Imagining a new future together
7 insights from Memphis’ innovative investments in public space
Those of us working on civic commons projects believe in the value of seeing things in person and talking with changemakers in their own communities. We do this through “Learning Journeys,” which over time have inspired civic commons network participants to develop innovative approaches for their work at home and inform others through our growing community of practice.
In June, the Civic Commons Learning Network hosted a Learning Journey in Memphis. Our 2.5 days exploring public spaces and neighborhoods, as well as investigating citywide approaches to public space provoked new questions and new insights for the field.
Here are 7 key takeaways from our visit:
1) High quality public space can be a catalyst for the local economy
In Memphis, the initial investment by Reimagining the Civic Commons and local partners into a set of modest assets — two parks, a disconnected trail and a branch library — in a district now known as The Fourth Bluff was the catalyst for remaking the entire western edge of downtown. These reinvigorated civic assets have created some impressive results, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year and catalyzing 7 million square feet of development, including a planned 8,000 new apartment units and 3,500 new hotel rooms.
And the momentum continues.
Over Labor Day, Memphis River Parks Partnership officially opened the 30-acre Tom Lee Park, inspired by the local civic commons work and the result of a successful $61M capital campaign. Also in The Fourth Bluff district, the Brooks Museum of Art has broken ground on an $180 million new building with panoramic views of the riverfront.
These new civic assets are not a coincidence. In the words of Downtown Memphis Commission’s president and CEO and Memphis mayor-elect, Paul Young, “great public space changes the narrative.” Even local businesses recognize the economic boost from outstanding public space assets, with downtown restaurateurs recently stating that Tom Lee Park will be “a true game-changer” for their businesses and the city.
2) A focus on connections and radical welcoming is mission critical
Research shows that diverse public life is good for people and for cities. The casual interactions we have in public places are very important for our well-being, while people who live closer to public spaces like parks, libraries and other community assets express more happiness with their neighborhood, more trust of others, and are less lonely. Research also demonstrates that interactions among people of different racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds engenders more trust and cooperation, and that diverse connections boost the economic mobility seen in a community more than any other factor.
But across the United States, these kinds of interactions are becoming more rare, as increasing numbers of people live in communities segregated by income, which means people rarely interact with those from different socioeconomic backgrounds. While downtown Memphis is economically and racially diverse, just beyond downtown is a crescent of neighborhoods with a persistently high poverty rate. Many of the zip codes adjacent to the riverfront are among the poorest in Tennessee. This means public spaces must be radically welcoming to support these much-needed yet hard-to-come-by interactions — something we saw as an intention in the design and operations of Memphis public spaces.
“Without the connections to the neighborhoods, we fail,” said Carol Coletta, president and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership, the organization responsible for the redesign of Tom Lee Park. The Partnership has focused intensely on providing clear and welcoming physical invitations to the park, including the first ADA-accessible connection between the riverfront and downtown.
Being welcoming means more than just building physical connections — it is also about fostering a sense of belonging among all visitors. As one Learning Journey participant noted in Memphis, the civic commons is a place where “when you look at people’s faces, you see yourself in them.” The Partnership works hard to recruit diverse staff, programming partners and volunteers, which provides neighbors and visitors with the opportunity to see people who look like them in these parks. This is a powerful invitation to come back to these public spaces again and again.
3) Regular programming outperforms events
People often think of big events as the driver of public space vitality and economic value. Yet there is incredible value in the consistent use of space, programmed with everyday activity that promotes a sense of safety, community and belonging. Consistent programming is also what produces a regular stream of potential patrons for nearby businesses. Rather than aiming for a once-a-year big festival that draws thousands, aim for lasting vibrancy through everyday activities.
When the civic commons efforts began in 2016, Memphis’ Fourth Bluff Park was a forlorn and divisive greenspace with a Confederate monument. Following the removal of the statue and a light-touch redesign of the space, the team enlisted the help of local music curator Tonya Dyson of Memphis Slim House “plant joy” through the Soulin’ on the River experience, a six-week summer concert series featuring Memphis musicians. The regular music was a way of reclaiming Fourth Bluff Park as a space of joy for Memphians, and the park now draws more than 1,000 people for each show.
Another piece of Memphis’ park programming is a weekly free yoga class in River Garden hosted by the Downtown Memphis Commission and Memphis River Parks Partnership. When the class started in 2016, it drew just a few dozen participants, but today draws an average of 400 people every Tuesday evening, people drawn from more than 40 different Tennessee zip codes. The regularity of programming means people might walk by one week and try it the next, or bring a friend with them in the future. Fourth Bluff Park has also hosted “Grizz Watch Parties” during the NBA playoffs, which started with a couple hundred people watching Memphis Grizzlies games on a big screen — but now draws an audience of thousands.
On our second day in Memphis we visited Overton Park, a 342-acre public park that includes one of the nation’s few urban old growth forests. Overton Park Conservancy seeks to connect people to the natural world and to one another, and understands that connecting people to nature isn’t just about access, but rather offering many different types of invitations into the space, including regular programming.
The organization hosts weekly programming — tai chi, mindfulness walks and nature journaling — leaning into the ever-growing research demonstrating the benefit of time in nature for improved mental and physical health.
4) Prioritize locals and tourists will follow
When people travel, they want an authentic experience. Terrance Smith, an inaugural fellow of the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins, reminded us of the value of this kind of focus. “While locals won’t go where tourists go, tourists go where locals go,’ he said.
The design of the new 30-acre Tom Lee Park takes this principle to heart. Its 1,000 new trees, reflective public art and river-inspired circulation paths cater to locals who want an experience of rest and rejuvenation. Its custom playspace and trio of basketball courts invite Memphians of all ages in for everyday play alongside the mighty Mississippi.
Another example of this principle is Crosstown Concourse. Todd Richardson from Crosstown shared the ambition for the $210M project, which has garnered local, national and international attention. Aptly billed as a vertical village with places to live, work and play, Crosstown has a very porous first floor with 32 different entrances, which aligns with Crosstown’s mission of being a welcoming space and supporting connections between locals. While tourists certainly visit Crosstown, this major (1.5 million-square-foot) reuse project anchored by arts organizations, a public charter school, healthcare facility and a YMCA prioritizes Memphians first and foremost.
5) Buy up the block…or partner with someone who can
Richardson shared that early on in Crosstown Concourse’s development, his organization had the opportunity to purchase an adjacent, underperforming property. As a conscientious, mission-driven development firm, they wanted to support a diversity of developers in the area and therefore declined to purchase the property. A decade later, that property is still vacant, and brings no added value to the community — though its price is now too high to be a viable purchase for Crosstown. His advice: “If you are mission-driven, buy the property across the street while you still can.”
Memphis’ The Heights CDC practices holistic community development that includes rehabbing vacant homes and working with neighbors on public spaces like parks, libraries, streets and sidewalks. Their staff embrace the concept that beautifully designed shared spaces add value to a community. The CDC has begun buying vacant commercial property adjacent to the coming Heights Line — a 2-mile linear park along a former trolley line that will be the first urban connection between two of Memphis’ premier greenways. As part of this project, they are working to incubate local businesses as a wealth-generating tool for the community.
By purchasing vacant properties and buildings while they are still cheap, the Heights CDC is able to practice incremental development — a slower, more intentional practice that focuses on stabilizing properties before allowing them to respond to the community’s needs. Since 2020 the CDC has been supporting Cxffee Black, a local- and Black-owned coffee business that is creating a new model for neighborhood retail. Cxffee Black offers culturally congruent retail experiences, supported by a business model that combines storefront sales with exporting products and merchandise, all with the goal of creating Black wealth.
The Heights CDC provides Cxffee Black with space for daily operations while actively partnering with them to help with growth and expansion. Once the nearby Heights Line opens, Cxffee Black will benefit from the increase in foot and bike traffic through the neighborhood.
6) Safety is an experience
Memphis Parks is moving away from defensive design in public space and moving towards providing a sense of welcome. To do this, the department is focusing on ways that design, staffing and programming can increase public life in its parks and facilities to deliver safety and decrease undesirable activity.
We visited the recently renovated Gaston Park community center, which was funded through Accelerate Memphis, a $200M bond initiative for investments in civic infrastructure such as parks, recreation centers, libraries and the public realm. The $4M Gaston Park community center renovation includes new recreation equipment and classrooms, but perhaps even more importantly, shifts the building from communicating that security is of utmost importance to being a place that is inviting to the community.
Long boarded up windows have been replaced, letting the sunshine through to the beautifully refreshed basketball courts. While the old community center had a plexiglass cell for staff at its entrance, the new center has a welcome desk where staff can easily greet visitors who walk through the door. The upgraded fitness room has proven popular, leading Memphis Parks to develop a membership model similar to a private health club, with members’ cards scanned when they arrive — though membership is free and available to all Memphians. Checking folks in offers enhanced safety without defensive measures, and provides a human touchpoint for every visitor.
Memphis Parks also launched Play Your Park this summer to encourage more outdoor activity for youth. The program is free and does not require registration, and is offered in different parks throughout the city on Monday through Thursday from 9am to 2pm. Once a week during the summer, Memphis Parks also hosts Family Fun Fridays, an evening program that rotates to different parks and provides food, games, music, and fun for the whole family.
In Memphis, it was clear that public space design and increased parks programming demonstrates that safety is an experience, not something that is solved by hostile architecture.
7) Don’t accept the status quo
Imagining a different future takes vision, and vision often means pushing up against the way things have always been done. George Abbott, director of external affairs for Memphis River Parks Partnership, reflected with the Learning Journey participants on the challenge of expanding people’s conception of what is possible as part of getting the community ready for the major changes to Tom Lee Park. “Never underestimate the power of the status quo,” he said, reminding us that one can’t expect the public to want something if they’ve never experienced something like it before. In public space engagement processes, connect your design ambition and programming ideas to what people want, but do not be afraid to elevate your ambition beyond the public’s imagination.
Memphis Public Libraries are pushing against the status quo with Cossitt branch library, part of the civic commons efforts in The Fourth Bluff. The newly renovated library reopened this spring with a wide-range of new amenities, including a podcasting studio, photo and video labs, a performance space and a café run by local chef Eli Townsend. Cossitt also hosts innovators in residence, who function as an in-house creative programming team. Cossitt is where local “podcast queen” Ena Esco hosts live podcasts and workshops with other experts in the field, where professional photographer Ariel Cobbert builds custom photo stations that hosted hundreds of portrait sessions on the National Day of Photography, and where Chef Eli offers cooking demos and jazz brunches. Through this innovative approach to staffing, Cossitt is becoming a real hub of creative energy and a place to share expertise, opportunity and connection.
And it’s likely to influence the entire system. “What’s happening here is going to up the ante for libraries across the city. This is the future,” said Keenon McCloy, director of Memphis Public Libraries.
In just 7 years time, Memphis has invested tens of millions into public spaces and catalyzed millions more in public and private investment. Even more impressive is the thoughtfulness in rethinking not only the spaces themselves, but how these spaces are managed, programmed and staffed. They’ve reimagined underperforming civic assets into some of the country’s best public places, elevating diversity and connection, while inviting more and more Memphians into public life to shape the future of their city.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
