quadrupled its size in 1899 when it annexed seven square miles. John Olmstead, son of the legendary Frederick Law Olmstead Sr., father of New York’s Central Park, was hired to lay out new parks but he said, after touring Memphis on a bicycle, that because of the growth of Memphis, it should develop two large parks, one on the river south of the city and the other at the eastern border connected by a system of parkways.
The city purchased about 342 acres of on old farm tract called Lea’s Woods, which became the early Overton Park, and 340 acres on the Mississippi River which became Riverside Park. In the end, the complex and ambitious Memphis project included the redesign and development of three of the city’s four original 1819 squares; the design of three new small urban parks, including Forrest, Confederate, and Gaston Parks; the design and development of Overton and Riverside Parks; and the design for the new system of parkways to connect these parks and spur development in the newly annexed areas. By the end of 1906, more than 1,750 acres of parkland had been purchased, designed, developed, and opened.
From the beginning, it was clear that Overton Park had a special place in the hearts of Memphians. It’s a connection that continues to this day.
Lessons to Relearn
There are many parallels from the Progressive Era to present day Memphis – the emphasis on Overton Park as an instrument for a better city, strong civic leadership, and more progressive city leadership. It is timely to focus on our traditions – when government inspired us with the vision of a better city and quality of life.
Chief among these lessons was that it was a group of well-educated, well-traveled, and prosperous Memphians who created the Greater Memphis Movement that drove the Progressive Era here. That too seems a perfect parallel for the coalition that has come together to advocate for more attention to Overton Park.
They describe their purpose this way: “A group of local advocates, preservationists, ecologists, business leaders, and educators are working to gather our community’s ideas for a long-term strategic plan for Overton Park. Our intent is to maintain the city’s ownership of the park, while decreasing its obligation — and burden to taxpayers — over time. We believe it is essential to protect and improve our park’s public spaces.”
Raise Your Voice
This coalition is in the fact-finding phase of their work and they are soliciting the opinions of all of us to reimagine the future of Overton Park. Overton Park is common ground for everyone, but means different things to each of us. What do we agree on? What problems do we need to solve together?
This is your chance to weigh in. For example, we believe that all options for the use of the land occupied by the golf course should be considered, particularly with an eye to increase usage. We’ve registered that opinion. It’s not often that are asked for our opinions and ideas, so this is a special chance to get engaged in this exciting work.
To take the survey, click here, but do it by August 8. Results will be summarized and published by the end of August. We’ve seen the impact of the Conservancy at Shelby Farms Park, and it’s worth remembering that much of the design of the organization’s vision and approach were based on the opinion of the public.
Now, it’s our chance to do the same at Overton Park, so we hope you’ll take a few minutes to complete the survey and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Memphis will always regret the day that the tree hugging libs stood in the way of Highway 40 plowing right through that damn park. All that park is not is a haven for perverts, druggies, punks and thug gang bangers. Meanwhile, Memphis continues to suffer from not have highway right through it’s middle to connect east memphis/suburbs with downtown.
Hey Barbara Swearengin Holt, is that you?
Mike: I don’t know if you are old enough to have been around when this issue was debated and litigated. I happened to be a newspaper reporter assigned to the court case. I went in unopinionated but left convinced that the idea to drive the interstate through Overton Park was not only a lousy idea but that the State of Tennessee overlooked other reasonable options because it saw parks as “free land” and it could not prove that it had given any due diligence to any other options. And as I recall, the traffic engineers said the absence of that leg would add 5-8 minutes more a day to getting to downtown, which in retrospect seems a bargain to protect these acres. That said, we’d be interested in how you think Memphis has suffered from the court’s decision.
In the end, local government was granted the amount that it would have taken to build the interstate under the park and spent it on other road projects.
SCM-
Absolutely. A simple analysis via Google Earth shows that I-40’s current route represents an increase of only 4 miles to the original route that would have passed through Overton Park. Seeing as the average driving speed along that stretch or road is definitely in excess of 60 mph, that equates to less than 4 minutes of additional travel time. I hardly think an additional 4 minutes of travel time triggered downtown’s economic descent.
Anyone who suggests that downtown is not connected to the eastern suburbs via freeway either cannot understand a map or is incredibly uninformed.
any fool in planning will acknowledge that it is dumb as hell to route in bound (thru) traffic and perimetr traffic on the same road- turning “Sam Cooper” into an ineffective road
Memphis was dumb as hell- again
No, shek, the state of TN and the Federal gov’t were dumb as hell in not coming up with a viable alternative to routing long haul trucks through the middle of Memphis. Interstate highways are great for moving long distance traffic (you know, INTERSTATE) and really bad moving trafiic around larger cities. Moron. Craaaaaaa-zy, lol.
Seeing as the route serving “in bound (thru) traffic and perimetr traffic” continues to operate well below capacity it is not an issue. Perhaps a little more knowledge on the topic would be useful before pointing out nonexistent flaws.
The extension of Sam Cooper as a true boulevard to East Parkway now serves as an effective route for local traffic and an effective access route for those moving through East Memphis, those accessing Midtown and even as an alternate route serving downtown. Between 40,000 and 50,000 drivers as of the 2010 traffic data agree with this premise.
The same public action that saved Overton Park occurred across the nation over the course of several decades. So I suppose that the individual above would also consider Atlanta, Dallas, Portland, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, Charlotte, Boston, Philadelphia, and several other cities “dumb as hell” as well seeing as all those cities put the brakes on their own freeway projects.
No anon, he wouldn’t. You see, when Memphis does something, it’s stupid. When Atlanta or Charlotte does the same thing, it isn’t stupid. Get it?
I would hope they could turn Memphis Overton Park into some great gathering spot and showcase for our LGBT population which in dominant in Midtown. We need to put Memphis in the LGBT spotlight and let the region be known as a super gay-friendly city which is not afraid to promote out lifestyle.
I think that would be wonderful for our image !
I agree pearlbob, it would have the added benefit of enraging Ron Ramsey and the TN State Legislature. They would probably pass a law forbidding us from doing it.
Just wait for them in airport bathrooms, I hear that’s where all the really good conservatives get their action.
Anon 6:26:
Your argument about the 4 extra miles/minutes is flawed. Unless you are driving at non peak times, the entire flow slows down around the 240/40 interchange. So that adds additional time, sometimes a substantial amount.
As for SCM’s response, I wasn’t around then. It is no surprise to hear the Memphis had additional options and pissed them away. This city has been, and continues to be, run by morons.
BTW, I am currently reading The Fountainhead by yo’ girl Ayn Rand. Fantastic read!
Mike>
“city run by morons” ??
how else do you think Memphis gets its low rankings in so many areas of living, city-life, poltiics and race relations ? LOL
it’s like Mississippi getting all the ranking for the poorest, the dumbest, the most racist, and more recently the fattest state in the US > where do you like a huge number of Memphis’ residents come from and their own families come from ? ha ha
Actually the decision on Overtones Park was one of Memphis’ finest hours.
You won’t hurt anybody’s feelings if you want to move out of a city you can never find anything to like. We’re willing to start a fund for the move.
ah yes, that love it or leave it old Memphis adage !
yep, it always surfaces ! yep, if you don’t like ‘the way we are’ then WE don’t want to hear you, and WE think you should MOVE..
how freeking narrow can you get ? you are free to believe that Memphis is some top notch city or anything else, but the reality is that it is deficient in a lot more areas than many other cities.
stop pretending friend, and stop trying to silence disagreements with your own perception !
you need to get out of Memphis a bit more, then you would not utter such a silly, perverse edict of suggesting a fellow resident should LEAVE..lol
do you know how that looks ?? typical Memphis intolerance !
Don’t try to be glib and as routinely irrational as normal.
If you hate it here, why don’t you move? Wouldn’t that be your ultimate dream?
We’re sure Nashville, Atlanta, or even Grand Rapids would fight to get someone with your innovative approach to urban issues and that problem-solving attitude that offers up so many doable options for action.
Here’s the thing. All of us have been able to diagnose you for your rants, your irrationality, and your illogic, but we can’t make up for whatever you didn’t get in your childhood. We’d be just as happy to contribute to therapy as a move.
We write the good and we’ve certainly spotlighted the bad and the problems facing Memphis for six years. While we know that you’re the most traveled person in Memphis, and our travels to every continent except Antarctica and 48 states don’t compare to yours travels, which have shaped your worldly views.
These travels and our extensive work in other cities informs all that we say on this blog. Please, please give us a list of all the work that you’ve done in any city that’s productive and useful.
We can all shout fire in a theater. The trick is to put it out and help keep it from happening.
Mike- anon or whoever you are:
Traffic congestion at that interchange would occur regardless of I-40’s route. This is painfully obvious seeing as one proceeds through the interchange on I-40, traffic flow returns to normal (at or above the speed limit) for the remainder of the route to downtown. You are describing congestion due to interchange design, not routing. The fact that TDOT is ever so slowly rebuilding this interchange is proof enough. Seeing as the majority of this traffic is destined not for downtown but for the office clusters along the Poplar Corridor, the Nonconnah and the industrial areas near the airport (as detailed in TDOT’s traffic studies), it is safe to assume that such congestion would be the norm regardless of I-40’s route.
One small iota of your comment that you made does hold water… although you probably missed it. That is that TDOT- like any government entity- was extremely tardy in addressing the reality of a different route for I-40 once it became clear that the route through Midtown would not occur. Only recently has The “Midtown” interchange been rebuilt and the East Memphis interchange remains half completed. Instead of immediately redesigning these interchanges, TDOT waited for decades while the plans “unofficially- officially” remained on the books. Such is the pace of change at state and federal levels. It required a horrific accident/ explosion and 4 decades for TDOT to rectify the design deficiencies.
… oh and as for hating a place, why would one purposely stay in a location that they detested unless they lacked the skills and ability to leave? I think what might help rectify the situation anon is for you to state that despite the general “tone” of your comments that you do in fact harbor a deep desire for Memphis to prosper and that you are aware of both its progress and potential.
@Urbanut: If there’s one thing about road planning and rebuilding in this part of the state, it always comes years after the problem has been realized. Even the I-55/Crump Blvd interchange took decades before TDOT decided a redesign was needed to replace the current cloverleaf configuration, but even so, they said it would take 3-5 years for construction to even begin as they have been spending infrastructure money elsewhere around Tennessee, and not just in the western portion.
yep, the retorts always turn personal don’t they ? lol
predictable crap-some of you truly do think that other residents have to walk lock-step in s blind stupor about Memphis, and what’s truly funny is that it bugs the hell out of you when someone points out the glaring failures, the deficiencies, and the backwardness that is truly pervasive and has been for a very very long time ! ha !
it just irks you that another poster actually has an opinion and that opinion does not coincide with your blurred ‘vision’ or ‘fantasy’ about Memphis
some of you can fool yourselves all you wish, that’s your choice and your business ! others may not share your own vision or optimism ! what’s ‘wrong’ with that ?? the answer is that there IS nothing ‘wrong’ with that..ha !
the problems with Memphis didn’t occur under my ‘guidance’, so don’t lay the fault of the cesspool mentality at the feet of this poster
you can’t stand it, so some of you choose to make an attempt of belittling divergent opinion – or invite someone to leave and move – that says something about your own lack of tolerance
btw, I certainly hope no one such a big fool that you believe a poster only resides in Memphis, TN…now that would really be stupid to assume such a thing – nope, some of us are not trapped under the repressive blue funk and recalcitrance or Memphis, TN 365 days a year..
if you are one of those so-called professionals that ARE trapped in Memphis, TN to live in soley, I hope you enjoy it all the time, and I would not become like YOU, and suggest that YOU move to another city, or strongly suggest that you do ‘anything’ other than find your own ‘rainbow’ in Memphis, Mississippi…nothing wrong with that…..especially if you HAVE no real options or workable choices…LOL
Enjoy ! (I do, I like what I do)
Despite the grammar I think I caught your Anon’s drift. I guess my follow up question would be why would one spend any amount of time in a place they so desperately despise whether it be for only part of the year or full time (as in one’s home)?
As for opinion, traffic congestion and the effects of I-40 routing are not matters of opinion. They are subjects of traffic study an analysis and are thus regulated to the world of facts. You have the right to voice the opinion that the world is flat, but the world has the right to remind you that you are wrong.
Anon: You’re not full of opinions, and that’s the problem. You only have one opinion, and as the psychologist suggested who emailed us, you were apparently deprived attention as a kid so now negative attention is at least better than no attention at all.
You’ve got your attention by saying the same things multiple times. We don’t assume you are trapped in Memphis. We know that you are traveling the world on your private jet soaking up lessons from the world’s metropolises.
Sorry if the retorts sound personal, but all of us have only so many minutes in a day so it’s frustrating to expend even a couple of them reading your rants.
James Owen:
We agree. All of us should be lobbying TDOT for reasonable solutions for transportation and for complete streets. If it had not been for the arrogance of TDOT to find other reasonable alternatives to Overton Park for a highway – and other alternatives were proven to be feasible at the trial – we would have I-40 more directly through Memphis. In its own way, Overton Park was a shaper of context sensitive design that’s prevalent today.
James-
Too true. Another real issue is the manner in which such projects are mandated and funded. The reason the North 2nd Parkway extension remains on the books from the 1960’s is because it is essentially authorized by the state legislature to explore the project and act accordingly. Seeing as the purpose of transportation departments in part is to build and expand highways, no-build decisions are rare. Once the steamroller starts moving, shear momentum prevents anything less than a court order or intense, very public political pressure from halting or redirecting the process.
No one would describe TDOT as nimble.
Shekel, I’m just wondering why you waste so much time commenting about a city you so obviously despise. And so little time on decent grammar?
Also, please answer a question: for someone who makes such a big deal about your posts being just opinions, why did you feel it necessary to lie about being 1) a rabbi, and 2) a former United States Marine in order to give more credence to specific “opinions?” Just wondering. I doubt you’ll ever answer.
On the Overton Park subject, Memphis set a positive precedent (whether you like it or not) that has been followed and used nationwide that you cannot use federal transportation dollars to obliterate a park without considering all viable alternatives. And that, my friend, is a GOOD thing that Memphis did first and dozens of other cities have emulated.