Check out historic and music-rich TOD in Memphis
Memphis Central Station is where transit oriented development and history meet
To say Memphis has a rich music history is like saying Elvis kinda liked peanut butter. Home of the Blues. Sun Studio. Graceland. And what could be better when you can combine transit oriented development (TOD) with music?
We’re huge proponents of TOD and love hearing about projects from around the world.
TOD, to us at least, represents a true integration of transit, urban planning, and people. In this month’s episode of Transit Unplugged TV we highlight an amazing example of TOD that:
- Revitalized a historic building
- Integrated with several forms of transit
- Included housing and business development
- Highlighted things that make Memphis unique
You can read more about it below.
On the podcast this week we have a special episode of Transit Unplugged in concert with METRO Magazine. Transit Unplugged’s Paul Comfort and WSP SVP Davey Kim, one of the contributors to his book The New Future of Public Transportation, were guests on a recent edition of the METRO Magazine’s METROspectives podcast and we’re bringing you the conversation on Transit Unplugged.
Now this is a real Memphis experience in TOD
We pay a lot of attention to TOD projects that reclaim abandoned or under used parcels of land in a city, but what about places with history?
The Henry Turley Company started working with the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) ten years ago to revive the 110 year old Central Station into a prime example of what transit oriented development could be and what it could do for a city.
The multi-million dollar project includes an updated Amtrak station, hotel, apartments, boutique movie theater, railroad and trolley museum, plus a music experience that is truly Memphis.
This music experience is something else. A room designed with high-end EgglestonWorks speakers and a 30 foot record wall with music all connected to Memphis. Want a taste? You can listen whenever you want with these special curated playlists of Memphis music from the hotel.
Like Kansas City’s Union Station, rather than destroy and lose this piece of history, Central Station was revived to resume its place as a central hub for Memphis.
Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re donning our blue suede shoes and enjoying some Memphis blues.
This week on the podcast: Paul’s book is featured on METROspectives
Paul Comfort and Davey Kim (SVP/Principal, National Transportation Policy and Multimodal Strategy, at WSP USA), one of the contributors to his book The New Future of Public Transportation, were guests on a recent edition of METRO Magazine’s METROspectives video podcast. In this special Transit Unplugged episode together with METRO Magazine, Paul, Davey, and METRO Executive Editor Alex Roman talk about federal transit funding, how to replace the gas tax, and identifying future transit leaders.
Funding is a hot topic, but it’s not often we get a chance to get the big picture perspectives from leaders like Paul and Davey.
Yeah, it’s a good one.
Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged: Henry Li, CEO of SacRT
Speaking of brilliant leaders, next week we have Henry Li, CEO of Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) on the show. Henry last appeared on Transit Unplugged two years ago, and we get an update on microtransit, ridership, TOD, and more.
The interview was recorded in Sacramento in the middle of a heat wave and is part of Paul’s tour of California and Alaska. We’ll tell you more about those episodes of the podcast and Transit Unplugged TV soon, so stay tuned.
Make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss this episode.
