7.26.06

Another renaissance?

Op-ed

By now, most Memphians are familiar with the Downtown renaissance, an effort that has transformed the once-downtrodden central business district into a thriving neighborhood where people work, live, shop and play. Can the same sort of success now be transferred to Intown?

If you aren't even sure exactly where Intown is, that's not unexpected. The neighborhood, also known as Winchester Park, has been largely overlooked for many years. But the area could have tremendous strategic importance as our community's leaders try to spread revitalization efforts throughout the inner city.

Roughly bounded by Danny Thomas Boulevard, North Parkway, Interstate 240 and Jefferson Avenue, Intown has the potential to capitalize on an expected growth boom in the Medical Center. It'll take some thoughtful planning, which began in earnest last week with a community charrette, or design forum.

There were many intriguing ideas expressed, which included cleaning up and building affordable housing on the neighborhood's vacant lots, adding shady trees along streets to encourage more pedestrian activity, adding bicycle trails and possibly developing a greenway park along a bayou. The hard part will be seeing those ideas through. If the packed house at a public forum on the design ideas last Saturday is any indication, Intown won't be overlooked much longer.