Talk:Memphis, Tennessee/Archive 3

Memphis water

Might it be appropriate to mention at some point (in the geography section, for example) that Memphis is seated upon an artesian well? I know that the water quality is a fairly significant source of pride among Memphians. EarthRise33 04:19, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, I've heard conflicting reports over the years on this point. I've heard that the well used for Memphis is a small, localized well that produces good-tasting water, and I've also heard that there's actually nothing special about it--the well actually covers several states and serves a lot of cities. What we really need, then, are reliable sources that discuss Memphis' water supply. But I'm not opposed to including something in the article about it if sources can be found. · j e r s y k o talk · 04:24, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Kinda hard to get a viable source, since most of the sites are significantly biased in the direction of Memphis possessing its own aquifer. I'm also having trouble establishing where the aquifer actually lies. According to the report provided at http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/environmentalscience/casestudies/case9.mhtml, it seems that Memphis lies over one of four aquifers in a system. In any case, it's difficult to avoid all the hype given by Memphians to "their" water, so would it suffice (until better data is found) to at least mention Memphis' position over the aquifer, which, from what I can find, has been supplying 100% of the drinking water? And it's rather hard to avoid the fact that Memphians do consider the well "theirs," even if it actually isn't.

If it is of any consequence, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Memphis,_Tennessee mentions the artesian wells also. And MLGW at least affirms its existence and approximate volume: http://mlgw.com/SubView.php?key=about_ourutilservices. -EarthRise33 04:05, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Should I go ahead and modify that? -EarthRise33 18:02, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Sure, feel free. Good work on finding sources, I didn't notice you had posted them until right now. · j e r s y k o talk · 18:06, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Is that sufficient? -EarthRise33 19:03, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, good work :) · j e r s y k o talk · 19:21, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Founding of Memphis

The opening coments state that Memphis is the youngest of the 4 major Tennessean cities. However I believe that Chattanooga is actually a newer town as the Cherokee were not evicted out of that part of the state until much later into the states history. 170.141.68.2 20:23, 22 February 2007 (UTC)Matt

Memphis Downtown

I just visited downtown for the first time in several years in broad daylight with some friends and I have to say that it is looking and feeling much better. Still alot of abandoned storefronts and upper parts of buildings, but you get the feel that the area is attractive to development. The street cars also seem to have something to do with it--maybe an extension to the airport through midtown might be a good idea afterall. As in alot of american cities these days, there is a growing dichotomy between the urban and suburban zones. It seems that downtown memphis now has a positive character of its own that is important to differentiate from the rest of the city. It's a small peaceful city within an ocean of sprawliing suburbs (no criticism intended), and not just a blighted zone with peppered with some nocturnal hot spots anymore. I know there is a very short separate section on downtown, but maybe someone would be interested in adding a description of downtown in the main article as most tourists visit that area first anyway.

--Dba5 16:17, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

I was just in Memphis for the first time and I was pretty shocked by the blight that I saw. I grew up in the metro Detroit area, so I'm no stranger to urban decay, and I must say that Memphis looked and felt a lot like Detroit - numerous panhandlers, empty skyscrapers & storefronts, vast swaths of "urban prairie" which once contained housing. I felt reasonably safe in the downtown area close to Beale Street, but outside of that small section I felt fairly ill at ease. We took a trip to the Stax Museum and the neighbourhood around it was in a sorry state. On our way to Graceland we somehow took a wrong turn and ended up in the same vicinity - I believe the area is known as South Memphis - and we were shocked by the blight we saw. I don't think Memphis is quite as bad as Detroit, but if it's actually been improving lately I'd hate to have seen it at its worst.

blight

Please sign your comment and is there some sort of suggestion you were making?

I don't want to turn this into a debate, but why would anyone be shocked to see blight in an american city, and you being from Detroit? Fact is, every urban area outside the immediate coastal region has been plagued by abandonment, crime, then blight since the 40s and 50s. That is the sad state of american cities, in part because of unethical bussiness practices conducted by certain detroit based auto manufacturing companies. Yes, downtown still has abandoned buildings, and panhandlers (but so do all urban areas, even most thriving ones) but it is greatly improved. At its worst, the downtown area was no different than most forgotten urban cores across the country, which for Memphis wasn't too detrimental because the city was able to expand so easily and thus maintain its tax revenue. On the other hand, I still think Memphis is a rather disagreeable city overall (though less than detroit and not more so than a whole bunch of cities in the US) mainly because of its layout and high crime rate, which is extremely high. Unlike St. Louis (supposedly 1st), the crime rate in Memphis (and also detroit) is spread out over a large area of supposedly "safe" suburban-style neighborhoods. People should be aware of these facts when they visit, but that doesn't change the fact that Downtown has greatly improved and is very different in character from the rest of the city. That's why I suggested downtown receive some more attention in the article.

--Dba5 06:02, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

You're wrong on the crime rate stats. Memphis' national crime rate goes up when including the metropolitan area and goes down nationally when addressing the city proper. This is likely true for other cities, unlike what you've claimed. Regarding downtown, if you have verifiable data add it to the article.--Scribner 06:15, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

That's interesting--I didn't know, but I also didn't make any claim about the crime rate being higher in the city proper than over the entire metro area. My point was that suburban areas are percieved to be safer than urban areas and most of the city of Memphis is actually pretty suburban-like. St. Louis (city proper) has a much smaller population and much smaller land area, but sizeable suburbs surrounding it. If those suburbs are included to match the population of Memphis, then its crime rate is significantly less than Memphis's. In otherwords, their are more expansive areas in the Memphis area that are high-crime than in America's most dangerous city. That's what I was trying to say, though it probably isn't that important. Sorry about any miscommunications or useless facts but this is a talk page :).--Dba5 05:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

To answer your question, I'm actually from Canada and my travel experiences in the US are somewhat limited, although I know the Detroit area well having grown up on the Canadian side of the border. I had assumed that Detroit was something of an isolated case in terms of abandonment/urban decay, etc, but apparently not. So much for the American Dream... Maybe "shocked" was too strong of a word, I suppose it was more like dismayed. I should add that we had just spent a few days in Nashville which we found to be a very pleasant city, and comparing the two cities in my opinion is like comparing night and day. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my stay in Memphis, I was just surprised by what I saw there.

Crime

How about some actual statistics as opposed to saying things like "rose 56%". What is the murder rate in Memphis... It doesn't make much sense to say how much it rose if you don't know what it was to begin with or what it is now...

Memphis Police Department

Memphis Police Department is now available, although a work in progress. I'm a Memphis police officer, only working on this in my spare time, so assistance is appreciated. Just thought I'd inform you so you could link back to it. Redlinevue 20:24, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Memphis Barbecue

Should some specific mention not be made to Memphis Barbecue? More than just mentioning the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, should it not be mentioned that "Memphis style" barbecue is most often considered the best? (yes, I know currently that is considered opinion unless someone could back it up.)

Some of Memphis' most famous (not necessarily the best): Rendezvous Charles Vergos www.hogsfly.com Corky's Bar-B-Q www.corkysbbq.com

I know the Travel Channel or Food Network had a comparison/contest of their own, where they took all the different types of Barbecue, from North Carolina, Kansas City, Memphis, and a few other "famous" barbecue styles, and held taste testings all over, from the Texas, LA, and NYC, and Memphis Barbecue was voted the absolute best! Unfortunately, I can't find a link at the moment to support that. Redlinevue 21:22, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

PORT?

It doesn't say anything here but I read in World Book it has the 2nd biggest inland Mississippi port after St Louis. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.110.221.22 (talk) 07:45, 15 May 2007 (UTC).

Fair use rationale for Image:Afm.jpg

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Soft water?

Are we certain that the concentration of Mg and Ca in Memphis water, as per the pdf file cited, is within the limits of being considered soft? I was under the impression that soft water has a particularly oily quality to it, which the water drawn from the aquifer most definitely does not.-EarthRise33 03:38, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Good thought. My wife was actually commenting on Memphis water being a bit hard the other day (as compared to some much softer water in other locales). I'm a bit skeptical, too. · jersyko talk 03:42, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, the PDF says the hardness level is 47.7, which puts it in the "slightly hard" category per water hardness. It might be a bit OR, but it's better than the false statement that was in the article previously. Edited the article as such. · jersyko talk 03:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

• Despite the recent edit by Jersyko, Memphis water really is fairly soft. The Wikipedia article, Hard water, defines Soft water as 0 - 20 mg/L as calcium. The reference [1] gives Memphis water as ranging from 2.5 - 20.2 mg/L at different pumping stations, averaging 8.3, well within the Soft range. Zeamays 14:04, 12 June 2007 (UTC) Also the comments about "oily quality" and personal experience are considered inadmissible as original research under Wikipedia policy. --Zeamays 14:12, 12 June 2007 (UTC) Finally, Jersyko writes above that the average hardness is 47.7, but he is interpreting the table incorrectly, 47.7 is the hardness as CaC03 (mg/L) (a different scale), whereas hardness in the Hard water article defines water hardness as calcium. Elsewhere, the USGS defines hardness as follows:

0 to 60 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as calcium carbonate is classified as soft; 61 to 120 mg/L as moderately hard; 121 to 180 mg/L as hard; and more than 180 mg/L as very hard.[2]

On that scale, again Memphis water is soft.--Zeamays 14:30, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Ok, you obviously know a lot more about this than I do. You're right to claim OR. Thanks for the explanation. · jersyko talk 14:38, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Memphis History

The 1960's history is weak. More information about the garbage strike would be of great interest. I was there at the time, it was awful. I'd be willing to research it.

Also, Benjamin Hooks was an important figure in the black community of Memphis and in the NAACP; he should get at least a mention. Ngriffeth 18:16, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

--Excellent Point!

Memphis Media

I just want to add the website of the Hispanic newspaper La Prensa Latina which is www.laprensalatina.com. It was created 12 years ago. It's a weekly newspaper distributed in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee. It's free and available at the library, in any Mapco stations and almost every Hispanic business. The newspaper is bilingual English/Spanish and it's a good way to learn about the Hispanic culture. 16:28, 5 July 2007 66.162.20.126

Link broken

The link to the Gibson Factory Tour is out of date. The correct link: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Locations/Showcases/BealeStreetShowcase/Discoveries%20of%20Gibson/ --84.142.194.134 14:22, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Elvis publicity photo.jpg

Image:Elvis publicity photo.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot 05:26, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Burkle Estate

It is stated as a fact the the "Memphis home of Jacob Burkle was a way-station on their route to freedom."

There a lot of doubt with most historians that this a way station in the underground railroad.

Dickerson888 07:33, 8 November 2007 (UTC)Dickerson888

Well, then you should put that on the page about the Burkle Estate itself. Well sourced, of course. The authenticity of whether it was or not is really only appropriate on that page, not on the general Memphis page. At most, you could put something like "Local legend has it that the Memphis home...", which is undeniably true [3]. -- Otto 19:12, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Famous People

Hey guys. I was just thinking, what if we added a clause listing some famous people that are from Memphis? Or if it's too excessive, we could create a page? Just a thought. --Memphiseditor22 (talk) 22:42, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

I think that such a list would be a bit too large to put into the Memphis article itself, but perhaps too small or a matter of too much of a POV-bias (who's "famous"?) for it's own article. Besides, there's already a category just for this purpose: [4] -- Otto 17:59, 26 November 2007 (UTC)