Suburban Poverty
We’ve written before about how it’s suburban poverty that produces headlines like “Memphis is #1 in Poverty.” These are rankings for the MSA, and it is the anomalous high ranking of poverty outside of...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Nov 28, 2014 | Poverty, Regionalism, Uncategorized
We’ve written before about how it’s suburban poverty that produces headlines like “Memphis is #1 in Poverty.” These are rankings for the MSA, and it is the anomalous high ranking of poverty outside of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 26, 2014 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Planning and Urban Design, Shelby County government, Taxation, Tennessee Legislature, Uncategorized
In our first post, we began our list of 10 things that made us who we are today. In that post, we listed: * Shelby County Encourages Middle Income Families to Leave Memphis * No...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 21, 2014 | City of Memphis Government, Criminal Justice, Shelby County government, Taxation
In our last post, we began our list of 10 things that made us who we are today. In that post, we listed three factors (these 10 are in no particular order): * Shelby County...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 18, 2014 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Taxation, Uncategorized
We have repeated one of our favorite quotations often: every system is perfectly designed to produce the results that it does. So, what exactly were the decisions made here that produced...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Nov 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
From Planetizen: The federal government began pushing for innovations within the public sector in May 2009, when President Obama founded the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (Office). Since then,...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Nov 14, 2014 | Economic Development, Education
From Governing: Despite the Internet’s ever-growing social and economic relevance, a sizable number of Americans in select cities still aren’t connected. For the first time, the Census Bureau collected data measuring Internet...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 13, 2014 | Downtown Revitalization, Livability
Standing at the foot of Union Avenue, two couples from Indiana are surveying the Mississippi River when one of the men said: “I’ve been here four times for Elvis Week. I absolutely love this city, but it doesn’t look...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 10, 2014 | Economic Development, Regionalism
This may surprise you but we’ve got to say it: we’re tired of hearing about the paramount importance of regions and how regionalism is the road to a successful future for Memphis. And we admit that we were some of the earliest...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 6, 2014 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Shelby County government, Transportation
A couple of decades ago, we flew into the People’s Republic of China, and as we circled the Beijing airport, everything below us was pitch black. Suddenly, someone on the ground...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 4, 2014 | City of Memphis Government
We’ve talked about ballot initiatives that deserve no votes, but there is the opportunity to vote yes on one amendment – the City of Memphis Proposed Ordinance No. 5512 – which would improve...
Read Moreby 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 →
Since 2005, this has been Smart City Consulting’s blog with the aim of connecting the dots and providing perspective on issues and policies shaping Memphis. Editor and primary author is Tom Jones, columnist, author of two books, and consultant on public policy. Smart City Memphis was called one of the most intriguing blogs in the U.S. by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal wrote that “Smart City Memphis provides some of the most well-thought-out thinking about Memphis’ past, present, and future you’ll find anywhere,” and the Memphis Flyer said: “This incredibly well-written blog sets out to solves the city’s ills – from the mayor to MATA – with out-of-the-box thinking, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ideas. If you have questions, submissions, or ideas for posts, please email Tom Jones, at tjones@smartcityconsulting.com.