To stop people from leaving, Memphis must work harder to fix what's driving them away

Tonyaa Weathersbee | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Between 2010 and 2016, some 30,000 Memphis-area residents went searching for pastures greener than the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River.

That's how many people left the area during that time.

A recent report by financial news website 24/7 Wall Street found that among 50 cities, the Memphis area had the sixth highest level of people leaving in what demographers call outmigration. The Chicago area, with 296,320 people leaving during that time, was No. 1 on the list.

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This past year, though, the nine-county Memphis metropolitan area reversed that trend, albeit slightly. Census figures showed that it added 3,067 people. But in 2016, Nashville dethroned Memphis as Tennessee's largest city — it had 660,388 residents, while Memphis had 652,717.

Yet Memphis has assets that should have people flocking to it, not fleeing from it.

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Among other things, Memphis has a legacy of blues, rock 'n' roll, B.B. King, Elvis, Beale Street, and Stax Records. It also has abundant trails and parks and the Mississippi River, which is steeped in beauty and in folklore.

Memphis' relatively temperate climate and low cost of living should attract people, despite its struggles with crime and its dubious distinction of being the nation's poorest large city.

That’s why some believe that to attract new residents and stem the exodus — especially of young people — Memphis must focus on its assets, while creating new opportunities that could chisel at problems like poverty and crime.

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“Memphis, to me, should be more competitive when it comes to technology,” said Cynthia Daniels, who moved to Memphis in 2009. She ultimately founded Black Restaurant Week and started an event planning company.

“You have all these things in the digital space, and we’re not keeping up with other cities … that’s what you need to attract and keep young people," she said, referring to more tech jobs.

Anna Mullins, vice president of communication and strategic initiatives for New Memphis Institute, an organization that seeks to attract college-educated people to the city, agreed that Memphis must be more competitive in the digital sphere.

“We are becoming a more urban country, and Memphis is having to compete more for talent, and every city is doubling down on its efforts to attract that talent,” she said.

Also, both Mullins and Daniels said Memphis must focus on improving its infrastructure — especially its public transit system — if it is to attract and keep younger people here. Many millennials are used to places where they don't have to use cars.

Memphis isn't one of those places, because MATA is severely underfunded.

But other improvements must occur to help Memphis live up to its legacy. And some of that is already happening.

The city of Memphis, for one, has agreed to pay its full-time workers a $15.50 an hour minimum wage, while Shelby County Schools has agreed to pay its workers a $15 an hour minimum wage.

Also this year, the city pushed state lawmakers to expand eligibility for residential payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT programs, so that developers can build housing anywhere in Memphis. It's a move Mayor Jim Strickland believes can lead to revitalizing housing stock in the core city and other areas.

The city and school board's decision to boost wages to $15 an hour could set an example for private companies.

While this is a start, it still doesn't negate the fact that Shelby County is sixth in the nation for the highest concentration of temporary jobs.

Those jobs, which pay low wages and off few if any benefits, don't do much to counteract the poverty that too many Memphians endure.

"We should embrace our assets, but it's also important to understand that Memphis has real problems, and we have to be clear-eyed about that," Mullins said.

And until Memphis does that, until it commits itself to confronting the structural issues that hinder it, as well as become competitive in attracting and keeping younger, more educated people, it will struggle to stop people from leaving.

For greener pastures and fresher opportunities.