Jackson Jambalaya

During the 1950's and 60's, Farish Street was a run-down dreg of Jackson. It was never a "hot spot", and dreams of making it one is just that... DREAMS...! Since the destroyers are in charge of Jackson now, Farish Street will remain an arm pit of the city.

and you are amazed that graft and corruption continue in the bright light of day. all you have to do is form your own nonprofit, get the corrupt directors on board (those all ready connected to the fund givers), get a mass of paperwork going to different foundations, starting with smaller, naive groups of concerned citizens, and ladder up from there. all of this with no accountability to the public, since the 'public' is too busy trying to make a living. This scheme works in any locality. good ol USA politics, no accountability, lifetime income.

NO SURPRISES HERE!!

If Farish ever succeeds, it will be devistating to the mayor's office. A successful private farish street would rob the mayor's office of a selling point to get fed money (CDBG and otherwise) to funnel through the city and get campaign contributions (and florida beach houses for the straw men). If you start with the 35 shotgun houses on Farish, you can see why the area has been designated for failure. The historic preservation committee will stop at nothing to make sure that any house built there looks blighted. having a fatal flaw in design is the only real requirement. This is not a knock on any current or former member of the HPC, it is just they way it is set up. I attended more HPC meetings than I care to admit. If I lived in belhaven, I would just make the changes to my house and say "oops" after it was complete.

It does not matter that the area will not develop further or that the dream died the death of most dreams. All that matters is that they HAD a dream and the effort was (sort of) made.

Harvey, long the king of hustling grant writers, will be seeking grant money now to do a study on how the dream went wrong, who derailed it (by race) and what can be done to reclaim the lumber and cinder-blocks that are stacked up on that vacant concrete lot.

How can anyone not like the renovation of the Alamo? Or the infrastructure that has been accomplished. Between Ms. School of Law and other revitalization of that end of Capitol St. that part of Jackson is much better than it was in 2000. There was a large EDA Grant at some time that helped the actual street, sidewalks, water and wastewater systems be renewed on Farish Street. If I remember correctly, all those shotgun houses were redone to try and save the neighborhood aspect of Farish Street. Granted that failed. The police sub-station looks great and was used for traffic and horse patrols. Now I believe the mobile Precinct 5 is based there. All of the telephone service to northwest Jackson was redone by Bellsouth when Farish Street was under construction. All of that end of Capitol Street got better and more adequate fireflow, as well as the whole downtown area. Sometimes you nay-sayers just don't look at the big pictures and seemingly enjoy coming "down" on Jackson. This Country has experienced 9/11/2001, this State has experienced Katrina, and this City experienced the Melton Administration. Now we are in a recession or the aftermath of a recession and a terrible job market. Get real, many things have been slowed or stopped everywhere. None of this means it will not be completed and flourish.

nah-sayers?

Its OUR DAMN MONEY and I am perfectly within my rights to ask for some accountability, something that seems to escape you. I'm asking a simple question: where did the $21 million go.

Anonymous 4,

Are the improvements you mentioned worth the 21 million or so dollars spent? I don't think so. Often the primary purpose for getting "free" money is to create bureaucracies that benefit a few politically-connected people.

This Country has experienced 9/11/2001, this State has experienced Katrina, and this City experienced the Melton Administration.

the Melton Administration bookended by 2 separate, but equally disastrous, Johnson administrations.

uh ruh peeps! follow the $$$$$ and see which group of "set asides" got RICh off that one!

I know no one wants to here "how someone did it somewhere else" but,
10:13 try Columbia the state capital of SC downtown is the home of the Vista. Very little goverment money. It worked from the start and people put in their private money. Hundreds and hundreds of people go there every night to eat, party, drink, dance and have a good safe time. Place for all ages including families.
Things that can flourish will from the get go and those that can't won't reguardless to time and money spent.

Sadly, when I hear the words "Farish Street" my mind inevitably conjures images of Bill Alain and his two sexy lady (ahem) friends doing things there they later all swore they didn't do. I just can't shake the image, no matter how much money Harvey spends trying to make it go away.

10:13
if you think $21M in improvements exist, just hop on yoour unicorn and go down there to wine and dine.

January 1980--damn. Time goes by and you just dont realize its been going on that long.

Personally, what I would like to see is a detailed audit from day one by the State Auditor. And if some don't want to give up the info needed, let the auditor take them to court. $21 million dollars. That's dumbfounding.

$21 MILLION? 10:13 says in defense of the expenditures that there was an EDA grant back in the 80's as well. Knowing EDA, I don't doubt that there was - but it is not in the list of expenditures listed to total the $21million. I'm not questioning the writer, but I bet much more has been spent if you could get to all the info.

But hey - you can ride down those nice brick streets and see the structure of the construction - looking into all those empty buildings.

Seriously, they have spent $21M trying to make that Farish Street attractive? That's just freaking unbelieveable to me. Who in their right mind would go down to that area of town to do anything but work and then go home? Most people would not go there after dark if they had armed guards with them.

Where can I leave my car/truck and walk around any of the area Ben Allen mentions above? I won't mention night hours. Any damned hour.

Welcome Cathead.

Thanks for the history.

I remember the 1984 Fairish Street Revitalization Plan very well.

I actually used it as part of a last minute project for a Poly Sci class at UM back in 1986.

I expected a "D" for lack of preparation, but the little Yankee Socialist instructor gave me am "A" for being "visionary".

That report saved me from failing the class, and the Warehouse & Gin made quite a bit of capitalist dollars off me that night.

I feel perfectly safe in that area at all times. What about the success of Frank Jones corner. I hope the writer will print a mea culpa after the next leg of progress.

Frank Jones Corner is expanding, 9:41. It will triple in size after its addition. 7:05, the eternal smartass nobody, has never been there. He is too caught up in the coolness of strip centers in Stepford.

@6:59. Yes, numbnuts, I've been in that area many times. I also ride the Amtrak northbound and southbound frequently and there's no way in hell I'd leave my vehicle anywhere down there. And it's quite a pain to have to arrange for a driver to drop us off and pick us back up. Maybe you and Ben can start a shuttle-bus bidness and shuttle unsuspecting fools in and out of Jacktown. They damned sho ain't gonna park their own rides there.

What would you have the people that are TRYING TO MAKE BETTER, 10:58. Give up and toss rocks as you constantly do? Is this the way to make our community better? Bitch from behind the scenes?

I THAT your suggestion?

12:01
No, Jackass. What most people would like is to see the developers use their OWN DAMN MONEY.

12:45 speaks the truth. Until developers have a personal investment in it, they will not care.

12:45 and 2:43 are bona fide ass heads. NAME ONE DEVELOPMENT OTHER THAN OCG THAT DOES NOT HAVE SERIOUS PRIVATE MONEY IN IT. "THEY WILL NOT CARE". WHAT A STUPID SHIT.

I guess you think the Renaissance, Trustmark Park, Dogwood, Bass Pro Shop etc etc are done with the developers OWN DAMN MONEY.

I am finished with you economic development children. No wonder you in Mississippi are 50th in EVERYTHING.

I am a Memphis developer born in Jackson. I shake my head every day reading what some of you mental midgets comment on, and how ignorant and jaded you are.

5:24; Got in goin' on in Memphisto aintcha? The only inner city people are leaving quicker than Jacktown is Memphisto. Develop that.

12:39 eat your redneck heart out. Memphis has 25,000 residents DOWNTOWN now. It's FIRST public (elementary) school in 25 years....DOWNTOWN.

You are proving my point on what you people in MS don't know about the world. You are too busy eating your own.

IGNORANCE truly is bliss, isn't in number 50 bottom feeder?

I just read all these comments. Where did the $21 million go? Maybe some people think legitimate improvements have been made, but I don't see them. After reading that someone would not even park their car there, I agree. A few months ago I read a letter to the Jackson paper from a tourist who visited Jackson. After reading the local information she visited the cemetery on Northwest Street on Sunday, and was MUGGED!

I remember with great nostalgia how we shopped at Department stores when we worked downtown and in the State Office Building, and could walk day or night down the streets to wonderful restaurants. Now I would not visit Jackson, day or night, and walk one block. There were a few clubs with live music in the downtown area, but no more. I wonder why. Could it be because crime has run rampant for twenty years and nothing is safe with the uncivilized hellions running loose in the area, and with little or no law enforcement? I don't consider pinpointing graft and corruption as downgrading Jackson, but merely stating facts. In my opinion some persons were in charge of millions and the money was not applied properly or the goal would have been reached. It is ludicrous to me that anybody could blame the status of the City of Jackson, and the corruption that makes it what it is, on Katrina. Hahaha. Also, to blame the ridiculous and dangerous downtown area on Frank Melton is outrageous. Maybe city government, and the persons handling all the funds for the Farish Street project and the overall failure of Jackson, could blame it on Bush, LOL!
Blaming the failures on the job market is equally as baseless. It appears that too many people would rather draw a government check than to actually work in a job.

Damn 12:34, that must be some cheap shit you are smoking. Rambling on like a bad trip.

12:34 eat your redneck heart out. Memphis has 25,000 residents DOWNTOWN now. It's FIRST public (elementary) school in 25 years....DOWNTOWN.

You are proving my point on what you people in MS don't know about the world. You are too busy eating your own.

IGNORANCE truly is bliss, isn't in number 50 bottom feeder?

1:27, you're blind if you're saying you don't see what 12;34 is claiming. As a downtown Jackson property owner, I am often dumbfounded by the lack of ackowledgment of current crime by the "leaders" in downtown. They claim there's just a perception of "crime," not any real crime....real crime or not, if enough people perceive it, it has nearly the same effect!

In fact, I challenge you or anyone else to walk more than 4 blocks to lunch in downtown ANY day of the week. You WILL be panhandled at LEAST one time. Now, whether any of these bums are violent or not is up for discussion, but I can tell you that most people I know - and surely women - leave downtown to eat to avoid being confronted.

That being said, are the panhandlers confronted about approaching people? Not that I've been able to tell. Are there less of them? No, actually, I would contend there are more all the time.

Jackson won't get better until the "perception" of crime is lessened or goes away, and Farish Street won't get built until the same thing happens!

245 is a liar. Where is YOUR property LIAR.

Oh boo hoo. The sissy cant handle bums.

1:27, out of grammar school for the summer, huh, and bored? Do your parents know you spend your time posting filthy comments and insulting intelligent adults?

Educate yourself on the facts before you bash people who go to the trouble to comment and who share what is true.

Smart people aren't smoking dope, but your writing sounds as though you are.

Grow up.

Damn 5:44, that must be some cheap shit you are smoking. Rambling on like a bad trip.

Really! Do you think that a total of $21-million invested in an under-performing urban neighborhood over a period of 31 (1981-2012) years is excessive? And when did the Medgar Evers House move to Farish Street? This is not a story.
Epic waste and corruption is implied, but none identified.
When it comes to running a city, does anyone think the choice is either to spend money or not? Urban infrastructure requires investment in maintenance and improvement, just as home-ownership does, except on a much larger scale. Gee, I wonder how much the First Baptist Church, just a few blocks away from Farish Street, has invested in "infrastructure and facilities" over the past 31 years.
And further, when you get past totaling the costs and actually do a cost-benefit analysis on this issue (right!), don't forget to tally up the "benefits" of investing less in Farish Street.

Of course, investing public money in downtown Jackson is a money pit. Forget all the infrastructure in place. Forget that it is our only city. Let's burn it all down. But if there's a new interchange or park needed in Madison County, or an outlet mall in Rankin County, that's a sound investment of public funds.

October 21, 2013 at 3:59 PM = says YES to throwing good money after bad

The fact that F. Jones Corner has made it and is, in fact, expanding, can be simply explained by the fact that hippies will go anywhere to pretend they like blues and invented it.

Jackson has very powerful competitors in music such as Memphis, Nashville, Austin, and New Orleans. How are you really going to win the tourist trade with them? You can't. Sure we had a music tradition and night life, but it was buried in East Jackson for the most part. Exceptions were Birdland and the little late night dive on Pearl Street...I forgot the name. Otherwise it was the Rez. Farish Street will be what it is today...a couple of blues taverns and cafes trying to make it.

The city fathers wanted nightlife spread out or across the river. Not in a single 'red light' district. The late hours of the past reservoir clubs is a prime example of the traditional Jackson thinking. Or the Embers area. Or Town Creek. Now its packaged as one district, but the truth is when the sun goes down in Jackson--the whole place is wild.

The Subway blues lounge was great. Miss it.

City leaders cannot make an entertainment district. The $21 million was gobbled up by construction companies, slick developers, politicians, and historical consultants. The State of Mississippi created the "Blues Trail" and generated some interest in our musical heritage. The City of Jackson got historic renewal experience. The actual Farish Street is cleaner, but that's what we got for $21 million.

What's at the back of most Farish Street supporters' minds, of course, is that the 'district' can become another French Quarter. Jackson is quickly becoming, to Mississippi, what New Orleans is to Louisiana (a septic tank, for containing Waste Humans - rather than Human Waste). And it would certainly benefit ALL communities in the metro, if "Night Life" could be contained inside Jacktown.

I live in Madison, and DO NOT WANT any "Nightlife" here. Ditto for everyone we know. And I'm sure the residents of Brandon would mostly agree (Rankin's "Dry County" status is a selling point, not a hindrance).

But let's analyze what the French Quarter has to offer, beyond places to sit, get drunk, and listen to old music.

The Quarter has a fantastic microclimate. The winter weather is usually just about perfect. And summers seem a degree or two cooler than Jackson's. There's a charge in the air. Maybe it's the nearby Gulf. Maybe it's kinetic energy from the river, right across the levee. But there's SOMETHING, and you can feel it. By contrast, Jackson's weather is mostly miserable, and there is no 'magic charge' to the air. In fact, the local "feel" is of having all the life sucked out of you.

New Orleans is jam-packed with wonderful architecture. What little Jackson had, has largely been torn down.

The French Quarter has interesting shops of all kinds, supported by an ever-replenished supply of affluent tourists - mostly from the Midwest and South America/Latin America. They're constantly being exchanged for new Visitors. If Visitor A isn't interested in an item, then Visitor B will snap it up. Jackson, on the other hand, will have nothing but Mississippians. If Visitor A doesn't want that item, there will be no Visitor B. Same old faces, passing up the same merchandise...

The Quarter is generally a great place to look at Midwesterners. Those cornfed beauties really dress up the place, and make it seem nicer than it is. Jackson will never be a mecca for Nebraskans.

The Quarter is also a mecca for people who lead various 'alternative' lifestyles. They make things interesting - something for the tourists to gawk at. And there are all kinds of bars catering to those lifestyles. Farish Street, though, is just for alcoholic Frats and Suzies, who want to listen to anachronistic music, for reasons which have more to do with Reverse Snobbery than anything else. That's a seriously narrow demographic to be shooting for. You'd need every single drunken Fratrat in North America, to fill up an entire street full of Blues Clubs.

The Quarter has plenty to do that's family friendly. Farish street WOULD have that, if the Zoo were moved onto a portion of it's vast, vacant expanse. Let's face it: losers drink - and losers "eat Barbecue". Upscale, modern families do things that are for the kids. That's where the money goes. By focusing SOLELY on anachronistic music and unwholesome food, the 'designers' of Farish Street doomed the project from the beginning.

You got that market profile in very good prose.

But you are projecting the bluesman cause that you 11:07. You are a bluesman, sir>

Also its the Mississippi River because that's the kind of 'in breed' stock in white folks that came down the river to this place.
The sinner black man that is the character of the bluesman. In black folks you have more variety. Sure there are those that would have been 'sold down' the river.

The whites are really Nordic and they travel everywhere like the Japanese. So Jackson will get a piece of the River lovers>

Jackson will be a destination in the future. We might be like Detroit. We have an uphill path. Yeah, that's symbolic and so human.

The cultural understanding of the African origins has helped put Mississippi on the map. The late music scene in Mali is a potent link to our American blues.

I think the worst thing about the blues is the beer and the food. I guess smoking is also a blues thing. Slow death is what it is.

Sober and healthy people loving the blues even if they were loads of blues tourists--would not profit Jackson like the others.

Blues is not quite over when you have white hollers like Jimmy Vaughn, Anson, Sherman Lee still around.

Sam Myers is dead, but Fingers Taylor performs as always.