Cleaning Up in Memphis
Janet Boscarino’s 20-year business development career was going well but something was nagging at her. It was the gnawing concern that her hometown wasn’t as clean as it could be...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 30, 2015 | Livability, Neighborhoods
Janet Boscarino’s 20-year business development career was going well but something was nagging at her. It was the gnawing concern that her hometown wasn’t as clean as it could be...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 26, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Neighborhoods
The proposed moratorium on development in the Pinch Historic District may be 25 years too late, but it’s better late than never. That’s why we think that Memphis City...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 24, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Livability
Maybe the Sons of the Confederacy are right. We should not rewrite history. But that requires us to write it right in the first place. Let’s put the names of real heroes on our parks and monuments, such as nationally prominent...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 22, 2015 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Shelby County government, Taxation
Just when there is an encouraging new energy and a feeling of momentum here, we are reminded of the nagging lack of self-worth that surfaces too often in this...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 18, 2015 | Civil Rights, Livability, Uncategorized
We received the following post from Matthew Timberlake in the wake of the murderous evil that took place last night at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. : By Matt Timberlake You know what you can do to end racism? You can...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 18, 2015 | Economic Development, Poverty
Discussions about the living wage sometimes are treated like a dry, abstract subject debated by economists without it being connected to real people and real economic growth. In Memphis, the living wage is in truth a strategy...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 17, 2015 | Poverty, Talent, Trends and Issues
As we have written here previously, Memphis has one of the largest percentage of youths between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor in school. It creates a sizable obstacle to our success as a cit,y but more to...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 15, 2015 | Parks and Greening
Overton Park has been a special place in Memphis for more than a century, but it’s rapidly becoming the exemplar for the top priority set out seven years ago in Sustainable Shelby: creation of a great public realm. It was a...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 12, 2015 | Trends and Issues
Brookings reports that many U.S. cities, despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, still retain a sizable middle class. Memphis was near the top of the list of cities where the middle class hollowed out as the 20th century...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 10, 2015 | Education, Talent
So much of the success – or the difficulties – of our students in the classroom is set in place by developmental experiences in the first years of their lives. And often, the factors that influence whether children succeed are...
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.