County Tax Freeze Sought For Memphis Company To Move To Germantown
Here’s hoping Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell will insist on smart tax policy by turning down Germantown’s request for a county PILOT for a...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 31, 2016 | Economic Development, Shelby County government, Taxation
Here’s hoping Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell will insist on smart tax policy by turning down Germantown’s request for a county PILOT for a...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 28, 2016 | Downtown Revitalization, Uncategorized
Harahan Bridge – considered the centerpiece for the Main Street to Main Street Multi-Modal Connector Project – opened to rave reviews last weekend, but we have always been as excited over the fact that the project would fix the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 25, 2016 | Civil Rights
The soon-to-be-ending (mercifully) presidential campaign has been marked with more bizarre events and comments than any in memory, but the strangest thing about it from our...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 21, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Criminal Justice
For about 10 years, there has been debate about the optimal size of the Memphis Police Department and recommendations in various studies have suggested fewer police and more...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 20, 2016 | Planning and Urban Design
It seems part of our DNA to take a “good enough” attitude when it comes to Memphis and to talk at length in conversations that aren’t about the pivotal – sometimes, uncomfortable – issues that can change the region’s trajectory....
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 18, 2016 | Neighborhoods, Planning and Urban Design, Poverty
In Memphis, geography is too often destiny. Where a person is born largely sets the choices and opportunities for one in four Memphians. There is a distinct geography where a large percentage of the 176,000 Memphians in...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 13, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Poverty
Demographic data can say a lot about who lives in a city. It can also be an indicator of that city’s finances. Generally speaking, if a city has a high number of residents...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 11, 2016 | Shelby County government
It is the 30th anniversary of the Shelby County Home Rule Charter, which, for three decades, has served county government well. The charter went into effect September 1, 1986, following...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 6, 2016 | Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Poverty
If you care about the children of Memphis and Shelby County, you have to care about criminal justice reform. That’s because no one pays a heavier price for longer...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 3, 2016 | Criminal Justice
The Shelby County criminal justice system is calcified and stuck in time. It’s hard to draw any other conclusion when a common sense, no risk bail bond program goes...
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.