Tennessee Legislature: The Death of Common Sense
Really, what’s left to say about the Tennessee Legislature? There’s mainly the photo above. With yet another guns in parks law, it proves beyond a doubt that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 29, 2015 | Tennessee Legislature
Really, what’s left to say about the Tennessee Legislature? There’s mainly the photo above. With yet another guns in parks law, it proves beyond a doubt that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 27, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Criminal Justice, Taxation
The Commercial Appeal’s week-long series about the City of Memphis’ financial problems riveted attention as only a daily newspaper can do. While it reminded us about...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 24, 2015 | Trends and Issues, Uncategorized
Population within 1970 City Limits of Memphis: 1970 — 619,757 1980 — 568,677 – down 8% 1990 — 528,064 — down 7% 2000 — ...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 22, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design, Taxation
The following was published Sunday as a commentary to The Commercial Appeal’s landmark series this week on City of...
Read MorePosted by Tommy Pacello | Apr 21, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design
The following was emailed to us by Gene Pearson, former director, Graduate Program for City and Regional Planning, University of Memphis, and he allows us to post it here: The Tennessee General Assembly could soon eliminate an...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 20, 2015 | Planning and Urban Design, Tennessee Legislature
There used to be a mayor here who said: “If we could buy them for what they’re worth and sell them for what they think they’re worth, we would be...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 14, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Poverty
The Health, Educational, and Housing Facility Board of Memphis is one of those arcane, esoteric public boards whose work goes largely unnoticed and unheralded. That all ended...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 10, 2015 | Education, Poverty, Uncategorized
Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson has set audacious goals for this year’s second graders. He wants 80 percent of them to graduate “college and career-ready,” 90 percent...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 8, 2015 | Downtown Revitalization
Often, it seems that many elected officials overcomplicate things. What the public really wants more than anything is for government to get the basics right. It’s just so hard to have confidence in government when it can’t....
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 7, 2015 | Poverty, Trends and Issues
Percent of households with earnings above $35,000 (2012): Total 65% – U.S. 58% – Tennessee 49% – Memphis Non-Hispanic white 69% – U.S. 62% – Tennessee 66% –...
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.