Challenging the Urban Lifestyle: Memphis, Overton Park, and the Interstate 40 Controversy

Abstract

The Interstate 40 controversy polarized Memphis, Tennessee from the 1950s to the 1980s. The conflict over the proposed construction oflnterstate 40 through the midtown Memphis landmark known as Overton Park generated intense feelings among Memphians. In the midtown Memphis community, those who fought the construction of Interstate 40 sought to preserve the peace and integrity of their neighborhoods while at the same time opposing a vision of the American urban lifestyle that ultimately valued speed and efficiency. The struggle over whether to build the interstate through the park eventually went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, in a commonly cited administrative law case, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe (1971).