SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn — Members of a Whitehaven community are upset at growing blight, and after they brought those concerns to ABC24 at a recent Let’s Talk, the city is attempting to respond quickly.
Marian Tolliver has lived in Whitehaven for a quarter century. Lately, however, she said blight is getting worse and worse, particularly in an area near her home on Wilson St. underneath the I-69 freeway.
“I love Whitehaven. I really don’t want to leave it. I just want to see it cleaner,” Tolliver said. “When you live in a place that looks like you care, then people actually care. If you live somewhere where it looks like nobody cares, then nobody cares.”
The area has wild grass overgrowth, discarded tires, piled up trash and more all along a roadway frequently used by those in the neighborhood like Tolliver.
“Some stuff is out there forever. As soon as it’s cleaned up, its right back down again. The tires are not as bad as they used to be. Someone would take the time and stack the tires up, almost make a monument out of them,” Tolliver said.
ABC24 sent pictures of the area to the City of Memphis on Wednesday, and the city said they were immediately scheduling the underpass for cleanup by crews from Public Works. Tolliver is worried it’s only a matter of time before those responsible for the trash make their return.
“I’m just hoping we can get it together in some kind of way in the neighborhood. Just keep the neighborhood clean, that’s all we want. It’ll be more safe,” she said.
The City of Memphis said rain permitting, they’ll have a crew out there on Thursday morning to get to work.