Issues

From 1940 to 1951, Memphis was repeatedly named as the cleanest city in Tennessee and the United States.

Now, far too many of our communities are suffering from property blight, litter, and disinvestment. Communities with aging housing stock are neglected while sparsely populated commercial districts around them with struggling businesses don’t properly serve the community. Memphis must continue to invest in neighborhood anchors and change the trajectory of those communities. In addition to the investments in physical  structures, we must concurrently invest in code enforcement and litter prevention to encourage private investment in these communities and provide a clean and safe environment for current residents.

• Invest in public infrastructure and the physical structures in Memphis 3.0 Neighborhood Anchors through grants and loans to neighborhood businesses and homeowners.

• Develop and implement a long-term investment plan to replace aging sewer, water and power infrastructure in Memphis neighborhoods. 

• Utilize camera technology in frequent illegal dumping locations and strategically enforce penalties to consistent violators.

• Increase the size of the staff for Code Enforcement and Memphis City Beautiful to move towards proactive enforcement regarding abandoned properties and facilitate community clean ups.  

• Increase annual investment in the Housing Trust Fund to increase the supply of affordable rental housing units and home ownership in neighborhoods.