how does an overbuilt and high poverty city reset housing and neighborhood policy?

SUMMARY

czb first arrived in Memphis in 2017 to facilitate conversations on neighborhood revitalization strategy. That year we were asked to provide some strategic guidance on housing and neighborhood issues to the process for Memphis 3.0, the city's new comprehensive plan.

Since the middle of the 20th Century, the historic core of Memphis had been losing population while the city binged on annexation to expand its boundaries. As a result, the city's area, and its volume of housing stocks and public infrastructure, has far outpaced its population and economic activity. Memphis today must deal with the implications of an overbuilt and aging built environment.

Our work provided an overview of the supply and demand dynamics as well as the underlying demographic, social, and economic issues. It offered the community a path to making strategic geographic decisions in allocating housing and neighborhood resources when those resoruces are not sufficient to achieve desired outcomes in every part of the city.