by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Shelby County government | November 30th, 2008 10:47pm CST | Comments Off
We get frustrated at times by the inescapable feeling that our city is trapped in a time warp. We are recycling old conversations, old charges and old complaints. But whenever we need perspective, we can simply say consolidation in front of the small town mayors of Shelby County and watch them respond in ways that [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 27th, 2008 11:58pm CST | Comments Off
Our colleague Carol Coletta is once again plowing new ground in exploring ways that cities can be more competitive and can fulfill their roles as engines for the national economy. To get an intriguing view of the profound impact that can come from incremental improvements in talent, green behavior and poverty, go to the CEOs [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 27th, 2008 11:48pm CST | Comments Off
This week’s guests offer advice on making your city greener, healthier and smarter. Lawrence Katz is the co-author of the book, The Race between Education and Technology. In it, he describes how the 20th century American education system made this nation the richest in the world. He’ll tell us why the third great education transformation, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 25th, 2008 6:33pm CST | Comments Off
To follow up yesterday’s post, we wanted to put the issue of possible politicized indictments into context. Two professors – Dr. Donald C. Shields of University of Missouri in St. Louis and Professor John F. Cragan of Illinois State University – have been engaged in an ongoing study of investigations by the U.S. Department of [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 24th, 2008 10:42pm CST | Comments Off
Here’s our early Christmas wish: that the lame duck U.S. Attorney’s office leave its investigative file involving Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton for its successor. We hear that there are some spirited discussions taking place in the federal prosecutor’s office about the timing and extend of any action. While some zealous career attorneys feel that [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 21st, 2008 7:21pm CST | Comments Off
OK, now that we’ve all vented, what can we do to solve the divisive problem of police recruiting? Our problem has been that the vote was like many taken in legislative bodies from Memphis to Washington, D.C. It was cast with tunnel vision and without an understanding of its symbolic importance or its actual importance [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 20th, 2008 10:39pm CST | Comments Off
Memphis is not a city that is retaining and attracting young people with choices. That’s a critical problem, because if there is a mantra for cities today, it’s this: It’s the talent, stupid. Because there are several million fewer 25-34 year-olds – the fuel for the knowledge economy – these highly coveted workers have never [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development | November 19th, 2008 10:44pm CST | Comments Off
What a difference 24 hours can make. We were actually planning to write today about the positive impact and leadership that the new, improved version of the Memphis City Council is providing. Traditionally, the elected officials with the lowest public approval rating, we have been impressed by the new sense of purpose and fresh thinking [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | November 19th, 2008 12:57am CST | Comments Off
Two-thirds of the schools in the Memphis district do not meet state benchmarks. That’s some of the worst news Memphians have ever received from the recent state report card on schools; however, it sets up new Memphis City Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash to appear to be a miracle worker in the next couple of years. [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Poverty | November 16th, 2008 7:14pm CST | Comments Off
It’s not just that Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin wasted $88,000 in scarce city money pursuing an obsession worthy of Moby Dick. It’s that with looming layoffs in City Hall, that money could have kept two rank-and-file city employees on the job and of the unemployment rolls in some tough economic times. We’ve been giving [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 15th, 2008 7:27pm CST | Comments Off
Walter Walker’s name hadn’t appeared in The Commercial Appeal in a long time – so long that it’s hard to remember that he was once one of the people whose presence gave us so much hope for Memphis’ future. His obituary was in today’s editions. Those who met him in the past couple of decades [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 14th, 2008 9:33pm CST | Comments Off
Sometimes a city’s influence goes beyond its borders well into the region. Our guests this week both work with this idea of the global influence of cities. Saskia Sassen is professor of sociology and a member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Her work focuses on globalization and global cities. We’ll speak [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 14th, 2008 12:20am CST | Comments Off
Someone emailed to ask what we would do to set a “creativity movement” in motion in Memphis. The answer came quickly: “Appoint Jeff Nesin the Memphis czar of creativity.” That’s because we don’t know anyone who understands the importance of creatives and the creative economy more than the gifted president of the Memphis College of [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 12th, 2008 11:14pm CST | Comments Off
To continue the creativity theme for the week, we have a few things that we think will interest you. First, CEOs for Cities, headed up by our good friend and colleague Carol Coletta, continues to see cities through its decidedly unique and provocative lens, and its new video makes a compelling case for the huge [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 12th, 2008 1:25am CST | Comments Off
William Eggleston is the Elvis Presley of American photography. A rock star. Because of it, it’s turned out to be the perfect week for us here to concentrate on creativity and the creative sparks that are as much a part of our city as the Mississippi River. Ever iconoclastic and ever talented, Mr. Eggleston was [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 10th, 2008 2:27am CST | Comments Off
There are times when a conversation becomes a cause, and a meeting becomes a movement. Hopefully, that will be the case as a result of the “Creative Conversation” that took place a couple of weeks ago at Memphis College of Art, which sponsored the discussion along with MPACT Memphis. It was a bracing evening. Most [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 9th, 2008 4:13pm CST | Comments Off
Public space is important in both cities and in buildings. We’ll talk to two people who are attempting to re-imagine those public spaces both inside and out. Antony Wood is the Executive Director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. He studies and reports on all aspects of the planning, design and construction [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 6th, 2008 9:36pm CST | Comments Off
It’s probably just us, but it’s hard for us to imagine that if it had been urban Memphis rather than Germantown that Attorney General Bill Gibbons would have been as cavalier about enforcing campaign laws. Mix in a name like Ford, and it seems unfathomable that the culprits would essentially be told to say they’re [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 6th, 2008 9:24pm CST | Comments Off
We picked up our Memphis Flyer tonight, and to follow up today’s post about foreclosures, we recommend this week’s cover story by the always insightful Mary Cashiola, Home Economics.
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 6th, 2008 11:10am CST | Comments Off
President-elect Barack Obama, as part of the urban agenda that he proposed during his campaign, promises to create a White House Office of Urban Policy, and it can’t come too soon. We have written often about the neglect, no longer benign, that has characterized the federal governments’ relationship with American cities. Routinely ignored although they [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 5th, 2008 11:43pm CST | Comments Off
At the risk of echoing our president-elect’s wife, we’ve never been prouder of our country. It’s just that simple. While it remains to be seen if the reality of Barack Obama will be as a transformational figure and not just a historic one, this is a day when all people of good will should be [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | November 2nd, 2008 10:21pm CST | Comments Off
Hope springs eternal, but Hope VI regularly has to fight for its life, not to mention its credibility. It’s a curious dilemma for a federal program that has pumped $122 million into Memphis to end the warehousing of poor families jammed into housing projects with from 442 to 800 units. Threatened frequently with political extinction [...]
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.
