Assets, Liabilities, and Your Vision of the Future

At last Tuesday's community meeting, attendees outlined what they liked and disliked about their neighborhoods and what they would like to see in the future . Below is a complete listing of their thoughts and ideas that we recorded during the discussion at the community meeting. Please take some time to look over the lists and if there is anything that you feel should be included, you can let us know by posting a comment. Additionally, as the old adage goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you feel what one person identifies as a liability is actually an asset, tell us why. This blog should function as a forum for community discussion; it should serve as an environment where all opinions are accepted, and every individual has a say.

-MCRP Studio

Assets

• friendly neighborhood
• good access to public trans
• central location (amenities); wide variety of services
• cottage style architecture
• fire and police facilities near
• central to Memphis
• university as cultural center
• great urban forest
• well kept yards
• quiet
• access to public library branch
• strong neighborhood associations
• walkable neighborhoods
• double coverage between city and university police
• integrated
• grid layout
• community center (Davis and YMCA)
• bungalow architecture
• bikability
• very little violent crime
• upwardly mobile (values, quality of life, etc.)
• open spaces
• close to campus
• businesses highly involved in redevelopment
• diverse
• neighborhood alliances
• locally owned businesses
• numerous churches
• houses well built
• good access to parks and university
• resources

Liabilities

• a lot of rental
• college student neighbors
• use of neighborhood as shortcut
• hard to distinguish b/t cut through traffic and crime
• increasing number of trains (types of materials transported)
• no neighborhood alert system for hazmat spill
• grid layout
• overflow parking from university and street congestion
• no shuttle system for university
• campus maintenance doesn’t maintain trash blown over to adjacent properties
• no high school in neighborhood
• campus school only goes to 6th
• threat of stadium (Normal Station)
• trash and litter
• east side of Highland and property condition
• lack of landscaping on periphery of campus
• condition of fraternity houses
• light pollution from campus parking lots
• noise from students
• speed on Central higher than surrounding streets
• not pedestrian friendly, esp. around tracks
• crime
• some businesses not assisting in redevelopment
• Park Ave
• Types of businesses
• increasing rate of rental housing (Normal Station)
• instability that results
• Graffiti on Highland
• rodents
• trash on Highland
• parking not defined on Walker
• asphalt on south side of Southern
• drainage still a problem around Black Bayou
• Drainage a problem in Sherwood
• Lack of public parking on campus
• Red and white housing on Getwell rental scheme
• No uniform sign code

Future Vision

• Restore blighted properties
• Repave central streets
• No absentee landlords
• No stadium
• Train underground
• Light rail through area
• Midland high school raises property values
• Bike route connecting to greater city area reducing traffic
• Bike path
• Highland strip more pedestrian friendly and connecting neighborhood
• Diverse range of stores that serve the entire neighborhood, not just the University
• Neighborhood and university working together
• No above ground power lines
• Diagonal parking along Highland
• Deal with the train
• Improved communication within the community
• Restrict PUDs
• Better zoning (similar to Normal station rezoning)
• Grocery store
• Better and increased amounts of landscaping on university property and in area, mitigate effects of parking lots
• Foot and bike police
• Consistently enforce parking and traffic regulations
• Retain neighborhood character
• Local business, faculty in neighborhood, eclectic mix of businesses
• PACA

Existing Conditions Community Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended the first community meeting about the University Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan. It is our hope that this blog become a forum for community input and discussion regarding what you feel will improve your neighborhood and contribute to the sustainability of the area in which you live and work.

We would like to invite you to check this blog periodically for updates and upcoming meetings and would ask that this space be treated as any other public forum. We welcome your comments and suggestions regarding the process or the plan.