about a week ago i read about the local investment firm, the boyle company, and its investment strategies, various investment areas, and locations. boyle is a locally owned company, begun by bayard boyle. two sons joined him in the venture, and the boys operate the day to day functions of the company, while mr. boyle comes in to help w/ major decisions, etc.
no doubt this company has been good for memphis, but i found its history interesting, beginning in the early 70's. during the last few years, on various forums, i have noticed comments and questions re: memphis, its apparent relative small downtown, as compared w/ its rather large city proper population, the small skyline, etc. for the most part, many who have commented have little available on which to judge memphis, for most aerial shots and ground shots are taken from the river or standing down under the bluff, on which memphis sits. too, the riverfront covers 5.5 miles of the city front, yet few, if any photos, show a complete view of the city in a pano view. too, the downtown medical center and infill is lost in most of the photos, inheritant because of the positions of the camera and its distance and ht from the desired object, the skyline.
boyle, in its history of memphis development, gives an account for the many buildings that have found their lives in ridgeway trace, and schilling farms, southwind, lennox park, and so many other large corporate parks. according to the history, the parting of many businesses began because of power issues involving about 10 movers and shakers. mr. boyle had a good deal of dislike for abe fogleman and henry turley, along w/ others. there was a final straw moment, in which each went his own way. clark towers was just beginning to be finished, and east memphis was looking more and more as the place to be, due to wealthy executives who lived in the immediate area, and the new office buildings opening and being proposed for these executives, their employees, and, of course, their companies.
consequently, the dual core of memphis developed. what memphians know as the poplar/240 corridor is a major business center. downtown began to lose law firms, dept stores, and many other institutions that the cbd and active downtowns need to thrive. a read of this history, for those interested, will put some things into perspective. personally, i would like to see how downtown memphis would have appeared, had it been sprinkled w/ all of the business complexes, towers, and large businesses existing in the corridor today. too, think of the submarkets that exist, and you really see just how large the citycape would be en masse. memphis, had land been restricted or unavailable would have skyscrapers galore, along w/ a much greater density.
to find the history of boyle investments, simply google, and you will see several headings. it shows that future developments are ahead, some that may, most certainly, be very controversial. i would like to see the inner core of memphis supported by those developers who are able to provide beautiful houses for solid middle income families, to find preservationists who would be willing to undertake neighborhoods, and urban planners who could really plan for strong neighborhoods, w/ the amenities to sustain them.