Attention all complainers, curmudgeons, haters, know-it-all-suburbanites, too-cool Midtowners, worry-wart East Siders, defensive Dowtowners and anyone else with a my-way-or-the-highway opinion about Memphis: there’s a new place to ply your trade online.
Dearcity.org launched an expanded site for many major metro cities earlier this month. The first Dear City site launched four years ago in Copenhagen, Denmark by two friends, Mikael Staer and Philip Battin. They then opened sites for New York, London, and Berlin.
Dear City site users search for their city and leave an anonymous message or read messages left by others. The site is billed as a tool for change, a “social cluster of opinions that express the thoughts of the man on the street.”
“Dear City becomes a documentation of contemporary life and its ups and downs,” the site says. “We believe change is achieved through all levels of communication.”
So far, only two messages have been on the Dear City Memphis page. One pleads for (someone?) to clean up Elvis Presley Boulevard and save historic buildings. Another says the current public transportation system makes it tough to visit the city’s neighborhoods.
Comments don’t have to be negative, of course. But a quick look at the comments sections of Memphis media outlets, Topix, or local social media predicts the Dear City Memphis site won’t likely tout the city’s rainbows and sunshine.
