Why Memphis Makes No Sense as a U.S. City

Memphis looks like a familiar Southern river city on the map — but in reality, it functions very differently from most urban places in the United States. Shaped by its position on the Mississippi River at the crossroads of the American South, its role as the birthplace of blues and soul music, and a metropolitan structure split across three states yet dominated by one of the most racially and economically divided cities in America, Memphis is built around patterns that make it feel unlike almost any other city in the country.