Instigating Reinvestment in Our Neighborhoods Using Existing Tools in Unconventional Ways

Tax Increment Finance (TIF) is a tool used by cities to instigate economic development by rebating the developer the increment of property tax generated by the development. For example, (using simplistic numbers for the purpose of this example) if a property, pre-development, is generating $100 in property taxes and post-development, that property is generating $1000, the increment, or in this case $900 would be rebated to the developer. The money refunded to the developer can be used for many development costs i.e. infrastructure cost, site work, etc.

However, TIF comes with a heavy social cost to the community. Generally, property taxes are split between the city, county and the school district giving each a percentage of the property tax. A significant percentage of the property tax is used to support the school system. This money is forfeited to the developer and ultimately the education system, literally, pays the price for the development during the duration of the TIF program.

As controversial as TIF is in most cities, could it be used in an unconventional way as an affective tool to spur reinvestment in neighborhoods? Over the summer, I worked as an intern in the Community Planning and Economic Development department for the City of Davenport, IA. With all of the funding programs coming into the city funded by the American Recovery Act, the city wanted to continue to target neighborhood stabilization as one of its primary focuses. In addition to the Neighborhood Stabilization Act & Neighborhood Stabilization Act 2, Davenport implemented a program offered citywide known as Davenport NOW.

Davenport NOW is a program that targets every property owner that builds a new, owner-occupied residential or commercial structure, or a property owner that invests over $5,000 in improvements to an existing structure. Based on the amount the assessed value increases from the improvement, 50% of the City portion of property tax is rebated to the property owner. This rebate may be administered in a one-time upfront payment, or in several installments over a period of ten years.

A property owner will receive more money from the rebate over the longer period of time but it may be more advantageous to receive the money upfront to help subsidize some of the initial cost of the improvement. During my tenure with the City of Davenport, this program was seeing a tremendous amount of interest from property owners in the city looking to make improvements to their property, especially from new homeowners. Can a program similar to Davenport NOW be successful in Memphis?

The housing market in Memphis, like many other cities, has become relatively stagnant and infested with home foreclosures. Vacant properties have tendencies to be a drag on neighborhoods, particularly, property values because they are often plagued by a lack of care, squatters and even damage by the former owner. But, if a program similar to this was implemented in Memphis, it may serve as the catalyst for stabilizing the market. The program has the ability to be combined with the Federal First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, a program also seeing success.

One of the most important parts of this program is that it has no adverse affect on the school system, unlike TIF. Since this program is only using the City’s portion of property tax revenue, the school system is still able to receive its funding, which is very much need in the City of Memphis. Implementing innovative programs like Davenport NOW, coupled with NSP funding and CDBG funding may serve as an excellent avenue to trigger reinvestment and help get the economy and housing market back on track in Memphis.

Keeping our Inner Ring Alive

Memphis, along with a lot of other cities, experienced a booming development period after World War II. Cities began to sprawl out with residences and manufacturing a few miles out from the city core. These older suburbs were just the start and cities have continued to grow outward. The manufacturing facilities are long gone, as are the jobs, and these old suburbs are now in decline. These suburbs around the inner-ring do still have one big thing going for them: Location. A family can still enjoy its single family house and half-acre of land less than 5 miles away from the city center. In the case of Memphis, Frayser is a classic example of one of these inner ring suburbs that is in decline.

Unrealized Potential

Frayser was once a working class neighborhood with a bustling local economy that lost its jobs and is now struggling. For the past few years, Frayser's foreclosure and crime rates have both been among the highest in Memphis. In spite of this, the neighborhood still has a lot of things going for it. It is close to downtown, the Wolf River, and Meeman Shelby State Park. And, unlike any other neighborhood in the city proper, they have hills!

Frayser is also home to one of the top notch community development corporations in town fighting against the blight in the housing stock. And despite the declining neighborhood economy, there is a sizable retail sector. I use Frayser as an example because it is familiar to me, but there are similar stories around Memphis and cities across the country. What can these fledgling neighborhoods do to get a steroidial boost in their economies?

It's All Been Done Before

One idea that is gaining traction across the country is the concept of Urban Main Street. That is, taking the principles of the traditional Main Street program and applying it inside cities. Main Street has a reputation of ignoring social issues while focusing on the economy, but inside cities the program has the opportunity to be partnered with community development organizations. Main Street principals have been successfully applied to develop Urban Main Street programs in Boston and St. Paul, among other cities, both through programs run by community development organizations as well as private developers.

So, Urban Main Street has shown to be a good model for multiple social and economic environments. This raises the question: Could Frayser and other neighborhoods around Memphis start one of these programs?

Why Not in Memphis?

The big question mark here is funding. All of the successful examples I can find have backing from local governments. Is there a way to promote the same principles with less resources? If anyone can point towards research attempting to answer that question, please let us know. It is not unthinkable that a group of business owners and community leaders could get together and create a brand, promote investment, and lobby for street improvements and other aesthetic improvements in their own neighborhood, but success seems a lot less probable without investment from the city.

Community Revitalization and the Designer's Role

“In order to carry forward a vision of aspiration, architects need to find a compliant client with lots of money.” While this statement, by Michael Dobbins author of Urban Design and People, is true; there is a lack of connection between design vision and the community development programs. By adding involvement in community as the best way to carry forward a vision of aspiration, designers acknowledge the need to “dig down” and discover what is truly needed within the community being revitalized. More often than not, community developments are left up to the developers and contractors and design follows purpose in implementation.

Dobbins states, “The outcome of work done by ordinary people cooperating with each other, using the means available to them, will inevitably produce forms, shapes, materials and decorative expressions that embody the human spirit.” Take this belief and add design professionals, egos checked at the door, and the educated outcome would be unprecedented.

The aspirations of great architects and planners throughout the years, whose utopian ideas were mostly only realized on paper, are shared by most designers. All of which highlight the “melting pot” of ideas that could be formulated a la carte for specific needs of a community. Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright and Corbusier are just a few that have blazed a path of grand ideas for urban developments that better a community’s quality of life.

Le Corbusier envisioned the “Radiant City” concept which unfortunately removed historic cityscapes to develop housing for all types of demographics. He incorporated advanced environmental systems and pre-fabricated modern methods of building and design. To preserve land, he elevated the structures approximately 15’ above ground. Utilitarian activities were removed from the individual living spaces and grouped together on their own floor to promote community development within each living tower. But as Dobbins so eloquently points out, “While modernism did achieve improvements for many people, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, the movement suffered from its omission of consideration of all those human values that fall outside of the technical problem solving.”

Corbusier, compared to the other visionaries, completely disassociated his design from the input of the community. The omission of the community was the greatest folly in an otherwise materially progressive and environmentally well thought out concept.

Value added social responsibility: Passion - Collaboration - Implementation

How does the designer fit into the community development equation? The first value is at the heart of specific designers whose passion for creating leads them to make a difference in the community, not just for the sake of making a name.

The second value, collaboration, resides in designers, planners and developers working together with Community Development Corporations (CDC). There are many to choose from. In general, a CDC is a non-profit, housing and commercial developer. Within neglected neighborhoods, they try to instill empowerment and hope through reintroducing employment opportunities and home ownership. For a list of local CDC’s, please follow the following link and select Community Development Council from the resource links on the right. http://www.memphiscommunitydevelopment.com/.

There is a lack of designers involved at the level of inception and maintaining a presence through completion. Planners and developers exist but often are at odds and the planner’s vision for the community, developed with the community’s approval, falls short because the developer is thinking with the economic wand and not the best interest in the client, which is the community.

Traditionally, in the commercial world, the design professional keeps the integrity of the design intact while at the same time accommodating the developer/client desires to meet a certain price matrix. This constant flux of communication generally achieves the closest resemblance to what was originally designed.

In community development schemes, without the mediator of design present from start to finish, almost inevitably, the design concept is dissolved in “value engineering” processes. Proof of how this can be mitigated, with synergistic side affects, lies in my own personal experience with a volunteer based design group.

InsFire, a newly formed design volunteer group moving toward 501c3 status, is working closely with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. Although they are not a CDC, this is an example of what can be done if applied to CDC’s. Habitat approached my partner with the concept of engaging architects in the design model for habitat homes. In the past, they were largely designed by retired contractors. The emphasis was on purpose and less about design quality and aesthetics. The proposed partnership challenged us to compose a group of under utilized eager intern-design volunteers, design students and philanthropic design professionals.

The outcome, thus far, is a collective that embodies volunteerism, education and collaboration at all levels within the community of Habitat for Humanity and the individuals we come in contact with. As a critique, I would argue there is too much separation between the designers and the home owners. However, there is great opportunity for improvement embodied in this group’s model at the level of community connectivity. As a positive critique, there are invaluable educational synergies created from the designer/contractor perspective to the owner’s understanding of quality home design.

The next push for InsFire will be to expand on the first critique and connect with the owner and to expand on a broader community development project with Habitat. Currently, they contribute “spot” housing development. Their next effort will be a full community neighborhood development and InsFire plans to be involved.

This proactive movement of getting involved is not a suggestion to design professionals, as a whole, to abandon practice at a profit based commercial development level. It is for those who want to step outside their comfort zone of doing what they do because that’s how it’s done.

Memphis – Hickory Hill Potential

Memphis, the third largest city in the Southeast and the 19^th largest city in the United States, seems to be forgetting about its ethnic population. Many ethnic pockets within the city realm are being pushed into the background, rather than being embraced, supported and nurtured. Hickory Hill area is just one example of an area with a high concentration ethnic population of a Latino origin. Due to the area's fairly low income level without a variation of mixed-uses and different income level housing types, conventional zoning and underutilized properties, the area is full of vacant or underperforming lots.

Hickory Hill

In the recent years, the Hickory Hill area has been swept by economic and demographic changes, during which the majority of the white residents left, allowing for a concentration of African-American and Hispanic residents. Many major businesses have left this urban decay area. Signs advertising vacancies are visible on every corner, several lots are vacant altogether.

Another Empty Mall?

The Hickory Ridge Mall, opened in 1981 and during the 80’s prosperous and thriving place, is now deserted, with only Sears remaining in business. With its size of 855,000 square feet (450,000 square feet not including the big-box anchor stores), the mall is considered ‘super-regional’. It was hit hard by a tornado on February 5, 2008, and bought by the World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church shortly afterward. Plans for its rebirth have been introduced, including not only shopping but also job training opportunities, social service programs and family entertainment uses.

The Commercial Appeal published in January 2009 that ‘While the redevelopment plans are still fluid, the first floor of the Macy's building will be dedicated to the congregation's young people - with an "Incredible Pizza-like" recreational area, a performing arts center, tutoring classrooms, computer labs, a skating rink and a place for youth worship services all among the possible uses.’

With the initial plans of having Phases I and II, containing about 50 stores up and running by May of 2009, the construction seems to be going slow and it is now uncertain when the ambitious project will be finished. As for today, the vast parking of 43.5 acres sits empty.

The declining community had a great impact on the value of the mall property, as well as others. In 1986, the Hickory Ridge mall was sold for $50.3 million, in 2003 for $13.5 million and finally in 2008 for only $1.4 million to the World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church.

The Hickory Ridge Mall serves as an anchor in the predominantly residential area surrounding it. Once back on its feet and running, it will serve as a catalyst for revitalization of the neighboring area.

Ethnic Neighborhood

There are several strip malls located nearby, from which many display Spanish-signs advertising virtually anything, from ethnic restaurants to small mom-and-pops grocers, clothes and Servicios Bilingual Services - immigration / tax services. The Christ Community Hickory Hill clinic and others, such as Medicos Para la Familia and CentroSalud, offer bi-lingual medical services in the area, targeting the vast Latino population.

El Mercadito de Memphis, a Hispanic shopping mall nearby holds annual Mexican festival Las Posadas, right before Christmas. Many immigrants gather for this week-long event to celebrate. Extended families gather to nurture, support and celebrate their heritage.

Local school enrolls high percentage of Spanish-speaking children, while offering English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for their parents.

Opportunity

With its wide ethnic population and its influence, the Hickory Ridge area seems underutilized. There is an opportunity for embracing and celebrating the population, while creating attractive and thriving node within the City of Memphis.

The area is slowly changing from its grassroots, serving the needs of its population; however, the re-opening of the Hickory Ridge Mall would serve as a catalyst for community uplift. The new mall providing shopping experience, as well as social services (Christian singles' club, restaurant, childcare, baby thrift store, prenatal services, 1,500-seat banquet hall, movie theater, employment services, adult education, fitness center, pharmacy and a family entertainment center), would once again serve as an anchor for the community and support for smaller shops within the area.

Is Memphis Ready for Inter"Change"

I live downtown on the corner of Union and Main, and I absolutely love it. One of the activities that I have enjoyed doing since I moved to Memphis, especially when I did not own a car, is utilizing the trolley as a means of transportation to do my weekend grocery shopping. The excursions were always pleasurable and adventuresome, but I would need to block out a half day on my calendar to complete my errands. My retail selection was very limited as well. This was okay most of the time, but when I was in a hurry or needed to go beyond my grocers, I was out of luck.

Why was I out of luck? The trolley is primarily set up for tourism and is not a reliable source of transportation due to its inconsistencies and maintenance issues. I was also limited in the extent of its route, which ends at Madison and Cleveland and at the north and south ends of Main Street. If I wanted to travel to any other destination further out, I would need to seek another form of transportation. The obvious alternative was the bus; which I would have gladly taken if I could get past the site of the dismal bus stops. Also, I was warned of the bus schedule inconsistencies which guaranteed I was not going wait and hope the bus arrived on time.

My personal experience saddens me, because I would love to commute around town to the various “hot spots” of Memphis or even my grocers of choice without the hassle of traffic. However, my experience has also motivated me, not only to buy a car, but to seek out ways of getting involved in my community. I have discovered that perhaps Memphis is ready for “new” public transportation systems and the community interchanges that sustain them.

The Interchange

The concept of a community interchange is to develop hubs within strategic locations that conveniently link multiple modes of sustainable transportation. Frank Ricks, of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, describes institutionally anchored neighborhoods as important gateways and portals that should be linked with public transportation. These neighborhoods would be connected by what LRK calls the Zipper Zone. The concept utilizes the Norfolk Southern line as a commuter rail and bus transit to connect the dots between Collierville and Downtown.

I too feel the Zipper Zone is a very important concept that can blossom with the seeds of interchange hubs located along the Zone’s corridor. Without viable community hubs, the transportation system will not work. These hubs would support incoming trains and bus services, and also accommodate bike sharing, encourage pedestrian activity and provide parking if vehicular travel is needed. The book, A Pattern Language, outlines the importance of interchanges and three basic principles that must be followed in order to sustain a web of transportation:

1. Surround the interchange with workplaces and housing types.
2. Keep the interior of the interchange continuous with the exterior pedestrian network. Maintain small shops and kiosks and keep parking cleverly hidden within surrounding architecture.
3. Keep the transfer distance between different modes of transport to 300 ft with a maximum of 600 ft.

The wonderful thing about the first principle is that we already have neighborhoods with the existing infrastructure of workplace and housing. The second wonderful thing is the synergies that spin off of the interchange development will improve the bus stops, spur community economy and unite neighborhoods through the integrity of being a part of where they live. Although it could be argued that for the hubs to happen, community development needs to be improved along the Zipper Zone; the initiatives to do this already exist within the fabric of Memphis activist.

Into Action

On October 3rd, I participated in the 3rd Annual Summit for Neighborhood Leaders organized by the Coalition for Livable Communities (CLC). I learned of the unfortunate development decisions that led to the state of urban sprawl that is Memphis today; but I also discovered that the neighborhoods have a place in the regional picture and what we can do to make changes. Memphis is gearing up with programs such as Clean Memphis and Memphis City Beautiful that organize neighborhood clean up, Transit Oriented Development and the Zipper Corridor Concept, Beyond the Car: WalkBike Memphis, and the Unified Development Code that provides the tools to get your neighborhood together so it can evolve. (www.livablememphis.org)

Along with the CLC, The Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization has already announced the Imagine 2035 Plan. The 2035 proposes to downsize existing roads and implement new forms of sustainable transportation such as improved bus lines, bike paths and pedestrian walkways. "We've got to link transportation and land use together, because one can't operate without the other," said MPO administrator Martha Lott.

So, is Memphis ready for Inter “Change”? Yes. Memphis is looking at transportation through the lens of the community in collaboration with Memphis government. However, if these voices of the community and good will of the government are not put into action, these efforts will seem nothing more than wasted energy.

Blight in Memphis – Let's Get Proactive

It is no secret or surprise that Memphis has been hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, like many cities across the nation. Foreclosures not only have the immediate effect on families that lose their homes, but most have a lasting effect on neighbors and cumulatively on neighborhoods. A standard foreclosure will stay vacant for a year and a half; during that year it is likely that those properties will become blighted, which brings down neighboring property values, not to mention neighborhood morale. Last year alone, according to CBANA's lending study Memphis saw 12,855 foreclosure notices. This year, the trend is likely peaking and moving east, with Cordova at the epicenter as opposed to Frayser last year (and the year before). What is surprising is how lackadaisical Memphis has been in dealing with the wake of problems left behind by the wave of vacancy and abandonment. As the wave continues to move east, code enforcement still works in the same archaic, complaint based system.

The good news is that there is plenty of time left to start taking actions to ease the pain going forward. Many cities across the country have implemented innovative tools that help stop vacant structures from becoming blighted. ARRA (stimulus) funding opens the door for more cities to adopt some of these tools. I am going to provide a brief overview of only a couple of proactive tools that could be applicable in Memphis, but any proactive tool would be of great use to Memphis communities. If you want to read about more of the tools being enacted across the country, browse on over to the National Vacant Properties Campaign.

Vacant Property Registration

Many US cities have enacted Vacant Property Registration (VPR) ordinances which help to prevent vacant properties from turning into problem properties. These ordinances require owners of vacant buildings to register their property with the city and generally charge a registration fee with penalties for those not complying. Once registered, the properties are inspected periodically to ensure their compliance with city code. Most VPR ordinances require a minimum amount of liability insurance on registered properties and some require that a property management company be hired to keep the vacant property up to code. If a property is not in compliance with the VPR ordinance then a penalty is assessed. Penalties are usually monetary and each day that the property is out of compliance is a separate offense.

Chula Vista, CA’s VPR ordinance, cited as a best practice by the 2008 US Conference of Mayors, registers properties which are entering into foreclosure and are vacant. This ordinance charges a $70 annual registration fee. The ordinance is enforced by the city’s planning and building department. No additional staff has been available, but so far the program has generated enough revenue to nearly cover its administration costs. In only the first nine months of operations $61,500 in fees and penalties were collected while $174,302 has been assessed in special assessment liens (US Conference of Mayors). Although this ordinance allows for foreclosed homes to be proactively inspected, Chula Vista has not had the capacity to be proactive in enforcing the ordinance. Administrators found that the main problem in administering the ordinance was that it was often difficult to identify and locate the current beneficiaries of a mortgage.

Memphis could benefit from a VPR ordinance if it is properly drafted. The issue at hand for Memphis would be enacting the ordinance properly. Foreclosures are entering the market in Memphis at a rate among the fastest in the country. There would be obstacles in implementing a VPR ordinance such that it becomes the proactive tool that it is meant to be. Chula Vista recognizes that one of their greatest obstacles is identifying the actual beneficiaries of a mortgage. Memphis would likely face that same problem. Chula Vista also lacks the resources to make the VPR ordinance a proactive tool. Memphis could potentially combat both of these problems by simply hiring more staff. While running the VPR process is costly, Chula Vista has shown that it is mostly self-sustaining.

Proactive Code Enforement as a Supplement to the Complaint Based System

Memphis has a huge assett to help curb blight in the Neighborhood by Neighbor Survey. This survey, conducted by CBANA, painstakingly documents each problem property that they find in Memphis neighborhoods. Memphis only needs to take action on this massive amount of data that is available as a resource. Other cities have taken a similar approach within their own housing departments and have taken action. Baltimore has taken the same approach wich a block by block survey. They use the data to focus code enforcement on neighborhoods where it can have the most impact. I have no idea what conversations have been taking place as Neighborhood by Neighbor makes significant progress, but it would be a real shame if Memphis did not take full advantage of this resource.

"What's in A Name" : Memphis Urban Communities

A city is only as good as it reputation. When you think of certain cities, certain characteristics instantly come to mind. Whether positive or negative, a city’s reputation can bring in economic development or shun away economic opportunities.

When you say the word Memphis to someone who doesn't live here, the first word that comes to their mind is crime. Memphis has too long been known as a city of crime that is quickly on a downward spiral. As planners and architects, we must examine the underlying cause of such negative exposure.

What are we doing or not doing to create communities that are becoming unsafe havens for masses?

The first thing we must do is determine what actually makes a community. What are the vital necessary elements of a city or community that contribute the success of an area? What elements of a city are necessary for the survival of a place? These are questions that I feel Memphis political powers have never asked nor addressed. When you look at a neighborhood like South Memphis, you must question why is this neighborhood not thriving. There are obviously assets missing from this neighborhood that prevents it from being a viable successful community.

I would argue that communities like this do not have the basic elements in place such as job opportunities, walkable streets, public transportation, or appropriate retail to make it a thriving community.

What is the social makeup of the neighborhood? I would argue that these neighborhoods often times lack the social awareness and interaction that creates community. Without this social interaction, you have communities filled with fear. Fear of walking down the street, fear of talking to people you don't know, and fear of creating lasting relationships that are the basis of successful neighborhoods.

These types of communities have suffered from years of disinvestment and neglect. I am a firm believer that crime follows lack of opportunities. When opportunities to provide for your family, earn a decent wage, or survive are limited, crime tends to follow. This crime leads to a negative image of a neighborhood, which leads to businesses and investors unwillingness to invest into these areas.

How we can remedy this problem that has plagued our urban cities for decades?

What can we do differently to change the perception of our urban neighborhoods? The obvious first step is to bring awareness to the problem. Our city officials must acknowledge that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. As long as they sweep the problem under the rug, it will continue to exist. Once the problem is acknowledged, our officials must work hand and hand with planners and architects to create a revitalization plan that would bring opportunities into the neighborhood. I believe the plan should include provisions for jobs, transportation, affordable housing, neighborhood centers, parks, viable retail, and other aspects that would benefit the city. This plan should be costumed to the conditions of the neighborhood and it should be understood that all plans will not be the same. It is my belief that when a well designed plan is implemented into a community, not only will economical issues be addressed, but social issues will also be addressed.

The social fabric is what a community is built upon, and if that is torn, a community could never fully thrive. It must also be understood that a plan of this magnitude will not happen overnight and will take some time. We must change the attitude of “it’s not my neighborhood so I don’t care”. This is the current attitude that has caused such unawareness to the urban decay of our cities. As citizens of Memphis though, we must at least move to see that these types of revitalization plans are the top of our officials to do list. Because when it’s said and done, when someone speaks negatively about Memphis, we are all included.