There was an article in this morning's Commercial Appeal that talks about the explosion of growth that Piperton, a small town of 1000 just across the county line from Collierville is expected to receive over the next 15 years. In 2020, the population is projected to be 25,000. Collierville will likely see some more growth too, the catalyst for the Piperton growth is the opening of another stretch of the 2nd outer loop of the Memphis area, part of TN 385 which will also be designated Interstate 269 eventually. Collierville's growth occurred for some other reason, (pop. 2000 in 1960, 43,000 today) but the largely rural area between here and Arlington to the north is about to explode. Why am I thinking about this? Memphis has done a pretty good job of revitalizing it's downtown core. There's plenty more work to be done, but there are some options for places to live and there are restaurants and clubs and a shopping center, movies, NBA basketball downtown. Still, crime is pretty bad in parts of town. Some of my friends from work talk about leaving their cars unlocked with center compartments and glove compartments open at night in their driveways. Otherwise, someone will break out their windows looking for something to steal. She says that often when she goes to her car in the morning, the door is only partially closed, the result of someone not wanting to slam it shut at night. And that's just in the East Memphis area, a largely affluent part of town. Midtown and East Memphis is a great place to live if you're wealthy, or if you're a single, or young and childless. But some of my friends are thinking about if they want to raise their kids in that environment. Where they're afraid to let their kids run around outside without keeping a very close eye on them. Where you just expect to be robbed from time to time. Now that I've been around a few years, I've been witness to a growth, crime, decline cycle in the Hickory Hill neighborhood of Memphis. When Jamie and I were dating 12 years ago, we would go to movies or to the mall in that part of town, and now it's all check-cashing places and empty storefronts. The mall's anchors have mostly left for greener pastures. Up until very recently, if we needed to go shopping or dine out, we had to travel to Cordova, an annexed part of Memphis, that has completely sprawled out over the last decade, or into Memphis. But now, upscale indepdendent restaurants are starting to locate closer to home, in Germantown and in Collierville. A new lifestyle center opened last year right inside of Collierville. Macy's, and other stores are within the city limits. Another one is going up in Germantown (which is between us and Memphis). We're now to the point that there isn't much of a reason to leave the Collierville area, except for work. The whole point is that the way that we use space, abandon, then move on down the road isn't sustainable in the long run. Collierville has done its best to promote smart growth and good urban planning, but they have allowed an awful lot of retail space to be built in a short amount of time. It's only a matter of time before Cordova goes from being the place you feel safe visiting to the place that you avoid. All it takes is rumors of crime to scare people away.The Mall of Memphis was the largest shopping mall to ever cease operations and be demolished in the U.S. The Mall of Memphis was on the original outer loop of the Memphis area. It lasted only 20 years and then it was torn down. It was only about 10 minutes from there to Hickory Hill, where the another mall was. It's only about 20 minutes from Hickory Hill to the Collierville city limits... are we next?