grist reports on Memphis riverfront

There’s an interesting and perceptive article about the Memphis riverfront on the environmental blog grist. Written by Katharine Wroth as she travelled down the Mississippi, it is one in her series of thoughtful looks at towns and cities along the River, and we're sorry we missed her call to be interviewed. Click here to read the article.

In it, Wroth quotes two people as saying Memphians don’t care about the riverfront. On that point, we disagree. A sunset on the riverfront was voted our city's #1 treasure and the best place for a cheap date. It's because we do care that Friends for Our Riverfront was formed.

What we don’t care about, or maybe it would be better to say oppose, are plans to take the public spaces on the riverfront and make them private offices, a shopping mall, and condos. There’s plenty of private land available for that.

Improvement/revitalization/a place to get a Coke/using our limited resources wisely - Yes. Waste/private development on public land - No.