I agree that Memphis is moving in the right
direction as far as its potential to be a powerhouse in the
southeast. Obviously people in this club are interested in
changing memphis for the best. But all talk with little
action does nothing to help our city. Maybe the club
founders can help turn our discussions into action by
inviting policy makers to join us on this board. Or can
any of us do that?

Well, something about Memphis is that it's an
older city. It's been somewhat stagnant except in the
suburbs for probably 30 years now.<br><br>Now, this means
Memphis must have a clear direction for the future to
attract a new period of super-growth. Since the
mid-1990's I've seen this change. Memphis in 2005, a vision
created by the Chamber of Commerce is a strong vision
that will continue to help the area even after 2005.
The infrastructure of Memphis is growing with I-69
and the potential I-22 corridor, LRT, and statewide
rail service. Memphis International has tremendous
growth in it's hands with this new Air China deal (which
I would like to hear more about, I just read a
small article in the Tennessean a few weeks
ago).<br><br>The maturity of Memphis, as I said before, is a key
difference between Memphis and other boom cities in the
southeast like Nashville, Atlanta, and even Charlotte which
has become a new player since 1990 (and has a
particularly tall skyscraper but little "urbanity" if you know
what I mean..). In the early 1900's, the only major
cities in the Memphis, New Orleans, Miami.. Little else
from others. Memphis already has clout around the
business world because of it's age. It also has some
stereotypes, of which some are good and some are
bad.<br><br>In order to become a new US powerhouse city (which
is not that hard, because Memphis already has a
strong background to build from), Memphis needs to start
attracting business growth which in turn leads new people to
locate here and participate in the
community.<br><br>Memphis has so many things that could be built on to
allow it to become THE city of the southeast in just a
few decades. It will just take time to tell if things
work out.<br><br>I'm not a native Memphian myself. I
grew up in rural East TN, and am going to college here
in Memphis. I've travelled around the region and the
nation a bit, and I see SO MUCH potential for Memphis,
if it could only become what it could..

Did you say I-22? I only knew about I-69. Perhaps this is why Alabama is trying
to catch up with Mississippi on beefing up U.S. 78 (Lamar Ave.).

Sorry all...I have been out of touch as of late.
I-22 refers to the proposed Memphis-Atlanta
interstate. As it turns out there is no direct of even
convenient link between the two of the largest and most
important cities in the southeast. The work on US 78 is
exactly what is being done to correct that problem. The
idea is that once the stretch between Memphis and
Birmingham is complete the Federal DOT will rename the route
as a federal highway...in this case I-22. This is
much like what recently was approved in northeast
Arkansas where the stretch of highway connecting Jonesboro
with I-55 was renamed I-555 to provide an interstate
link to that city.

I see. I didn't know about the I-555 change either. Which route to Jonesboro is
being called this? U.S. 63 or U.S.(es) 65, 67 & 167?

FRom what I understand it is the route covered by
US 63. The last link yet to be completed is a
interstate style junction between the two highways...a
project that is currently in the works (aproximately 18
miles from between Payneway and Lake David). The new
interstate covers US 63 from that point to US 49 (Southwest
Dr.) in Jonesboro.

Just b/c the whole city is swamped with news
about the new NBA Arena, here is a post that will build
on one written several months ago. <br>OK, it seems
the Linden site is pretty much final. This will mean
several things. Something will have to be done, or rather
built, to accomodate the huge flow of traffic in and out
of the Arena. With parking spaces to accomodate
18,500 people, the new arena will represent over 4,000
more seats than AutoZone Park. The good part is that
since the seasons for both sports don't overlap much,
it could be possible for people to still park in the
spots they would for a baseball game and only have to
walk about a block and a half further south to get to
a basketball game. <br>However, part of the arena
deal seemed to include enough spaces for all fans to
be able to park in the arena's parking garage. This
will ensure that the city will follow through on its
plan to widden Linden, Fourth, Union, and or Third to
provide the necessary access demanded by such a center.
Had an arena site been available closer to the
trolley line, parking could have been distributed along
the line in the numerous parking garages
downtown...many of which in the main business district are quater
full at best after about seven at night. This has the
opportunity of being a major catalist to help Memphis make
the step into club of "global" cities. It could also
prove to be a one step foward, two steps back deal if
our downtown chokes on its own success generated
traffic.

Something that I have noted about other cities is
that traffic takes over the entire city if an event
takes place. Adelphia Coliseium in Nashville has no
garages, is on the other side of the river from downtown,
and is a horrible location for traffic. Although, the
Arena in Nashville is much better for
accessing.<br><br>Memphis can do so much better if it is all planned
correctly.

Memphis is especially bad in certain cases. All
one has to do is look at the results of interstate
accidents or major road detours/closings and their impact
on the city's traffic. Since there are only a
certain number of routes into and out of downtown with
interstate access, a mishap before, after, or during an
event would cause major problems. Picture this: It is a
Thursday evening (a major event night for Beale St. yet it
is still during the work week with all of its
related traffic); there is a major convention in town
(likely on a weekly basis once the convention center is
completed); and an NBA game has just ended. An accident at
Danny Thomas and Poplar restricts traffic heading to
get onto I-40 on the north edge of downtown. Traffic
is forced to head east on already post-game
congested Union. In the business district, Front, Madison,
Beale, and Main are already at the normal Post-Redbird
game standstill as traffic tries to access Riverside
Dr. The only other viable option is to head south on
Second, Third, and Danny Thomas through some of the most
crime-ridden parts of the city. Its not a pretty picture, but
with limited options on transit to the area it just
wouldn't take much to discourage a lot of people from
making the trip back downtown again.

I don't think it would discourage people too
much, afterall, they should realize they are in an
urban area, not some free flowing mega road system. I
remember my trip to London last year, and it was amazing
how people used public transit integrated with
automobiles.

The CA (check it online to read the full article)
reported today that the cost of opening a Memphis to
Knoxville (via Nashville of course) rail line would cost
about $405 million dollars. This would cost less per
mile than the interstate system's construction back in
the 1970's. Unfortunately our state is in no
condition to take on any major projects at this time. Thus,
it looks like the idea of a transit system that
would serve to relieve I-40 congestion between the 3
cities is on hold for now.

What we need is a "Lott" of help in Tennessee. I'm sure that a crafty U.S.
Senator could rustle up a measly $405 million if motivated.

What we really need is a nice, lovely "Sun"set. A
new dawn on our budget problems would easily arise
with a new governor.<br><br>Maybe Ford Jr. (as opposed
to Ford Explorer) can put a few words in. A line to
Nashville or Chattanooga would be a nice cheaper
money-maker for the moment. It bothers me to see that even
though Amtrak acquired ALL of the passenger lines in the
continental 48, they don't cover ALL of the routes that they
have available. Southern (using the state's first
tracks) used to run a train from Memphis to Washington
D.C. called the Tennessean. Seing how we have enough
existing tracks, one to Nashville or Chattanooga (via NE
Miss) wouldn't be too bad, would it?

Imagine pulling your car onto multidecker
traincar and plugging it into a DC/modem service that
keeps your air-conditioning on and your laptop
connected to the internet for long haul vacations and
commutes. <br><br>The Shelby Co. delegation should love to
replace their 4 hour drives with 6 hour naps ;-)

I highly, highly doubt that you would see a lot
of help from an arrogant, embarrassing image like
Mr. Lott of Mississippi. The state of Tennessee is
currently having massive problems on a statewide level
because the economy turned to ick and the state has seen
revenues fall. We aren't the only state having problems,
however our state is doing the worst job managing the
problem. I don't forsee this changing next year unless we
get new people in state government (which won't
happen). Does not matter the political party anymore, this
state has got problems to deal with both sides not
cooperating enough. I just hope this means Tennessee won't
suffer in growth and moving forward.<br><br>I was
checking the employment statistical data and economic
growth from the Department of Labor not too long ago.
Nashville is the second highest growing metropolitan area
in the southeast behind Atlanta right now (in
drawing new residents and growing economically) - and it
has doubled growth since 2000, while Charlotte, NC's
growth has lagged a little. Some things just don't make
sense.

I wasn't suggesting that Trent would help us, but rather that we need some
senators in Tennessee that bring home the federal gravy the way Trent does for
Mississippi.

I have to admit that although federal funding for
the trolley extension was at 80%, we don't seem to
get alot of federal aid for a metropolitan area of
over 1.1 million people. TDOT is being forced to do
mush of the freeway interchange redesigns for the
I-240/I-40 system and the city of Memphis might have to
absorb a significant amount of the cost for rebuilding
the I-55/Riverside Dr./ Crump Ave. interchange.
Common sense would dictate that the Fed. would be the
one to redesign these areas, considering they never
bothered to redesign them after plans were haulted for a
direct East-WEst Freeway through Midtown. A geuss
Memphis is still being Punished for the I-40 court ruling
and for our relatively independent nature at both
state and federal levels..

Well, Memphis has an average growth rate of
10-15% per decade and has held that average for a while.
By 2010, Memphis may have 1.3-1.5 million people is
my guess.<br><br>To meet this city's growing needs,
there should be some major overhauls in the automotive
transportation system. I-55/Riverside/Crump interchange should
be completely redesigned into a modern interchange
where interstate traffic is not forced upon a single
lane ramp.<br><br>I-240/40 east is getting it's
upgrade.<br><br>I-55/240 should be redesigned, and I-40/240 west in
midtown should get a redesign.<br><br>This in addition to
LRT and everything else.

Once again the question remains: where to get the
money needed for all of this. atguy20 made a good
point. Let's assume Memphis keeps growing at its current
13-15%. (Thats a big assumption in itself. Who knows what
impact the NBA team, FedEx, Northwest, Auto Zone, IP, or
some company that has yet to form will have on Memphis
and its growth.) Within the next 10 years we will
have anywhere from 200,000-400,000 more people living
in the Memphis metro. This will place an
unimaginable strain on the Memphis transit system. Since
redesigning and building new interchanges at all of Memphis'
major freeway connections would take an average of 4
years (timetable for I-40/240 East), we would need to
start construction on all these projects including the
full LRT line starting last Friday. Our state is
broke, and bush is cutting back on gov't spending.
Hiking taxes will get little if any support, especially
considering the schools need all they can get right now.
Tolls could be an option. A toll for crossing the state
line on I-55 to/from Mississippi and Arkansas would
raise needed funds for transit projects. This seems
unliklely considering it would involve Federal and state
participation. The private sector won't be handing out money for
anything of this nature any time soon...not until a) the
economy gets better, and b) traffic gets so bad that they
begin to see valuable employee productivity draining
away. Anybody else have any ideas on how we could fund
transit upgrades in Memphis in a hurry?

MATA has finally reopened its web site. The new
site is a huge improvement over the last several the
agency has built. It includes detailed route and
schedule info. as well as news on current projects. By the
way, the LRT division of MATA is now called
"MATATRAC", at least for the time being. The Ameican Way
transfer facility is now open and will serve as the model
for all future transit transfer station in suburban
Memphis. These include one in each of the city's suburbs
as well as throughout the city proper. These
stations are designed to act as stations for all
passengers to be gathered into a local area where they can
then catch express busses to other transit centers. It
will act like a hub-spoke system for the city,
compared to the current system where most transfers must
be made at the North End Transfer Facility downtown.
This site will prove to be a great resource for
transit development in Memphis, check it out when you get
a chance!

For those of you who have missed it on the news,
congestion on Wanut Grove has become a major issue with the
city council and residents of Cordova/ East Memphis.
The stretch of Walnut Grove from I-240 to Humphreys
represents one of the most congested areas in Memphis. Plans
call for widening the road to 10 lanes at its
intersection with I-240 which would narrow to 6 lanes after it
has crossed the Wolf River into Shelby Farms. At
Humphreys an interchange will be built similar to the one
at Walnut Grove and Germantown Road. TDOT is
promising this will alleviate the congestion in the area
which poses a risk especially to timely hospital
emergencies. <br>I beleive some releif is definetly needed in
the area. Unfortunately I worry that any widening of
Walnut Grove in the area will only allow for more
development further to the east. It seems that no matter how
wide or how they restrict traffic from entering and
exiting Walnut Grove, more traffic will simply fill the
spaces they create. Due to the site, surrounding
property and Shelby Farms, there doesn't seem to be a
choice though. I am surprised that Christian Brothers is
hanging onto its site instead of selling the land it sits
on to opt for building in a better location
elsewhere. The school would stand to make a large sum of
money; their land being some of the most valuable
commercial land in the city at this point. A sale might
allow the city engineers a better option in rebuilding
the areas roads as well.

I just wanted to post a note letting all visitors
and members know that this club is still active,
there has just been very little news concerning transit
issues in Memphis as of late. As we pick up the peices
and try to return to normal (whatever normal is now),
news transit issues are sure to surface once again in
the local media. Until then, personally my prayers
are with not only those in New York and Washington,
but with the rest of the U.S. ...God Bless America.

Downtown Memphis has now been recognized in
leading the nation in residential growth, occording to
Fannie Mae Foundation and the Brookings Institution
Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy . The area has
seen a population increase of 128% over the past
decade. Of course, many of us locals know that much of
that growth took place during the last half of the
'90s until present. Having a vibrant downtown and
medical district will be key to the success of LRT in
Memphis...after all, there has to be a common destination on the
route built to get people to even think of riding
instead of driving.

Do you have the link to that article, I would love to read it! Thanks.

Construction to widen Getwell Road from 2 lanes
to 5 lanes will begin by the end of the year. The
roadwork will stretch from Goodman Rd (second only to
Germantown Rd. in suburban roadway congestion) to the
rapidly developing Church Rd corridor. This is
outstanding news fro developers and landowners in the area
seeking to reap the rewards for holding onto land that
until recently was relatively rural. Unfortunately this
will create yet another corridor from which suburban
sprawl can fan out from. Overall, Mississippi residents
of the metro area seem far less concerned over
Memphis sprawl issues than residents in the Memphis area.
This is not a criticism of those residents but simply
a remark from the sidelines. Why would anyone
complain anyway? Although commutes on I-55 have grown at a
startling rate in recent years, the population of DeSoto
Co. has just recently exceeded the 100,000 mark,
compared to Shelby Co. with nearly 900,000 residents. When
one drives through the two counties you can't help
but notice the relatively unspoiled nature of the
rural DeSoto Co. landscape compared with the still
developing areas of Shelby Co. (which could push the
1,000,000 mark as soon as 2005).<br>This conclusion of the
laid back approach of MS to the issue of sprawl comes
mainly in part to MS slow reaction to DeSoto Co.
explosive growth. While TDOT will likely have its I-55
reconstruction and widening to the MS state line completed
within the year (all 8 lanes plus 2 HOV lanes), MS is
just now studying its I-55 corridor in DeSoto Co. for
future expansion. In fact, until recently, the plan was
to allow I-55 to narrow from its total of 8 lanes to
just 4 lanes at the state line before even reaching
state line road. This would create a bottleneck unlike
any this area has ever seen. <br>MS has not reacted
to Memphis' plan to build a LRT line south from
downtown. MS funds would be necessary to carry the line
even a foot past State Line road. <br>But I digress,
other news:<br>*In case you have not driven I-240 in a
while, widening of the stretch of that freeway between
the Nonconnah and Lamar Ave has begun. This project
will bring the total number of lanes up to
8-10.<br>*I-69 planning continues at its accelerated level.
Planning meetings are mostly for the segment between
Millington and Dyersburg. Will keep notified on any upcoming
meetings directly concerning Memphis metro.<br>*I recently
read that Congress has authorized a study for the
placement of a third bridge to cross the MS River somewhere
in the Memphis metro area. I know I tend to look
negatively on most new road projects, but this is one even I
could get behind. Having only two bridges at Memphis
has severe drawbacks (need any of us forget the mess
caused when a wreck on the I-55 bridge occurred within
minutes of a mobile home being blown off a tractor
trailer on the I-40 bridge during Memphis and May?). Also
having a bridge that is completely designed up to
current codes could prove very important in the even of a
major earthquake on the New Madrid fault. <br>Sometimes
news slips by me, so if anyone reads anything of any
importance, please post it for the rest of the groups
viewing!

Try this
site:<br><a href=http://www.downtownmemphis.com/domain/news/press.asp
target=new>http://www.downtownmemphis.com/domain/news/press.asp</a><br><br>If
that doesn't take you there, simply go to
www.downtownmemphis.com , click on the "news" label at the bottom right
corner of the page, and then click on the red words
"press releases" at the bottom of the second paragraph.

A recent article in the local media raised a good
question: if/when the new NBA arena is built, where are we
going to put all those cars? The arena is planned to
incorporate a 1,800 car parking garage into its design, but
at 18,000 seats / 3 people per car (a seemingly high
estimate), that would call for 6,000 spaces. Also the
Redbirds season and the NBA season will overlap for at
least one month and possibly up to three (if the Grizz
make it to the playoffs). Through in Memphis in May
and other annual events downtown and parking could go
from bad to worse. Unfortunately the new arena will be
about 5-6 blocks away from the trolley system, so one
can only find limited releif there. One option points
to the need for more parking garage space downtown.
Seeing as how there is ample amount of vacant land left
over from the old urban renewal days, it seems like
either a private investor, the city/county, or maybe all
parties could make a couple of extra bucks in building a
large parking garage somewhere on the undeveloped land
in the Beale St. area. <br>Personally I don't like
parking garages as space fillers above ground
(underground is great but really jacks up the cost!), but how
can you argue with those numbers?

I imagine that if a 6,000 car garage were built
above ground, it would ruin any plans by making it
taller than the arena itself. My own advice would be to
build as many levels above ground as there are below
ground, with an excessively bright lighting array,
similar to U of M's second parking garage (despite the
fact that it is 2 stories too small).<br>As for the
arena, my opinion is that as long as the arena has a
decent shape (and name) while keeping a great usage of
space on the inside, things will work out. An onion
dome would be reminiscent of ancient Memphis, or a
spherical structure, with an orange-tinted exterior would
also leave visitors awestruck... (Note: A "Commercial"
name is not a good one. Give our home court a name
that makes you remember the building, not the guys who
bought naming rights.)<br>At any rate, the new garage
would need about 6 or 7 stories (above ground, alone)
to do any *real* good.

There's plenty of parking in the general area.
There's all the parking from peabody place, and all the
other lots and sidestreets in walking distance. I would
think that 1800 spaces is a good number since it
encourages people to walk, take cabs or public
transportation and generally encourages people to be out
enjoying downtown. Some cities have their stadiums in the
heart of downtown where parking is almost impossible.
It forces people to walk or take public transit.
Personally I think the parking spaces should available obly
to people with children or to elderly people. I love
driving, but I almost always leave my car at home when I
head downtown. Besides, I like to take in a couple
beers at a game.

I keep looking at the county map used as your
club photo. What I want to know is where you (the
founder who posted it) got it from? Did this map
orignally come in AutoCAD drawing form (as I suspect), and
if so, would you mind sending it to me? If you can,
e-mail it to me at: Savannius@...