"Love is, as far as I can tell, the most mature response to any situation - the pinnacle of what it means to be truly human. Love is a wrench in the wheels of cause and effect, of reactionary living, of casual imitation. Yes, speed and events are all around us in the information age, but motion, true motion, is rare. Love is the movement." - Jon Foreman

Imagining an Uptown Harbor Park

Posted by Ryan Fowler Saturday, June 05, 2010 0 comments

I am amazed sometimes at how well we have hidden some of our most valuable resources. For those of us who live in the Uptown neighborhood of Memphis, we reside on the banks of the beautiful Mississippi River harbor. Yet, unlike our neighbors in Harbor Town, the Uptown side has very little access to the harbor. I believe that residents in Uptown would get great use out of a well designed and maintained harbor park, and the great thing is that we already have a space just begging to be converted to one.

A few months ago, I decided to explore the Uptown side of the harbor and was amazed at what I found. Just up Saffarans street, there is road that crosses some old railroad tracks and leads up to a large green space that is currently just sitting unused. As I looked around, I really caught a vision for what this empty space could be.

Above is the view of the harbor from the Harbor Town side. The opposite bank is the Uptown side.
Above you can see a broader view of the harbor - the Uptown bank runs along the right side. By removing (just a few) of trees that line the rim, you could really open up the view of the water and even create a public access point for canoes and kayaks!
Above is the green space that could easily be converted into a nice harbor park. The harbor runs alongside the trees on the left side. With a view of the water, some picnic tables and a nice walking path, this park would have the makings for a great place to spend time.
Above you can see the backside of the concrete wall that currently keeps people from entering this stretch of land (I snuck through the fence to get this view). Maybe the concrete wall could be removed or even turned into an intentional public art wall.

I really think there is a lot of potential here. Anyone out there know someone who could make this happen?


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Support the Positive

Posted by Ryan Fowler Thursday, April 01, 2010 0 comments

Take a few minutes and vote for some positive projects in Memphis attempting to win a huge grant from Pepsi - every vote helps! Click on each of the project boxes to learn more about them.


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Change of Pace

Posted by Ryan Fowler Monday, March 29, 2010 0 comments

So I'm a little behind on things.


After 5 great years of learning some incredible things about urban community development with Memphis Urban Ministry, I have recently found myself in the midst of a new job and a new challenge - learning about and working for changes in public education.

There are some exciting things happening in public education right now - especially in Memphis.

So, while I adjust to the new pace of life, you should read this.


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Up and Downtown: No Snow Plows in Memphis?

Posted by Ryan Fowler Tuesday, February 02, 2010 0 comments

Did you know: The city of Memphis doesn't own a single snow plow.

Growing up in Missouri I remember how, every time it snowed, I would curse the seemingly army-sized fleet of snow plows that would be out in full force, shoveling away any hope we had of getting out of school. Though I have gained a great deal of respect for snow plow drivers in my later years; growing up, they were some of my least favorite people (apologies to my snow plow driving Uncle Jim).

I can't say I blame the city for not spending money on a piece of equipment that would rarely be used here, but I guess I'm still not used to the idea of not having snow plows around. Seems strange to me.

This past weekend in Memphis we didn't get much snow - it was mostly ice - so I don't think a snow plow would have done much good anyways.

Snow/Ice days can be fun, but if they last too long, I get susceptible to cabin fever. So, on Saturday I decided to brave the elements and take some pictures from around the neighborhood. I ended up putting them into a little slide show for our Uptown Newsletter website, complete with banjo background music, which you can see below:

Uptown on Ice from Uptown Front Porch on Vimeo.

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Designing Community: The Fabric of Housing

Posted by Ryan Fowler Tuesday, January 26, 2010 1 comments

I have a passing interest in how urban design impacts and reflects urban life. I think the ways our communities are designed often gets ignored, especially in urban areas. Sometimes the implications of bad design can fuel complex problems within communities. Other times, our designs can offer some pretty interesting insights into the values of our society...


Take for instance, an interesting tidbit from the famous book Suburban Nation, written by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck. In the example, the authors point out two distinct designs for housing.

The first design is of a house created to fit into a more expansive suburban environment. The authors note how roof lines in houses like this one are created to mimic the skyline of an entire village. The multiple jagged peaks and height variations give appeal to the eyes because the house gives the impression of multiple houses side-by-side at various depths. But the reality is that it's just one big house.






The second house design is that of a more traditional layout, typically found in an older neighborhood. This design has one complete peak, and a basic distinguishable shape. There are relatively few variations in the skyline of this house and from the design, it's quite obvious that this is one house in the midst of many other houses.







For some reason, I find this pretty interesting. While it's probably more of a subconscious observation for most of us, the authors in Suburban Nation note that the simple design of the second house is intended to stand in the presence of a larger community. The variety comes, not from the one house alone, but instead from its place amongst the rest of the neighborhood.

The house with multiple peaks and roof lines, on the other hand, is designed to stand alone - mimicking the appearance of an entire community, all wrapped up into one house. The authors suggest that houses like this give off the impression that they don't have the need for integration into the life of the community.

It's an interesting thought. In a culture that has become so individualized and independent, I do wonder occasionally if some of those values don't get translated into the ways that we design our buildings. Or I guess it could it be the other way around? Maybe our buildings influence the values that we live out within our communities? It's probably a little bit of both.

I'm curious as to what we can draw from this, if anything. Is this a valid observation? Maybe it's too much of a stretch?

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Memphis: Freedom and the Front Porch

Posted by Ryan Fowler Tuesday, January 19, 2010 0 comments

On Monday, the weather in Memphis was beautiful. So, as I like to do when it's nice outside, I went out and sat on our porch swing and read a book.


Monday also happened to be a holiday to remember the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

As I sat on my porch and read, I also watched the kids play in the park across the street. At one point, one of the kids we've gotten to know came over, walked up onto our porch, and told me about his new orange arm cast and about the fall he had taken while playing at the park a few days ago. He described in great detail how he had broken two of his fingers. He also bragged about the fact that he didn't cry (He later told me that he did cry, but only just a little). When he left, he told me to enjoy the rest of my day - and I told him to do the same.

It was a simple, everyday kind of interaction - nothing to make a big deal about. But I think we often forget the power of those simple interactions.

I got to thinking about all of the struggles in our city - racism, segregation, poverty - there are so many issues with so much history behind them. Sometimes I get depressed just thinking about it all.

Yet, in the midst of all of the negative, it's easy to forget the simple triumphs of Dr. King. No, the world is not yet set right - there is still plenty of hate to go around and racism lingers around like a bad cold.

But on Monday, for whatever reason, I just wanted to remember the beauty of what Dr. King has done.

Through his life, Dr. King set in motion a series of events that now affords me the chance to sit on my porch and talk to the kids in my neighborhood without the color of their skin factoring into the situation at all. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but I believe it is. I believe the largest human injustice issues in the world today will only be conquered by small human interactions that begin with a foundation of equality. I believe the mission of Dr. King begins on my front porch.

We talk so often of the freedom from oppression that African Americans now enjoy thanks the life of Dr. King and there is no doubt that this freedom must be celebrated.

But sometimes I think we forget the freedom that Dr. King's life has provided to those of us who might have found ourselves in the realm of the oppressor. Today I have the freedom from this realm - freedom from the pressure to hate or look down on another human being, simply because of their skin color. Today I am free to love my neighbor more fully.

Today, I too am free because of the life of Dr. King.

"Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Up and Downtown: The Blind Side and Community Transformation

Posted by Ryan Fowler Tuesday, December 15, 2009 1 comments

A while back, a guy from Portland (thanks David) told me about a book that highlights the story of a Memphis kid who grew up in the face of poverty and went on to become a great football player, with the help of a wealthy family from the suburbs who took him in and basically raised him - you might have heard about it ;)


My friend also mentioned that the kid in the story came from a housing project called "Hurt Village", which immediately made me perk up because "Hurt Village" is the housing project that once stood just blocks from our house in what is now called Uptown. So, I immediately found a copy of the book and went on to discover the inspiring story of a kid who grew up walking the streets that I now see outside my window every day.

Since then, the book has become a movie, and now a Hollywood blockbuster.

I love the story.

I hate that it had to happen the way it did.

The story of Michael Oher in "The Blindside" reminds us that we have reached the point where there are some neighborhoods so neglected that a boy who grows up in one of those neighborhoods must be "rescued" from that neighborhood and placed in another one to thrive.

I think it forces us to ask the question - Should anyone have to be rescued from their own neighborhood to make it in life? To be safe? To be loved?

I'm all for rescue operations, but I like the idea of restoration a whole lot better. A rescue implies that the condition that is left behind isn't any better than it was prior to the rescue. Restoration is the process of transformation. Restoration means creating schools where every child can be nurtured and developed. It means creating structures where families aren't constantly afraid of being the victim of a crime each time they step outside of their house. It means investing in neighborhoods that haven't seen new investment in decades.

I love the story of Michael Oher and the family that took him in, but the reality is that there are thousands of other kids just like Michael Oher walking around Memphis at this very moment. The only difference is that they will never be "adopted" by a wealthy family from across town. They will never be "rescued" from the depths of poverty, crime, and despair - at least not by a single family.

But...what if there was a serious strategy for community restoration? Just imagine what would happen if we decided to give the thousands of "Michael Oher's" walking around Memphis today access to the best education possible, access to affordable housing, a safe place to live, and access to jobs for their families. What would happen if an entire community was equipped to support the growth of a child? I think we would find entire communities of people who no longer need to be rescued in order to survive. This strategy probably wouldn't result in story lines dramatic enough to build a Hollywood blockbuster around, but I'd trade in a good movie for a good community any day.

So, maybe it's time for a new strategy.

I think we're long past time to be relying solely on rescue operations.


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