Downtown Memphis Commission has embarked on a new strategic plan. The old one is only five years old and was supposed to last for five more years.
The new strategic planning is being launched shortly after Memphis City Council’s prodding and concerns about the lack of a comprehensive approach to downtown’s problems. Led by Councilwoman Rhonda Logan, Council members expressed frustration with the state of downtown and the lack of a coordinated, collaborative plan of action to improve things.
Actually, Ms. Logan was not so much calling for another strategic plan but challenging DMC to get with groups like EDGE, Greater Memphis Chamber, Memphis Tourism, Community Redevelopment Agency, among others, and develop shared priorities and next steps.
After all, there is a downtown strategic plan in place now that extends until 2030. If there is anything positive to be gained in yet another plan, it is that the Council was outspoken in their concerns about downtown – its beautification and its infrastructure – as well as operational issues to make downtown more vibrant and safe.
Starting a Plan When There’s Already One To Implement
The Council acknowledged that there is an existing plan for downtown with lofty goals and important principles; however, it has not been backed up with a plan of action to implement it. Over many years, the DMC regularly treated plans as the end result rather than implementation of the plans.
The “BuildDowntown” 69-page master plan is only five years old and is supposed to drive what downtown will look like by 2030. It said all the right things: density, public/private partnerships, design standards, walkability, visitor investments, mobility, equity, inclusivity, and authenticity. Key focus areas were housing, job creation and entrepreneurship, safety and place management, parks and public space, culture and entertainment, and beautification and civic pride.
The BuildDowntown plan has eight pages of assignments and strategies for implementation; however, measurements of impact and progress cannot be found on the Downtown Memphis Commission website and there’s no indication City Council has asked for them so far.
It raises the impertinent question of whether DMC embarking on another plan just chews up time we don’t have as other cities leapfrog Memphis.
Lack of Attention to the Basics
In the meeting with City Council, DMC leadership even dragged up construction of Mid America Mall – which opened in 1977 – in responding to the state of downtown infrastructure and also praised the pedestrian mall as something other cities envy although 85% of similar pedestrian malls have been removed or repurposed as a magic answer that didn’t work. That’s not to mention that some research suggests motivations for the construction of the Memphis Mall are much more complex with racial overtones.
The discussion also sidestepped the mention of the $15 million federal grant in 2012, when DMC was under Paul Morris’ leadership, that was used to improve Main Street infrastructure. Sadly, since then DMC and City of Memphis have allowed the condition of Main Street to decline. Parking of cars on Main Street, particularly City of Memphis vehicles, is routine and have damaged much of the improvements that were made with the federal grant.
However, City Council is on the right track. Although downtown gets an unfair rap about crime – only about 2% of Memphis crime happens there and most of it is property crime – the cleanliness, landscaping, and maintenance leaves much to be desired.
Much of it simply seems to be a lack of attention to the basics. Mattresses can be tossed along the trolley line where it remains for weeks or an errant liquor bottle and other trash can remain just as long. Plants die, trash often overflows, all 
while DMC talks about the importance of downtown being clean and green. 
Hyde Funding to the Rescue
Many of us have stories of members of the Blue Suede Brigade walking past trash without picking it up. The DMC website offers a link to Brigade Stats but it leads to a page that says the Brigade team amassed 55,900 hours of patrols; however, it does not quantify what those hours produce – how much trash is picked up, how many parkers on Main Street are told to move or ticketed, and if there’s a process for them to submit notes for issues that need to be deal with.
For that matter, the Annual State of Downtown Reporting online has not been updated since 2023, so we have no idea of what the impact is although its was three years of the BuildDowntown plan. (PS: The virtual tour on the website also needs updating. It still shows a photo and old video of Tom Lee Park under construction and the development tour is for 2022 projects.)
As it has done so often in Memphis’ modern history, the Hyde Family Foundation has recently stepped in to drive change with funding to improve downtown through a Block by Block operating model that promises to make downtown a more inviting place to live, work, and play.
The highly-praised Block by Block program will put its lessons and experiences in practice in downtown Memphis as it has done in places like Louisville, Santa Monica, Brooklyn, Nashville, and Boston. All together, it has 150 unique programs under way nationwide.
Hoping City Council Stays Engaged
Best of all, Block by Block will add more people to monitor and improve downtown. It will manage the day-to-day operations of the four teams working under its umbrella – Blue Suede Brigade will focus on hospitality and guest assistance, the Safety Team will patrol downtown with an eye to incident prevention and public safety, the downtown command center will provide real-time support and communications, and the Clean & Green Team will be responsible for beautifying downtown, maintaining cleanliness, and enhancing public spaces.
All of us who care deeply about downtown should hope that this new effort will result in demonstrable improvements after years of lethargy by organizations charged with these duties.
Many of us have wrung our hands over what appears to be the lack of attention to the granular things that create a pleasurable experience in favor of emphasizing projects over people and the way there is much more talk than results.
There’s the suspicion that the new strategic plan is a check the box action to get the City Council off its backs, so here’s also hoping that City Council much-needed, recent interest in the state of downtown is not distracted and silenced by the fact that a plan is under way.
City Council has the clout to get things done so here’s hoping its call for action is not transitory. City Council’s concerns about downtown are long overdue. It’s undivided attention is what is needed if reality can match all the hyperbole about downtown on the DMC website.
Chase Carlisle Is Right
We also hope the DMC can rise to the challenge. The downtown agency has been in place for 48 years. Its name changed from Memphis and Shelby County Center City Commission to Downtown Memphis Commission (it remains a city and county agency) and its critics say it should have more to show for almost a half century of work.
That’s the thing: if the push from City Council and the new Block by Block program cannot succeed, it would suggest that downtown Memphis should consider what an entirely new organization would look like.
Meanwhile, City Council seems impatient with the status quo and that’s best news of all. A modest proposal: Council members should begin this focus with each member engaging in management by walking around. Every one of them should make it a habit to walk throughout downtown, take notes, evaluate where things stand, and demand change.
Councilman Chase Carlisle said it well: “I’m just to the point where I’m just going to start saying things that I’ve seen in the 15 years I’ve worked downtown, the five years I’ve been on this body, and the 40 years my family has been down here. This stuff has to stop. Memphis cannot continue to do business the way we have always done it.”
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