Urban Sprawl

There goes the Neighborhood? What was an empty field a few years ago has turned into a busy Bartlett Intersection at Altura and Memphis-Arlington Rd with retail businesses on both sides of the Memphis-Arlington which includes Walmart Neighborhood Market, Walgreens Drug Store, two Gas Stations and two strip malls with multiple small businesses including two Pizzerias, two dry cleaners, two nail salons, two hair salons, bread store, clothing apparel store, two tax preparer outlets and a few others. The traffic on Memphis-Arlington has doubled and it don't help with Walmart being open 24 hours a day. I like the shopping convenience it offers but everything else that goes along with growth, I don't. I guess you can't have it both ways.

What happened to my neighborhood has happened to neighborhoods all over my town of Bartlett and all over urban America. With the flock of people fleeing the big city and settling in the suburbs has created mini towns. With that many people comes growth in form of retail stores to support their new life styles. It seems that we are running out of space to put anything else on. Despite the growth, Bartlett is still a good town to live in. Our Police force is second to none and has a reputation on fighting crime. Forget shoplifting, don't even think about speeding in Bartlett. The smallest amount in fines is $95.00. It is a well known fact in Shelby County and the Memphis area. Our Fire and Police Department average response time to any emergency is five minute or less. It is a family community. A nice place to raise a family, with two high schools, four middle schools, eight elementary schools and Churches on about every corner. There is still a small town atmosphere complete with an annual Christmas parade. Bartlett is also known for it's parks. Every neighborhood by law has a park. Every new development must include at least one park and some have two parks.

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