by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | February 8th, 2010 12:02am CST | 6 Comments
Sometimes we think there must be something subliminal in the oaths of office of our mayors about defending the status quo at all costs. We thought of it as Memphis’s former mayor Willie W. Herenton, announcing for Congress, ushered us back into the parallel universe that he inhabits, a universe where personality always trumps policy, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | February 6th, 2010 12:46am CST | Comments Off
This week, the featured interview are two people who are working to fix problems in cities. The City of Flint is no stranger to economic struggle, but Flint Mayor Dayne Walling is working to diversity the city’s economy and change its trajectory. Today, he offers his formula for turning around a city. And we’ll talk [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | February 5th, 2010 12:05am CST | 4 Comments
The reason we are so exorcised about I-269 and other sprawl-inducing highway projects are because they deepen the economic segregation that holds back Memphis’ progress. Memphis is #1 in economic segregation among the largest 50 metros in the U.S. Here’s the kicker: sprawl is a major cause of economic isolation, and economic isolation in turn [...]
by Emily Trenholm (RSS) Uncategorized | February 4th, 2010 12:18am CST | 2 Comments
This is not another story about Overton Square and its buildings. Many of us are ready to give that subject a rest, at least for a few weeks. But as is often the case, the debate over that proposed redevelopment has unleashed a great deal of commentary – hostility, even – about historic preservation and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | February 4th, 2010 12:10am CST | 4 Comments
Ben Franklin wrote that nothing is certain except death and taxes, but it’s rare for death to come to taxes or tax breaks. Even unpopular taxes like the Shelby County Wheel Tax seem to have eternal life, while unpopular tax policies like those waiving taxes seem just as immortal. The wheel tax this year entered [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development | February 3rd, 2010 12:10am CST | 5 Comments
We can argue either way about whether the Wharton transition team’s recommendation about a Chief Economic Development Director for Memphis really matters, but for us, it’s not so much a question of who’s running things or how it’s structured as getting the priorities right. And it’s clear that these should be start-ups and entrepreneurs. We [...]
by Gwyn Fisher (RSS) Uncategorized | February 2nd, 2010 12:09am CST | 5 Comments
Dear Mayor Wharton, If you’re really serious about building Memphis into a City of Choice for young talent, and you’re really serious about creating the nation’s first office of talent retention and development, then I humbly suggest you double-team it. In essence, I think it will take a team of two to make this work: [...]
by Josh Whitehead (RSS) Uncategorized | February 1st, 2010 12:16am CST | 9 Comments
Memphis’ parkways, the great emerald necklace that encircles the historic heart of the city, is perhaps one of the best large planning projects this city has ever undertaken. Designed by George Kessler more than a century ago to connect the city’s two great parks he had also been commissioned to design (Overton and Riverside), the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | February 1st, 2010 12:10am CST | 40 Comments
There will be boats docked at Beale Street Landing, but whether there is ever a single one moored there, it needs to be completed. That some people would rather put winning first – in this case, that means stopping Beale Street Landing in its $17 million tracks – even if it means leaving an incomplete [...]
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.
