Tag: parks

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Memphis Area Talents Win Big at 2021 Grammy Awards

CREDIT: Catherine Elizabeth Patton

Several of yesterday’s winners at the Grammy Awards had connections to Memphis and the Mid-South, leading many music insiders to scratch their heads and tell themselves there must be “something in the water.” All “music industry” towns notwithstanding, there is no replacement for the local heritage and high standards that continue to cause local creatives of all generations to bubble up to the top.
Kim Welsh

Bobby Rush

Speaking of generations, 87-year-old Bobby Rush continues to show us how it’s done with his second Grammy win in the Best Traditional Blues Album category, for last year’s Rawer than Raw (see our interview with Rush here). “Wow … who’d have ever thought? A few years ago, I won my first Grammy at 83 years old. Now I’m this old and winning another one,” he exclaimed in a video acceptance speech. After thanking friends, media, and Recording Academy members, Rush added that his win “gives me the sense of knowing I’m on the right track. Because I’ve been writing this book for a while now. And now you certify that what I’m writing about is a true thing. I’m the true man, and I thank God for it. So I’ve got this book coming out called I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya. Some great things that I haven’t told about myself, but I’m telling on myself and about myself and others too.”

Another local talent also nabbed a golden phonograph for his mantel, none other than music writer Bob Mehr. Having written Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements, his definitive biography of the Minneapolis band, he went on to write the liner notes for the group’s four-disc retrospective Dead Man’s Pop, released in late 2019, leading to his win for Best Album Notes yesterday. In a heartfelt comment on Instagram, Mehr noted that “this project began as an escape for me after the loss of two of my closest friends, Tommy Keene and Ali Borghei, and it was completed just as I lost my dear Uncle Shirzad Bozorgmehr. Those three guys would’ve been happier than anyone for me. I sure hope they’re proud, wherever they are.”
Catherine Elizabeth Patton

MonoNeon

It was also a big day for Memphis bass players. When rapper Nas won in the Best Rap Album category, for King’s Disease, there was much celebration in the Bluff City for the role bass virtuoso MonoNeon had in the track “All Bad.” Though he once played with Prince, and has many other high profile collaborations under his belt, this marks MonoNeon’s first involvement in a Grammy-winning record.

Meanwhile, another bass ringer, David Parks, aka PARKS (see this rare profile from The Daily Helmsman), was celebrating Ledisi’s win in the Best Traditional R&B Performance category for her ninth studio album, The Wild Card, to which he contributed parts. He briefly posted an Instagram comment recalling being exhausted, disembarking from a plane at 1 a.m., and going straight to the studio to add his contributions at the last possible minute. The moral of the story, for Parks, was to “always help your friends,” no matter how tired you might feel.

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Memphis Parks Score Low on Group’s Annual Report

Out of the country’s 100 largest cities, Memphis ranks 88 when it comes to parks, according to one group’s annual report on the country’s best park systems.

The Trust for Public Land nonprofit ranks parks in the country’s 100 most populous cities based on accessibility, investment, acreage, and amenities.

Memphis’ park system, comprising 194 parks, dropped one spot on the list from last year, but is still up three points from the 91st ranking Memphis received in 2018.


Memphis’ highest score was in acreage, where it earned 57 out of 100. That number is calculated based on median park size and the percentage of the city’s land dedicated to parks. The median size of parks here is 10 acres, nearly twice the national average of 5.2 acres. But only 5 percent of the land is used for parks and recreation, while the national median is 15 percent.

Memphis scored significantly lower in the investment category, with 38 out of 100. That score is based on the amount of public and nonprofit spending that goes toward parks, as well as the number of hours volunteers invest in parks. Memphis invested $76 per capita. For comparison, Minneapolis, which scored a perfect 100 in the investment category, spent $318 per capita.

Lower still, is Memphis’ amenity score — 25 out of 100. The group awards points in this category based on the availability of six key park amenities. The amenities include basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playgrounds, recreation and senior centers, restrooms, and splash pads.

Based on the report, there are 2.9 basketball hoops, 1.8 playgrounds, and .1 restrooms in parks per 10,000 residents. There are .5 splash pads and .6 dog parks per 100,000 residents. Recreation and senior centers rank in the highest percentile with .9 centers per 20,000 people.

Finally, in the access category, Memphis scored the lowest — 17 out of 100, dropping three points from last year. Accessibility is determined by the percentage of the population living within a 10-minute walk or a half mile of a park. Here, 46 percent of residents live within that proximity to a park. The national average is 55 percent.

The report also breaks down accessibility based on demographics. It found that more low-income households here are within a 10-minute walk of a park than both middle- and high-income households. Only 17,378 middle-income households, compared to 54,554 low-income households, are located within a 10-minute walk of a park.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is one of more than 260 mayors across the country who have joined the Trust for Public Land’s 10 Minute Walk campaign. Organized in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association and the Urban Land Institute, the campaign aims to bring a park within a 10-minute walk to every household in the country by 2050. The campaign urges mayors to adopt long-term strategies to improve equitable access to quality parks.

The report lists five ideal quarter-mile-radius areas for new parks here. Those locations are near the intersections of Getwell and New Willow, Kirby and Mt. Moriah, Goodlett and Winchester, Perkins and Winchester, and Macon and Jackson.

Based on this year’s report, the U.S. city with the best park system is Minneapolis, followed by Washington D.C., St. Paul, Minnesota, and Arlington, Virginia.

Cities with the lowest-ranked systems include Oklahoma City, Charlotte, and Baton Rouge. Explore the report here.

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News News Blog

Strickland to Restrict Use of City Parks

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said Monday afternoon that the city will be limiting access to public parks beginning Tuesday morning.

This comes as hundreds of people have been flocking to city parks as the temperatures rise in the city. Last week, many noticed the large crowds of park-goers and took to social media to express concern.

Friday, Strickland ordered the closing of all city soccer and baseball fields, basketball courts, as well as dog and skate parks.

Now, Strickland is moving to limit the number of people in parks, by restricting the number of cars allowed in parks. To aid this effort, Riverside Drive and “as many roads in and around parks that the fire marshal will let me” will close.

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The mayor also reiterated that “no groups of people will be allowed to congregate in our parks.”

“Over the past several days, especially as we’ve had nicer weather, more people have been getting outside,” Strickland said. “That alone is not a bad thing. In fact, doctors even recommend it in these times. That said, it does become a huge problem when people disregard the importance of social distancing. … Unfortunately, some people are not taking this seriously. And for the health of our city, they must start now. What happened this weekend at a couple of parks in the city is reckless, irresponsible, and selfish.”

To help enforce the new restrictions, Strickland said there will be city employees at parks throughout the city monitoring crowds.

“These new restrictions are designed to allow people to walk or run through their neighborhood park, but to prohibit people from congregating in large groups,” the mayor said.


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Update: Crowded City Parks Cause Concern for Some, Mayor Says Parks May Close

CREDIT: Shelby Farms Park

Shelby Farms Park


With temperatures rising and the sun finally making its long-awaited debut in Memphis, many people are flooding city parks despite health officials cautioning the public to practice social distancing.

A stay-at-home order went into effect Tuesday in Memphis, closing all recreational facilities, gyms, and other businesses around town.

However, based on the executive ordered issued by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, city parks are considered essential and thus remain open to the public.

But, with few places to go around the city, the parks have quickly become hot spots of activity.

Many people took to social media to express their concern over the masses of people gathered in the parks and the apparent lack of social distancing.


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Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said Friday afternoon that city parks remain open, “but if we continue to see what we saw yesterday at Tom Lee Park, we will have to close parks.”

But, the mayor said that the city is closing city baseball and softball fields, dog parks, skate parks, and basketball courts effective immediately.

“I cannot not tell you how important social distancing is,” Strickland said.

Meanwhile, parks have issued their own set of guidelines in an attempt to keep visitors safe.

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In other words:

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Memphis’ Park System Rank Improved, But Still Low

CREDIT: Trust for Public Land,

City of Memphis


Out of the country’s 100 largest cities, Memphis ranks 87 when it comes to parks, according to one group’s annual report on the country’s best park systems.

The Trust for Public Land nonprofit ranks parks based on accessibility, investment, acreage, and amenities.

Memphis’ park system, comprising 194 parks, earned an improved ranking from last year. It was up four points from the 91st ranking Memphis received in 2018.

Memphis’ highest score was in acreage, where it earned 60 out of 100. That number is calculated based on median park size and the percentage of the city’s land dedicated to parks. Here 5 percent of the land is used for parks and recreation, according to the report. The national median is 15 percent.


Memphis scored significantly lower in the investment category with 30 out of 100. That score is based on the amount of public and non-profit spending that goes toward parks, as well as the number of hours volunteers invest in parks.

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Lower still, is Memphis’ amenity score — 25 out of 100. The group awards points in this category based on the availability of six key park amenities. The amenities include basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playgrounds, recreation and senior centers, restrooms, and splash pads.

Based on the report, there are, 2.9 basketball hoops, 1.8 playgrounds, and .1 restrooms in parks per 10,000 residents. There are .3 splash pads and .6 dog parks per 100,000 residents. Recreation and senior centers rank in the highest percentile with .9 centers per 20,000 people.

Finally, in the access category, Memphis’ parks scored 20 out of 100. Accessibility is determined by the percentage of the population living within a 10-minute walk or a half mile of a park. Here 45 percent of residents live within that proximity to a park. The national average is 54 percent.

The report also breaks down accessibility based on demographics. It found that more low-income households here are within a half of mile of a park than both middle and high income households. Only 16,697 middle-income households, compared to more than 54,000 low-income households, are located within a half mile of a park.

Trust for Public Land,

Percentage of Memphis living within a 10 minute walk of a park.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is one of more than 250 mayors across the country who have joined the Trust for Public Land’s 10 Minute Walk campaign. Organized in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association and the Urban Land Institute, the campaign aims to bring a park within a 10-minute walk to every household in the country by urging mayors to adopt long-term strategies to improve equitable access to quality parks.

The report also lists five ideal quarter-mile-radius areas for new parks here. Those locations are near the intersections of Getwell and New Willow, Kirby and Mt. Moriah, Goodlett and Winchester, Perkins and Winchester, and Macon and Whitten.

Based on this year’s report, the U.S. city with the best park system is Washington, D.C., followed by Saint Paul, Minnesota; Arlington, Virginia; and Portland, Oregon.

Cities with the lowest-ranked systems include Oklahoma City, Charlotte, North Carolina; and Mesa, Arizona.

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Memphis Ranked on Dog Parks

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Memphis lands on a lot of rando lists.

Best bluff cities. Best ursine sports mascots. Most-affordable alternative weekly newspapers. (These are fake, people.)

And lots of those lists come from really rando sources. UrbanYurt.com. LendingClownPenguin.org. The Hotdog-Is-Not-A-Sandwich Foundation. (These are also fake, people.)

But when the Trust for Public Land (TPL) talks dog parks? Sounds legit.

That San Francisco-based group is filled with experts on city parks. It issues a report each year that ranks the largest cities, “centered around our vision that everyone deserves to live within a 10-minute walk of a quality park.”

TPL said Thursday that Memphis ranks 72nd out of the nation’s biggest 100 cities for dog parks. The group divided the city’s population of 662,038 among its four dog parks and found there were .6 dog parks for every 100,000 people. Corpus Christi, Anaheim, and Jacksonville had the same number per capita but were ranked lower then Memphis.

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“Dog parks are built for dogs, but are fantastic resources for people,” said Diane Regas, president and CEO of the TPL. “As anyone who has chatted with a neighbor while taking their four-legged friend to the dog park knows, community is created there. Having places to meet our neighbors can help us find common ground and encourages everyone to get outside.”

America’s 100 largest cities have 810 off-leash dog parks, according to TPL New York has the most dog parks (145).

But here are TPL’s top cities for dog parks:

1. Boise, Idaho, with 13 total dog parks, or 5.7 per 100,000 residents.
2. Portland, Oregon, with 35 total dog parks, or 5.4 per 100,000 residents.
3. Henderson, Nevada, with 15 total dog parks, or 5.0 per 100,000 residents.

Other cities in the top 10 include Norfolk, Virginia (4th place); San Francisco, California, and Tampa, Florida (tied for 5th place); Las Vegas; Nevada, and Madison, Wisconsin (tied for 7th place); Oakland, California (9th place); and Arlington, Virginia (10th place).

See the full list for yourself here:

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