Memphis Forsaken

Many building projects around Memphis give the impression of a city trying to break out of a decades-long depression. But this town that is fighting to rise up in some places is in may ways just trying to keep its head above water.

Residences sit abandoned all around this town, from the riverfront to the South Memphis 'hood. New residential developments constantly pushing eastward have left this city with a high housing supply and reduced demand.

This sprawl encouraged flight from the city and left all kinds of buildings in the city of Memphis empty, from single-family homes to luxury condos to low-income apartment buildings.

This is both a symptom and a problem. It's a symptom of the sprawl, a symptom of the urban decay, a symptom of flight from the city itself to the surrounding towns. A symptom of why Memphis's tax revenue has created a shortfall with a gap big enough to require drastic action--in the form now of serious benefit cuts to some of the city's most important workers and retirees.

The buildings themselves present problems...what do you do with blighted 50-unit residences? What do you do with a luxury condo building nearly finished but abandoned? What do you do with countless homes boarded up and (seemingly) empty? Do you raze them to the ground? Do you renovate? Or do you just ignore the buildings and let them crumble, let entropy slowly take its course?

It seems like that's the city's choice.