(01-17-2018 03:34 PM)MemTigers1998 Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 03:29 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 03:21 PM)MemTigers1998 Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 03:16 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  LOL. Then why has Nashville cleaned Memphis' clock in the last 40 years?

I'd argue that there's a significant subset of people that are

1) Have talents that are considered to be highly valuable to the new economy

2) Aren't moving to Memphis. But are moving to Nashville.

Now maybe its just me, but I see a lot of Marsha Blackburn parroting going on from the Memphians I know. A lot of Confederacy affirmation.

It's not b/c Marsha Blackburn. Nashville didn't have the crime or poverty Memphis has had. Its not Blackburn's constituents and supporters living in poverty and committing crime. Its Cohen's.... and those folks aint affirming the Confederacy

So you think that the reason Memphis got left behind was because of crime? Ok...that could explain it.

But I'd argue that Memphis doesn't, for whatever reason attract a large number of educated persons that are LGBT, not-religious, single, etc. Maybe SFO is so desirable, poop notwithstanding, because SFO is welcoming.

crime, poverty, poor schools -- oh yeah, the Democrats have been running it for almost 30 years.

Atlanta seems to do okay.

That being said, maybe its not that the Blackburn level politics, the Confederacy affirmation, the hostility to the LGBT community, etc. that is the root problem of the situation in Memphis, but really that those are a symptom of the bigger issue......

Memphis has an elite that really doesn't like change. Like New Orleans, they don't want things to change. So businesses slowly move out and nothing (other than FedEx) moves in to replace it. Economic activity slowly sinks.

And Memphis' elite appears to be VERY conservative. And it would rather fight with the African American population than work with them as equal partners in the regions' future. And the African American political establishment is resentful of the elites and is willing to spend its days fighting with the elites. You could say the same thing about Birmingham. And the two groups have little interest in any outsiders coming in and changing the dynamic because the current dynamic works well for them (while being detrimental to the overall health and competitiveness for the overall area). The elites already have a lock on the money. The political establishment already has a lock on the political power. Neither really wants to see the threat of a new group challenging them.