South City is best known for the Foote Homes development, Memphis’ last public housing project. The $250 million South City revitalization aims to transform the 420-unit institution into mixed-income apartments and rental homes with an emphasis on safety, maintenance, and green space. The project is expected to be complete by 2021. Community leaders hope as South City efforts extend to the areas surrounding the Foote Homes site, they’ll link with efforts in South Memphis and the Downtown Core for a continuous corridor of deep investment.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority is working on a grant application that could result in up to 16 new electric buses to add to its fleet, and one electric bus is being delivered this week for MATA to test out around town.
Founded in 1935, Lucky Heart Cosmetics has seen its share of changes. The black beauty product manufacturer has opened its first retail store in the hopes of attracting its next generation of loyal customers.
Mid-June means community on Tate Street. For the past 20 years, South Memphis resident Betty Isom has hosted a Stop the Violence Block Party, which is meant to inspire pride in the community and decry violence.
In line with its mission, Explore Bike Share will deliver a first-ever bike share program to Memphis with 60 stations housing 600 bikes across high-density areas of Downtown and Midtown as well as connector neighborhoods of South Memphis, Orange Mound and Binghamton.
The Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis plans to invest $10 million to uplift ZIP 38126, which one of the poorest ZIP codes in America. By strengthening support organizations, the foundation hopes to give residents the necessary tools to combat the effects of poverty.
B.B. King, Aretha Franklin and Isaac Hayes have all called Club Paradise home. Opened in South Memphis in the 1960s, the building shuttered in 1999. It opened last year under new management, and supporters believe the new Club Paradise could lead the way to community growth and good times.
Beneficiaries of the Better Memphis Fund also receive job and soft skills training from the city’s Workforce Investment Network.
One hundred years later, Memphians gathered by the Wolf River out Summer Avenue to commemorate historical markers in memory of the lynching of Ell Persons, a dark moment in Memphis history that ended up having a significant impact on the Bluff City in the founding of the Memphis NAACP.
“They introduced us to the real world because the world that we live in is jacked up. It’s not easy for African-Americans," said a recent graduate of the historic African-American high school.
Miss Shirley's Soul Food restaurant, which has been open barely a year at the corner of Mississippi Boulevard and Georgia Avenue, welcomed families for its first Mother's Day lunch.
Our Partners
