Downtown Revitalisation and Delta Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi

Lessons for Small Cities and Towns

John C. Henshall

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9789811321061
• eBook ISBN:
  9789811321078
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Human Geography
• Index: Social Sciences

This book is about Clarksdale, a small town in Mississippi, USA, and how the local community has revitalised the long-dilapidated downtown, with the renewal based on the town's intimate association with Blues music and the culture that flows through the Mississippi Delta. John Henshall highlights underlying trends in downtown decline and revitalisation in cities and towns in America, together with commentary of his own experience at home in Australia.

In Clarksdale, downtown economic revitalisation gained momentum in the mid-2000s as local residents and newcomers focused their entrepreneurial and creative efforts on promoting Clarksdale's heritage, which is steeped in Blues music and Delta culture. While much attention to date has been given to large cities – from Sydney to San Francisco and from London to New York – as 'creative cities', little has been written about creativity in small cities and towns. This book delves into the positive role played by creative individuals in the economic revitalisation of downtown Clarksdale. 

The role of urban planning and community interaction is examined, and key lessons are provided for other small cities and towns, as they seek out opportunities to revitalise their downtowns and town centres.

© The Author(s) 2019

John C. HenshallDowntown Revitalisation and Delta Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippihttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2107-8_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

John C. Henshall¹  

(1)

Essential Economics Pty Ltd, Carlton, VIC, Australia

 

 

John C. Henshall

End Abstract

This is a story about Clarksdale and the economic revitalisation process that led to the rebirth of the city’s downtown after many years of decline and dereliction. The special significance of Blues music to downtown revitalisation is highlighted through cultural tourism, with Clarksdale as the location of the Crossroads at Highways 49 and 61 and associated with the birth of the Blues.

Clarksdale is like so many other small cities and towns in America: at first sight it appears to be poor, desolate, and seemingly without a goal for future development and the well-being of its community. The same can be said about many small cities and towns in Australia, but a leisurely drive through the American urban areas—with derelict downtowns—highlights the issues that truly need attention. These aspects are recorded in this story.

Of course, much has been written about the economic revitalisation of downtown areas in cities and towns, including the role of cultural tourism and the so-called creative people in enabling such revitalisation to occur. However, less attention has focused on the importance of cultural tourism in promoting economic revitalisation in the downtowns of small cities and towns. This story addresses this situation by focusing on revitalisation efforts in the long-established downtown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the town’s resident population totals around 16,170 persons in 2018, a substantial decline on the 22,000-plus residents of the early 1980s. Lessons are provided for other small cities and towns where a decline in economic activities in the downtown has been in evidence over many years.

For decades Clarksdale, located in Coahoma County in the northern part of the Mississippi Delta as illustrated in Fig. 1.1, had lost its role as the centre providing a wide range of business opportunities, jobs, and community services to those living in the town and surrounding region. This situation was not uncommon for many cities and towns in America where downtown decline has been associated with the flight to the suburbs, out-of-centre retail mall developments, and the increase in personal accessibility provided through universal car ownership, among other factors.

Fig. 1.1

Location of the City of Clarksdale and Coahoma County. (Source: Mississippi Geospatial Clearinghouse & MapInfo)

In Clarksdale’s case, downtown decline has been due to several specific factors, including the advent of big box retailing and the location of new retail and commercial businesses along South State Street on the edge of town; a declining trade area associated with the loss of population, jobs, and spending flowing from agricultural restructuring and manufacturing decline; the loss of workers and their families as they seek employment opportunities in (mainly) larger, northern cities; and the increasing level of competition from other cities and towns.

Today, however, Clarksdale has taken up the challenge to “revitalise” its downtown in the face of economic adversity. Recovery is underway and much of this is associated with Blues music and Delta culture—Clarksdale is situated at the fabled “crossroads” of Highways 49 and 61, and is also the home to national icons in literature, art and other cultural pursuits. These are key elements around which the downtown revitalisation effort is now focused, with growth in many new businesses associated with the Blues legacy, ranging from music venues and art galleries, to museums, cafes and restaurants, and specialist retailers.

This story charts the background, process, and progress through which the Clarksdale community has embarked on the road to downtown recovery. It highlights the town’s indelible links with Blues music, borne out of years of toil, hardship, and socio-economic deprivation visited upon the African-American community. Emphasis is placed on the importance of “champions” and “creative people”, drawing on community support in achieving downtown revitalisation.

Positive results are now evident, with increasing numbers of new businesses and jobs, improved levels of service, refurbishment of derelict buildings, a renewed sense of place, and an uplift in community confidence. However, some concerns are voiced in the community that much of the revitalisation has been achieved by private sector interests, particularly individuals setting up new businesses in downtown, with a lesser degree of involvement by local government. These aspects are discussed.

Consideration is also given to national trends in downtown decline and subsequent revival, including reference to the writings of Jane Jacobs and other observers of downtown change in American cities over the years. The role of “creative people” in fostering economic development—drawing on work by writers Charles Landry, Richard Florida, and others—is also assessed for its relevance to a small city like Clarksdale. An outline of the very significant place of Blues music and Delta culture in Clarksdale’s revitalisation over the past decade or so is highlighted, emphasising how Blues is the fundamental element contributing to downtown’s economic revival.

Lessons for small cities and towns are principally focused around recognising the importance of a particular theme or asset or other feature around which economic and community development can be pursued. These themes or assets include the importance of champions and creative people in fostering economic development; the need for good community organisation; the importance of having an “action plan” to guide progress; the need to have in place—or encourage the provision of—the supporting infrastructure and services; and the significance of supporting the viable operation of both existing and new businesses as a means of adding to investment and new job creation. The lessons are borne out of the Clarksdale experience, and they are applicable in other small cities and towns where the community wants to encourage new opportunities for local development, prosperity, and well-being.

In particular, the significance of cultural tourism to downtown revitalisation is highlighted, with emphasis on the global appeal of Blues music, but with the Blues roots firmly established in the fertile soils of the Mississippi Delta and Clarksdale.

Clarksdale Entrance on West Second Street

State Street Approach from Highway 61

Sunflower River in Clarksdale

The Bank in East Second Street

© The Author(s) 2019

John C. HenshallDowntown Revitalisation and Delta Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippihttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2107-8_2

Begin Abstract

2. Downtown Decline and Revitalisation: National Trends and Clarksdale’s Experience

John C. Henshall¹

(1)

Essential Economics Pty Ltd, Carlton, VIC, Australia

John C. Henshall

End Abstract

While the focus is on the revitalisation of downtown Clarksdale, it is appropriate to examine the broad trends at the national level in America in terms of downtown economic decline and revitalisation over the years. This “global” view assists in placing Clarksdale’s issues and achievements in perspective.

Numerous reasons underlie the decline in the economic fortunes of downtowns over recent decades, especially the decline in downtown roles and functions, the “flight” to the suburbs, and the trend to “out-of-centre” commercial development. Downtown decline is counter-balanced by the trend to downtown revitalisation, with approaches that include “Main Street” and other programmes or processes aimed at downtown revival.

Since the first days of urban settlement in millennia past, the geographic centre of communities has been the place where civic, business, and other activities have located to serve community needs. In the American vernacular, the “downtown” emerged as the locale for a wide range of activities, and this was particularly so for retail and commercial businesses serving the local community, and with the extension of this servicing role to meet needs in the surrounding hinterland. Downtown was regarded as the place where the lifeblood of business and the community was focused. This is the location where significant investment of many generations was traditionally directed, and where opportunities were to be found in developing properties and investing in new and expanding businesses and jobs, and participating in social activity.

However, a decline in the economic base of long-established downtowns in many American cities and towns has been in evidence for decades and with a multitude of contributory factors, ranging from suburbanisation and universal car ownership, to out-of-centre development and strong competition from larger centres.

The trend to suburbanisation was in evidence in industrialising England in the nineteenth century and with the Garden City Movement in the early twentieth century. However, it was the introduction and widespread adoption of the motor vehicle some 100 years ago that facilitated the substantial movement to the suburbs, and this was very much in evidence in America. Suburban land prices were cheaper compared with land prices in city centres and environs, and the car ensured that suburban land was more accessible in a transportation sense, giving people the opportunity to enjoy large blocks, new dwellings, and a sense of new opportunity (Jacobs 1961; Glaeser 2005).

In the American context, the move to the suburbs was also associated in many cases with the “flight from blight” (Mieszkowski and Mills 1993; Bradford and Keleijan 1973). This movement was characterised by city residents seeking opportunities to move away from what they perceived to be declining liveability as low income households moved into inner city neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods had become congested and were experiencing a de...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Downtown Decline and Revitalisation: National Trends and Clarksdale’s Experience
• 3. Delta Blues and Culture
• 4. Clarksdale, the Delta, and the Economy
• 5. Businesses in Downtown Clarksdale
• 6. Clarksdale and Tourism
• 7. Creative People in Downtown Revitalisation: The Theory
• 8. Clarksdale’s Champions and Creative People: The Reality
• 9. Planning for Economic Development and Downtown Revitalisation
• 10. Community Views on Downtown Revitalisation
• 11. Clarksdale’s Experience in Downtown Revitalisation: An Overview
• 12. Lessons in Downtown Revitalisation for Small Cities and Towns
• Back Matter