Author: Josh Whitehead

This past decade witnessed one of the biggest urban building booms in the nation’s history.  Memphis enjoyed its share of higher-density multifamily construction, renovation and conversion within its borders, particularly in its...

The Memphis and Shelby County Metropolitan Government Charter Commission has a formidable task in determining the right size of the legislative body of the proposed metropolitan government. They must balance the lure of small...

In my last post, we looked at city council size of the core cities of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan regions. In this post, we will focus on those cities’ county legislative bodies.  Perhaps more so than in the case of the...

As the Memphis & Shelby County Metropolitan Government Charter Commission discusses the ideal number of members that should sit on the legislative body of the proposed metropolitan government, I thought it would be...

This post represents the third (Part 1 and Part 2) and final tour of the Memphis parkway system. By this time, you have toured South Parkway from MLK-Riverside Park to East Parkway, twisting and turning several times around its...

In my last post, I helped guide you on a tour (real or virtual) of South Parkway from the southwest corner of the Memphis parkway system at Martin Luther King-Riverside Park to its southeast corner at Airways.  Now, buckle up...

Memphis’ parkways, the great emerald necklace that encircles the historic heart of the city, is perhaps one of the best large planning projects this city has ever undertaken.  Designed by George Kessler more than a century ago...

In my last post, I discussed the fallacy of a city – any city – approving new developments at its periphery when all available evidence shows that said developments, be they residential or retail, are simply cannibalizing...