|
Welcome to About Town, where we generally take a deeper dive into one neighborhood each week while also highlighting the latest news, developments and backstories from Memphis’ communities. But this week’s focus is a little different. This week is an introduction.
For this week’s About Town, in lieu of shining a spotlight on something happening in a Memphis neighborhood, I wanted to use this space to introduce myself.
I’m Julia Baker, the new neighborhoods reporter for The Daily Memphian.
 Julia Baker, The Daily Memphian’s new neighborhoods reporter, is a native Memphian who has lived all over the city. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
So far, since I’ve started on the neighborhoods beat earlier this month, I have covered the groundbreaking of a new park in Raleigh, a new flavor of tea in Orange Mound and the fight for the greensward at Overton Park, among other things.
Previously, I was a general assignment reporter for The Daily Memphian.
Before joining The Daily Memphian team in September, I covered education and arts and culture for various publications in Memphis, including Chalkbeat, the Memphis Flyer, Memphis magazine and Memphis Parent.
As a native Memphian, I have lived all over the city. Neighborhoods I have considered my stomping grounds throughout the years include Midtown, Arlington, Cordova, Raleigh and Parkway Village.
I got to know the backroads of Cordova like the back of my hand while learning to drive a car, and I discovered every nook and cranny of the Old Forest State Natural Area while exploring Overton Park on my bicycle.
I ice skated in the now-defunct Mall of Memphis in Parkway Village, and I rollerbladed at Skateland in Raleigh.
I have even gotten familiar with, at least a little bit, the town of Arlington, where my father currently resides and where I lived for a few years.
Memphis runs deep in my veins, and I’m proud to call it my home. I care deeply about the city.
But enough about me. I want to know about you.
What in the city or your neighborhood concerns or delights you? Is there a development you are worried about negatively affecting your community? Or maybe there is a much-needed redevelopment happening in your neighborhood?
Is there an environmental justice issue gnawing at you, keeping you up at night? Or is someone affecting positive change in the community? I want to hear about it.
I need your help being the ears and eyes of the community. Because let’s face it. As much as I would like to be everywhere at once, I simply cannot. It’s better if we do this together.
If you see anything happening in the city, good or bad, feel free to reach out to me at jbaker@dailymemphian.com.
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
More About Town:
 Sara Hall, chief legal officer and general counsel at ALSAC, leads a community meeting discussing a future St. Jude Children's Research Hospital employee parking structure on Nov. 9, 2021. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
The parking garage for St. Jude and ALSAC employees would be built on a 3.25-acre plot of land consisting of seven vacant parcels on A.W. Willis between North 3rd and North 4th streets.
Two pop-up events this weekend will offer parents a chance to have their children ages 5 to 11 vaccinated against COVID-19.
 Overflow parking for the Memphis Zoo spilled onto the Greensward at Overton Park in 2019. (Jim Weber/Daily Memphian)
A plan to expand the Memphis Zoo parking lot onto the greensward is on hold, but Citizens to Preserve Overton Park activists gathered Saturday in Overton Park to show their willingness to fight.
The BuildDowntown Master Plan and the South City Good Neighbor Grant program both won awards from an international institution for their city planning efforts.
The box design is the Orange Mound-based nonprofit’s ninth Memphis-themed motif, but their first limited-edition design featuring a professional Black artist with Orange Mound roots.
..... |
