Waiting for a new Cirrus alternator, I’ve had plenty of time to roam around downtown Memphis, Tennessee. There are buildings or stores available to rent on every block. Approximately one third of the retail space seems vacant. Not too many folks are out on the streets, with the exception of Beale Street and its tourist blues joints. Overall it would appear that the city has about four times as much land as necessary and perhaps twice as much built space. Rehabbed townhouses a mile or so from downtown seem depressingly isolated; there is just not enough density to form a neighborhood and not enough green space to qualify as a suburb.
If there is an economic recovery happening, it is difficult to see the effect on Memphis.
I visited Memphis several times in the mid 90s when things were looking pretty great across the country. Not Memphis, though. I have to admit, it didn’t seem so bad at the time, but I was going to college in Carbondale, Illinois. Southern Illinois hasn’t seen good times since Coolidge was in office.
I grew up in Memphis and recently moved back here. It’s been exactly the same as long as I can remember. If you had visited four years ago, you would have said that “if there is a real estate boom happening, it is difficult to see the effect on Memphis.”