by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 31st, 2007 7:11pm CST | Comments Off
Are we on the verge of a second renaissance? Patricia Martin thinks so. In her new book, Ren Gen, she writes that cultural consumers are at the heart of this new generation and that a surprising group of cities will emerge as the new centers of this second renaissance. Patricia is President of Chicago-based LitLamp [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 30th, 2007 7:39pm CST | Comments Off
WWJD? Apparently, in the minds of the Memphis Ministerial Association, He would scream, threaten and bully. In fact, if we’ve ever seen the antithesis of Christ-like behavior, it was in the reception that the preachers gave their Congressman, Steve Cohen. While a guiding principle of the Gospel normally is “love the sinner and hate the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 28th, 2007 7:10pm CST | Comments Off
The new Democratic majority on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners is still showing growing pains, and based on yesterday’s performance, it clearly seems to be stuck in adolescence. First, it questioned the impeccably run Porter-Leath – arguably the city’s best–run center for children and family services – and thumbed its nose at a plan [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 28th, 2007 12:13pm CST | Comments Off
Former Tennessee Senator John Ford was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Court Daniel Breen. In our post of April 30, 2007, we calculated the federal sentencing guidelines and predicted a sentence of 63-78 months. If you’re interested in understanding the complexities of the guidelines, here’s the link to the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 27th, 2007 4:02pm CST | Comments Off
The Shelby County School Board – the local political equivalent of The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight – has done it again. This time, it’s in playing the role that it seems to relish most – Big Brother – as its members ignore the advice of Tennessee’s Attorney General, the state’s highest legal authority, so [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 25th, 2007 4:53pm CST | Comments Off
Our friends at Coalition for Livable Communities are conducting an online survey on the livability of our neighborhoods. The Coalition supports healthy, vibrant and economically sound communities in Shelby County. To do it, the organization works to educate residents and build support for a vision, agenda and policies for livable neighborhoods. That’s why it’s an [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 24th, 2007 7:14pm CST | Comments Off
Just when you think you know what makes cities tick, something changes – population, the economy, technology. So the question, what makes cities work, never gets old. And it’s never been more important. Ken Corey and Mark Wilson have taken a deep look at the global knowledge economy, how it is reshaping cities, and how [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 23rd, 2007 7:35pm CST | Comments Off
About 15 years ago, a prominent State of Tennessee official called the mayors’ offices for Memphis and Shelby County because of his concern about the direction of the National Civil Rights Museum. Concern about the deep acrimony, the ugly personal attacks and the lack of attention to pressing issues led him to call on behalf [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 22nd, 2007 7:18pm CST | Comments Off
We’re the first to admit when we make a mistake. So here it is: we were wrong about Memphis City Schools Interim Superintendent Dan Ward. We had misgivings that he would just be a caretaker during a transition period when Memphis City Schools should be engaged in a period of self-reflection, self-examination, analysis and priority-setting. [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 21st, 2007 10:11pm CST | Comments Off
Some people raised their eyebrows last week when Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton said people who moved to DeSoto County from Memphis are now paying more taxes. But, the truth is he’s right. “People in Mississippi are paying more taxes than we are,” the mayor said a little too broadly, but quickly refined his target more [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 19th, 2007 11:43pm CST | Comments Off
If anything should qualify us to be honorary members of the Belz family, it’s the pained feeling that shoots through our bodies every time there’s a new headline about a failed business at Peabody Place. The latest was about the closing of Ann Taylor Loft, the latest on the lengthening list of businesses who found [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 18th, 2007 10:27am CST | Comments Off
Who doesn’t appreciate a vibrant, exciting city? On Smart City, we especially appreciate the people who make them. Our guests this week are two such people, both from Australia. Rob Adams is Director of Design and Culture for the City of Melbourne where he has built a remarkable track record for reanimating the city and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 17th, 2007 2:09pm CST | Comments Off
We got this comment from someone in the local music scene, Matt Timberlake, and because we liked it so much, we’re posting it here too: Just read your blog about Live From Memphis. You touched on what I’ve always found so damned dissappointing about the consumers of music in Memphis; they don’t want our richly [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 16th, 2007 9:15pm CST | Comments Off
We’ve been dealing with some heavy duty issues lately, so how about we lighten up as the week comes to an end? Next week, the guy who brought us the glories of “On Your Side” news at Channel 3 takes over the communications reins at University of Memphis. So, what do you think this could [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 15th, 2007 6:37pm CST | Comments Off
OK, let’s all take a couple steps back and take a deep breath. As we do it, we’re especially hoping that the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners will join us. For all of our sakes, we need the board to move beyond its embattled view of the world, which transforms public discussions about important [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 14th, 2007 7:09pm CST | Comments Off
It’s incontestable that Memphis has an awful lot of ground to cover if we want to convert our rhetoric about supporting our legendary music into the reality of supporting our musicians. So, continuing our post from yesterday, how much ground do we need to cover? According to a report by the Cultural Policy Center at [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 13th, 2007 11:39pm CST | Comments Off
In a Memphis magazine interview, Tonya Butler, three-year resident who’s teaching music business at University of Memphis, made this prescient statement: “There’s lots of music in Memphis, but there’s no industry.” Her point is made powerfully clear in a recent report for the Chicago Music Commission on the state of the music industry in the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 12th, 2007 10:42pm CST | Comments Off
The track record of the Memphis Music Foundation has been one of false starts and misplaced priorities, but it’s on the verge of falling convincingly on its face. That’s because Memphis Music’s pioneering digital outpost – http://www.livefrommemphis.com/ – will in all likelihood close up shop at the end of the year. And if there’s anything [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 9th, 2007 8:26pm CST | Comments Off
Future Farmers may be the least likely name for an artists collaborative. But it does, indeed, describe the work of artist Amy Franceschini, now, quite literally. As winner of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s recent commission, Amy is using an inspiration from World War II-era America to spark a citizen movement to make [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 8th, 2007 5:35pm CST | Comments Off
When it comes to interpreting the political tea leaves, Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners is about as good as Mid-South Fair carnies. Repeatedly, state government tried to send nuanced messages that should have alerted the school board members that Governor Phil Bredesen was closely watching their decision on the interim superintendent’s position as an [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 7th, 2007 10:35pm CST | 3 Comments
With grand plans to become a community known for its strong strategic planning and its sustainability policies, the Town of Piperton at the same time runs the risk of giving new meaning to the term, Podunk community. The appellation is particularly ironic in light of all the media coverage about town officials’ concerns about growth [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | August 5th, 2007 1:36pm CST | Comments Off
Rarely has there been a more aptly named document than Memphis City Schools’ “Proposal for Expenditures of Additional State Revenue.” It’s the Academic Affairs Department’s plan to spend $42 million in new state funds, and it does in fact feel much more like a proposal to spend money than a strategic approach to transform high [...]
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.
