by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 31st, 2007 7:47pm CST | Comments Off
What makes cities successful? It’s a question we ask every week here on Smart City. And this week we have two authorities from the University of Chicago to address that topic – one with a very local view and the other with a global outlook. Sean Safford has studied the decline of Rust Belt cities [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 30th, 2007 12:53pm CST | Comments Off
Previously published in Memphis magazine’s City Journal column: Finally, Shelby County has the chance to have a “strong mayor” form of government. Through sheer force of personality, county mayors have created the perception that they are equals to their Memphis counterparts. But, perched atop a government littered with the fiefdoms of assorted elected officials and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 27th, 2007 8:30pm CST | Comments Off
We live in a political time when legal traditions are regularly ignored in pursuit of political agendas, and each time, our system of government is diminished by it. That’s why we hope the Shelby County Board of Commissioners tread lightly in voting on an ordinance that would set regulations for businesses within Memphis, albeit the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 25th, 2007 12:06am CST | Comments Off
With 25-34 year-olds 30 percent more likely than other Americans to live in central cities, there’s a big opportunity for cities to capture new people and new money. But what happens when these young adults begin to couple and have children. Will they remain in cities? Or will they make the traditional trek to the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 23rd, 2007 6:23pm CST | Comments Off
While Memphis has never been categorized as an older industrial city, we’ve always thought that it had similarities – challenges, grittiness and demographics – that give us more in common with these cities than Sunbelt cities. We thought this again as we read this week’s report by The Brookings Institution about the revitalization of older [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 22nd, 2007 4:33pm CST | Comments Off
A few months ago, Melissa Anderson Sweazy emailed us with an interesting idea, which gave birth to the weekly “suggestion box” feature that we’ve added to our blog. It’s the weekly discussion topic and your opinions and ideas for new thinking about Memphis. As a result of her email, we asked Melissa to elaborate on [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 22nd, 2007 4:13pm CST | Comments Off
The great thing about our digital age is that we are able to create a community of interesting people who share our passions for new thinking and debate. We’ve been reminded of it this week with some emails from some citizens of our community, and we want to pass them along. The Remix Tour: Blogging [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 21st, 2007 12:22am CST | Comments Off
We don’t find many occasions when we agree with Tennessee Representative Brian Kelsey. On his worse days, he comes across as an inveterate publicity hound, and on his best days, he comes across as youthfully doctrinaire. But in the current flare-up resulting from his temerity to call pork barrel by its proper name in the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 17th, 2007 8:35pm CST | Comments Off
One of the best things about going to college is that we’re asked questions that lead us to see life in new ways and to ask our own provocative questions so we can make the best possible choices for ourselves. But, while these kinds of questions might be asked in the classrooms of Lemoyne-Owen College, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 15th, 2007 11:46pm CST | Comments Off
To help out the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America campaign to find America’s 10 great streets and 10 great neighborhoods, we are looking for the best of Memphis. Here’s what you suggested, so we’re sending these along to our APA friends for their consideration (including our recommendation of South Belvedere as the street [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 12th, 2007 11:12am CST | Comments Off
This week, we’re trying to help out the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America campaign to find America’s 10 great streets and 10 great neighborhoods. That’s why we’re asking you: Name the great streets and the great neighborhoods of Memphis. And tell us why you think they are. We’ll forward the list on to [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 11th, 2007 3:56pm CST | Comments Off
Urban redevelopment has been fun to watch over the past decade. Surprising projects are popping up everywhere, and our guests this week are behind some of the most interesting. Eve Picker is transforming Pittsburgh’s long-ignored downtown buildings into stylish residences and offices, setting the stage for future residential development in the heart of that city. [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 10th, 2007 3:45pm CST | Comments Off
The weekly question in our suggestion box generated a lot of interest, not to mention some really perceptive comments. That’s as it should be, because all of us need to be doing whatever it takes to revitalize Whitehaven. Here’s the question: If you had the power to take definitive actions to fight the abandonment and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 9th, 2007 6:26pm CST | Comments Off
A few weeks ago, we praised the Winchester Park/Intown Charrette, and we were asked when the report from the charrette would be released. Here’s the answer: the “post-charrette paper” will be released at 4:30 p.m., Monday, May 14, at St. Mary’s Cathedral at 700 Poplar. The UrbanArt Commission promises that you’ll “learn what has happened, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 9th, 2007 4:25pm CST | Comments Off
Our question of the week is inspired by the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America program. This year, it’s looking for 10 great streets and 10 great neighborhoods to be recognized later this year for the way they create lasting value for their residents and their city. Belvedere Boulevard and Vollintine-Evergreen come instantly to [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 7th, 2007 6:37pm CST | Comments Off
About one in five of the “No Deals” cases of the Shelby County Attorney General’s Office ends up in deals or they are dismissed. That’s the word from insiders in the prosecutors’ office who say the program is rooted as much in strategies for publicity as strategies for prosecutions. But at the very least, the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 6th, 2007 5:02pm CST | Comments Off
So far, our question of the week isn’t inspiring much interest, and in case you’re still thinking about it, what are the impact of the aerotropolis concept on Whitehaven? We hope you’ll weigh in, and as a reminder, here’s the question: If you had the power to take definitive actions to fight the abandonment and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 6th, 2007 4:46pm CST | Comments Off
Many cities are banking their future on the promise of logistics – the industry devoted to moving stuff from the maker to the market. While the industry has grown more sophisticated with information and technology, success still depends on transportation. Rob Hoffman, the former director of business development for World Business Chicago and a specialist [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 3rd, 2007 11:11pm CST | Comments Off
Our hearts swelled when we saw the ad in this month’s edition of Travel + Leisure. It exulted: Vote Now! America’s Favorite Cities Survey. The ad promised that we should log in right now to vote for our “favorite cities for shopping, dining, nightlife, culture, and more.” It even laid out some sample questions that [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 2nd, 2007 9:45pm CST | Comments Off
We welcome any contributions to this weekly suggestion box feature and hope you will feel free to send in your ideas for improving Memphis to tjones@smartcityconsulting.com In the meantime, here’s our question for the week: If you had the power to take definitive actions to fight the abandonment and decline of Whitehaven, what would you [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | May 1st, 2007 9:30pm CST | Comments Off
Developer Jackie Welch, in an interview with The Commercial Appeal, said that the county-mandated moratorium has brought development outside Memphis to a standstill. Our response: good. That’s clearly not the reaction he’s hoping for with his plaintive comments about not having a subdivision project on the books for the first time in 30 years. Considering [...]
by Bill Day. Memphian Bill Day is two-time winner of the RFK Journalism Award in Cartooning. His cartoons are syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons. Cartoons Archive →
Photograph by Amie Vanderford
Memphian Amie Vanderford is a photographer for peace and justice. Her portfolio includes photographs from Peru, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Indian, and her hometown.
