Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Downtown Memphis, as seen from a Bass Pro Shop. Photo: Charles Marohn
Downtown Memphis. Photo: Brad Tabke via Twitter
false

This image of downtown Memphis caught the eye of Charles Marohn at Strong Towns. A parking wasteland topped by a tangle of highway spaghetti, it was taken, perfectly enough, from the Bass Pro Shop that now occupies the top of the Memphis Pyramid.

So many cities have done the same as Memphis: take some of their most valuable land and make it worthless. Marohn writes:

On the left you have the city with all its people, businesses, hopes and dreams. On the right, you have the great natural resource of the Mississippi River and all its potential to enhance the prosperity of the community. In between, you have the wealth of the community -- yesterday's wealth, today's wealth and tomorrow's wealth -- dedicated to moving cars and storing cars, culminating in the hundreds of millions of dollars of subsidy for the pyramid-shaped retail outlet from which the photo is taken.

What you see in this photo is the most valuable land in the city. There is no clearer explanation for why our cities are going broke than to see how this valuable resource has been squandered. There is no return here. No wealth. Just massive, ongoing expense passed from generation to generation.

This also explains why a great city like Memphis would feel compelled to gamble with hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money instead of making small, incremental, low-risk investments in their core neighborhoods. They feel a desperate need to make up for the fact that their most valuable land produces nothing but expenses. That's an impossibly high burden they've placed on themselves.

If you want your city to be wealthy and prosperous, stop obsessing about cars and start obsessing about your people, your community's wealth and the taxpayer's return-on-investment.

Elsewhere on the Network today: GJEL Accident Attorneys reports that Oakland city officials have reprogrammed traffic lights at key intersections in such a way that many now take more than two minutes to cross on foot. Urban Milwaukee says historic tax credits are on the chopping block in Wisconsin and explains why that would be a very bad thing for cities. And ATL Urbanist imagines what it would be like if we designed our houses the way we design cities.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Thursday’s Headlines

Calmatters continues their great reporting on the state's lack of teeth when it comes to dealing with deadly drivers.

July 10, 2025

Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

Here's a rundown of some of the transportation provisions in the Republicans' reconciliation package, and what they might mean for your community.

July 9, 2025

Whittier Councilmember Fernando Dutra Is New Metro Board Chair

Board Chair Dutra: "[Metro is] not just a train and a bus company. We also manage projects on the freeways... Our projects along the 5, the 605, 91, and 105 Freeway are very very important... I'll be focusing on making sure we keep our freeways moving freely."

July 9, 2025

Dangerous Intersection on Freitas Parkway Claims Life of Beloved Mountain Bike Coach

The deadly crash was preventable and should have been anticipated due to a history of similar collisions at the same location.

July 9, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines

I'm still traveling, so we won't have a new unique story until Friday.

July 9, 2025

Removing ‘Rainbow Crosswalks’ Won’t Make America’s Arterials Safer

Secretary Duffy wants to tackle dangerous arterials. So why is he coming after rainbow crosswalks most often seen on narrow city roads?

July 8, 2025
See all posts