This blog is designed to highlight some of the work I’ve done for MicroMemphis, a hyperlocal news site. I will be adding more of my work from other news sites very soon. Check out my storify report of all my stories.
After a string of burglaries over the past month, store owners near Cooper and Central say some of the smallest things can change the big problems.
In an article by the Commercial Appeal, in January of this year, three male teens were seen running from a store with merchandise. Two motorists decided to pursue the thieves south on Cooper towards York Avenue. The teens dropped the clothes before attempting to jump a barbed wire fence into a towing yard. One of the teens was caught because his running was hindered by saggy pants.
Incidents like these have taught store managers in the area to find ways to fix the problem. For Urban Outfitters, after a little more than a year in the area, the need for changes in security is apparent.
Shoplifting happens all around the country. According to Bartlett, Urban Outfitters has had a problem in all of its stores.
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Small things can make a difference for clothing stores. A policy that requires each store to have a “greeter,” not only shows hospitality to the customers, but it allows another level of security for the store as well.
Just across the street, Mapco manager, Shirley C., says that there hasn’t been much of a change to their store recently. “Other than an addition of a couple more cameras, we haven’t really done much.” Shirley says. Customers can find more than a dozen cameras inside and out of their Mapco store. Also, an additional monitor is visible to the customers so they can see what the cameras are filming. Although the burglaries have not produced any major changes for these stores, Bartlett says that he has noticed an increased “It seems to have calmed down, I know we’ve had cops kind of patrolling the area,” says Bartlett. As for the Mapco, heavy parking lot traffic is a natural crime deterrent. Customers can find police officers stopping by at all hours of the day, whether patrolling, getting a fill-up or grabbing a snack. |
The neighborhood has been gaining new respect, but it is still bothered by one major problem seen all over Memphis; blight.
Sections of S. Cox Street, New York Street, Philadelphia Street and Bruce Street are all plagued by pockets of boarded
up houses, overgrown bushes and lawns, broken vehicles and garbage.
Though each of the streets has these problems, the 1000 block of Bruce Street is by far the worst.
The bordering neighborhood to the south, Orange Mound, is heavily beset by drugs and crime. There have been numerous drug houses raided and sealed in Orange Mound. In 2009 Police raided 3663 Sharpe Avenue and arrested Ernest Scruggs for selling crack and other illegal drugs out of the house.
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Despite this, Knochenhauer doesn’t feel like it is a threat to Cooper-Young though. “I have no fear whatsoever”, said Knochenhauer “I love my neighborhood. It’s amazing”.
There have been attempts to rid Cooper-Young of the houses that pose as an eyesore to residents and people visiting the neighborhood. In 2001, with help from the CYCA, a few houses were torn down and rebuilt while others were remodeled. People outside of Cooper-Young have also taken an interest in revamping the neighborhood. The Cowles Company focuses on revitalizing urban historic districts and has done work in historic Evergreen, Central Gardens and recently Cooper-Young. The Cowles Company built numerous houses on Elzey Avenue just south of Central Avenue. “The houses sold as quickly as we could build them,” said owner Bernard Cowles. |
Cowles was pleased with the work done in Cooper-Young and still has more than ten lots to build closer to Cooper Street and the business district.
“We definitely plan to do more in the future once the economy gets better,” said Cowles.
The former Cooper-Young Development Corporation also tried revitalizing the neighborhood by remodeling and rebuilding homes. Since 1991, more than 60 homes and businesses were redone by the organization. In 2006, CYDC started the Seattle Project on Seattle Street just southwest of Cooper-Young.
The CYDC was also working with the Memphis Police Department to eradicate the persistence of drugs dealers in the area.
“We tried to replicate the model we had used on New York and Cox streets in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Developing several houses on those streets at the same time worked to our great advantage and helped to turn around the southeast quadrant of the neighborhood,” said Sutton Moria Hayes, former Executive Director of CYDC.
Loans were taken out to accomplish the goals of the project, but once the housing market went down, CYDC couldn’t sustain the efforts and were forced to stop the operation.
“We had sold three of the nine houses built, and had several interested buyers in those remaining. After the housing market crash, the mortgage products evaporated, and thus so did the buyers,” said Hayes.
Two home owners in Cooper-Young are having legal actions taken against them in Mayor AC Wharton’s campaign to end
blight.
The house on 1915 Felix and 1064 Philadelphia St. were included in the lawsuit filed by the city under the Neighborhood Preservation Act.
“We have done several sweeps, issued a number of citations and boarded up a number of addresses in Cooper-Young”, said Deputy Director of community enhancement, Onzie Horne.
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When a house starts to pose a threat to neighbors or is in violation of housing codes, the city can get involved. The owner will be issued citations and will be encouraged to fix up the house. If the owner takes no action, the city can take them to court.
The last step is boarding houses up. If a house is abandoned or neglected, as long as every entrance to the house is boarded and no one can get in then the house – it is not in violation of code; regardless of how big of an eyesore to neighbors the house is. Once the boards are put up, the city doesn’t do much and many of the houses boarded up in Cooper-Young are in violation of housing code simply because the boards have either fallen off of windows or people have taken them off to enter the houses. “We are doing all that we can,” said Horne. Residents, throughout the city, can report weeds and blight by simply filling out the form found on the City of Memphis website or calling the Mayor’s Citizen Service Center at (901) 576-6500 |
The 1.058 square mile community known as Cooper-Young has changed drastically over the past few decades, but one thing has not changed since the resurgence of the neighborhood – the alleyways.
The alleyways have served many purposes over the history of the neighborhood. Originally they provided residents access to their garages and also served as a access point for utility workers.
Since then, the alleyways have become a jungle of overgrown weeds and garbage.
“The alleys in Cooper-Young are an eyesore and we are trying to find a better use for them, “ said Kristan Huntley, director of the Cooper-Young Community Association.
Residents and Huntley have tried petitioning the city to help them clean up the alleyways but city officials said it was MLGW’s responsibility. However, MLGW was able to offer very little help due to lack of resources.
MLGW uses a system that allows for clean up in certain zip codes throughout the city. The system is designed to clean up these areas every other year.
“The alleys aren’t just ugly they are becoming hazardous to the residents safety and there are issues of blight occurring,” said Huntley.
Huntley began organizing community clean ups of the alleyways but despite her efforts the result has been less than successful.
“The work is hot, dirty and tiring which makes it hard to get people to volunteer,” said Huntley. There have even been volunteers who have had to go to the hospital because the poison ivy has gotten so bad along the alleyways.
In the Fall of 2011, MircoMemphis reporter, Ashli Blow, learned that Huntley had applied and was awarded a $2,500 grant in from the Strengthening Communities Initiative. However, since receiving the grant little progress has been made toward the goal of paving the alleys and making them accessible.
“We want the residents to have a say in what is done to the alleys,” said Huntley.
For months Huntley has been trying to get residents to participate in a survey but very few have actually taken the survey.
“I have been thinking about offering a chance to win a $50.00 gift certificate for participatin
g in the survey,” said Huntley.
There has been very little motivation to get anything done since it has gotten cold and many of the plants have died.
“ We have put the alleyways kind of on the back burner because the plants aren’t as over grown during the winter,” said Huntley.
The problem is that once the weather gets warmer, the alleys are going to become a mass of weeds and kudzu again.
Residents of Cooper-Young are encouraged to participate in the survey which can be taken online. According to the Lamplighter, residents can also call (901) 272-2922 and request a paper copy of the survey. These surveys will be collected through mid-April.
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