If there is any place in Memphis that should represent the best that Memphis has to offer in urban design and public realm, it should be Riverside Drive.
But like much of Memphis, it seems that things regularly take priority over people.
There is the car-oriented nature of downtown which works so often to the detriment of its livability. There is the careless treatment of well-traveled pedestrian links from the deplorable state of Main Street to the narrow sidewalks and poles in the middle of sidewalks near Riverside Drive and Union Avenue. There are the sheer walls that front the street harshly, from the garages on Riverside Drive to Peabody Place on Third Street.
But if there is a poster child for the urban indifference to pedestrians downtown, we pick the city-installed signage on the sidewalk on the eastern side of Riverside Drive from Union to Madison. Gone is any pretense that anyone in public agencies think about people when they are making decisions about infrastructure.
Second best poster child for urban indifference on the riverfront is the bench near the foot of Union Avenue on Wagner Place. It has its back to the river view and faces a fairly nondescript building.
SCM – As you detail these acts of Urban Indifference it would be helpful if you would include who the City government official or agency that holds responsibility for the property. In the is case it would be nice to hear from Paul Morris.