Livable Memphis

About Livable Memphis

Livable Memphis is a grassroots coalition of individuals, neighborhood leaders, community organizations, and business and government partners. Working together, we promote the kind of healthy growth and development that benefits existing urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods across the greater Memphis region.

Campaign Goals

• Equitable distribution of resources among new and exisitng communities
• Efficient and accessible public transportation and active transit (walking, biking,etc.)
• Access to jobs, schools and neighborhood facilities
• Diverse options in housing location, type, and affordability
• Environmental protections and responsible stewardship of natural resources

Fifth Annual Summit for Neighborhood Leaders Coming Up October 22

Livable Memphis will present the fifth annual Summit for Neighborhood Leaders on Saturday, October 22. On the theme of Wired Citizen: Using Technology to Connect Cities and Communities will explore how government and communities are using technology to create more livable cities.

The morning summit, Using Technology to Connect Cities and Communities, will focus of how technology is being used:

• by cities to connect with residents and collect data
• by citizens to connect community members to each other and issues
• to create tools for making cities more livable.

The afternoon GovCamp will preview the City of Memphis available public data, and give participants a chance to prioritize what data sets should be released and brainstorm about what kinds of tools can be created to make that data accessible to the public.

Register here.

Livable Mission

Livable Memphis supports the development and redevelopment of healthy, vibrant and economically sustainable communities throughout the greater Memphis region.

We do this by educating residents, building consensus on a shared vision of livable communities, and promoting public policies to further that vision.

Livable Memphis is a coalition of active citizens, neighborhood organizations, educational institutions, non-profit and faith-based community groups, private and community developers, business partners, government officials, and departmental staff. Representing over 125 neighborhoods in 32 zip codes, we provided a grassroots voice for communities in the ongoing community conversation about development trends and challenges to neighborhood revitalization.

Our Programs

Livable Memphis hosts a number of programs designed for the specific purpose of educating the neighborhood people about their surrounding areas and revitalizing the communities of Memphis.

Such programs are:

Walking and Biking Advocacy

Walking and Biking Advocacy is our initiative to make Memphis safer and more accessible for bikers and pedestrians. Well-designed bike routes, lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and safe car-free pathways make our streets easier to use, provide healthy living choices, and connect our neighborhoods. Through educational outreach and advocacy for improved facilities, we can make Memphis a more bikable and walkable place!

Pizza With Planners

Pizza with Planners: A Citizen's Guide to How Your City Works is our ongoing series of free workshops for neighborhood leaders. In each session, we tackle how decisions are made in a department of Memphis and Shelby County government-- planning and development, transportation planning, economic development, etc. We pair each department representative with a citizen activist who has been able to accomplish a goal in that area. Pizza with Planners participants learn tools for making their neighborhoods more livable through better understanding of how the system works. And the free pizza is great too!

Live Where You Live

 

 

Live Where You Live is our local livability campaign. Livable Memphis collects positive stories about how people are committed to their community. This campaign encourages neighbors to support their community with a commitment to shop, eat, and play in their neighborhood. Live Where You Live is not an explicit call for government action but rather a grassroots effort to find a tipping point where the desire to stay is the norm.

I-269 and Regional Dialogue

Our region's future outer beltway loop, I-269, presents a serious challenge to smart growth. Local history shows that highway projects have opened up our region for sprawl. If unfettered growth is allowed to occur along the corridor, more of our neighborhoods will be left behind. Livable Memphis is advocacy for an I-269 Task Force of stakeholders to implement sprawl-mitigation strategies. This collaborative entity can serve as the foundation for a regional dialogue that will continue to address issues that face our region.

FYU: For Your Understanding

Facts

Our urbanized area is growing much faster than our population. Our economic centers move more and more out of our urban core and into fringes of our suburban neighborhoods, leaving abandoned storefronts and decaying neighborhoods throughout our city.

Unfettered growth and inequitable distribution of public investment have resulted in expensive and inefficient urban sprawl.

What's the Alternative to Sprawl?

Smart growth! By coming together as a community to create a shared vision for our city and region, we can make smart, intentional decisions about the kind of growth we want and where we want it.

Livable Memphis promotes public policies that encourage sustainable development and discourage urban sprawl. Smart public policies compel thoughtful investments in existing neighborhoods-- YOUR neighborhood!

Livable Communities

A livable community is a place where all people can do the things they need to do efficiently and effectively. A livable community offers a variety of transportation options, from safe biking and walking to reliable public transit. Livable neighborhoods give residents easy access to shopping, recreation, education, and public services. Smart growth investments makes communities more livable according to their own goals and needs.

Building Partnerships

Livable Memphis partners with many stakeholders to promote a viable Memphis through healthy growth and development. These partnerships are critical to creating a shared vision and developing strategies to further that vision. Become a partner and make your neighborhood more livable!

Livable Values

Livable Memphis is one of the few local organizations that share and demonstrate many of the same values of community leaders and everyday citizens. These values are the foundation upon which Livable Memphis thrives.

Balanced development.Growth should be planned and managed in a way that balances both private and public interests. Future growth must address the entire community's need for economic development and healthy, diverse neighborhoods.

Share benefits and costs. All Shelby County residents must share in the economic benefits of growth, as well as its costs. Public expenditures (tax dollars) should be spread equitably among both new and existing neighborhoods.

Access and choice. All residents deserve equal access to jobs, schools, shopping, transportation, and neighborhood facilities. Citizens must have choices in housing type and location, and transportation options.

Community input andcollaboration. All residents should have a voice in how the community is developed. Venues for effective citizen input should be timely, accessible, and well publicized.

Environmental protection. Open space, natural habitats, and landscapes must be protected and preserved from the benefit of citizens and the greater community.

Smart spending. Public spending to support development should be efficient and cost-effective. Whenever possible, existing infrastructure and community facilities should be utilized, and existing structures preserved or redeveloped.

Articles from The Commercial Appeal

The first article discusses the approval of a 1.5 mile greenway along Wolf River. Click here to view it!

The second article features a discussion about the Commercial Appeal's effort to go green by implementing a new section that is only available online! Click here to read it!