On a Saturday in November hundreds of people of all ages savored the mild afternoon in a downtown Memphis hangout named Loflin Yard. Set on nearly two acres, there was something for everybody. Families clustered around bonfires in a sprawling yard. Adults lounged in rocking chairs sipping hot apple cider spiked with bourbon.

In a repurposed barn, young professionals faced off in competitive Ping-Pong. Others drank craft beer and watched football on two oversized screens.

Loflin Yard, which opened in April 2016, is so popular that it’s hard to imagine that it is on a street , West Carolina Avenue, that some families would avoid just a few years ago when the area was a magnet for criminals and vagrants.

“You had a criminal element looking for things to steal,” said Terry Landrum, a deputy chief of the Memphis police department. “No one was there; your parents wouldn’t want you down there.”