Gannett Does Memphis: The Massacre at 495 Union
What has Gannett wrought? The country’s largest newspaper chain has already accomplished the unfathomable in Memphis. It’s made us look back to when E. W. Scripps...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 30, 2017 | Leadership, Trends and Issues, Uncategorized
What has Gannett wrought? The country’s largest newspaper chain has already accomplished the unfathomable in Memphis. It’s made us look back to when E. W. Scripps...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 28, 2017 | Economic Development, Education
We’ve written for several years about “opportunity youth,” 16-24 year-olds who are neither in school nor working, and how this is one of the two key measurements for...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 22, 2017 | Education, Tennessee Legislature
We’re simply unable to join the growing push for school vouchers, chiefly because it’s simply impossible for us to imagine that the Tennessee Legislature is really...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 20, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Neighborhoods
It’s hard for the timing to be worse for Memphis when it comes to the proposed Trump budget. With signs of an economic revival that would finally take us to...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 17, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
With Alan Crone, chief adviser and confidant of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, now leading the riverfront process that includes upgrading Tom Lee Park, there’s new...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 15, 2017 | Politics and Government
Why is it that there’s always more money for weapons and war but not for people and human need? It’s been hard for years to ignore that feeling with the Republican Congress....
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 13, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Shelby County government, Taxation
EDGE pioneered in the transparency of corporate business incentives, and although it slipped very slightly in the latest ranking, it needs to give some pointers to the...
Read MorePosted by Jimmie Covington | Mar 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
This post is written by Jimmie Covington, veteran Memphis reporter with lengthy experience covering governmental, school, and demographic issues. He is a contributing writer with The Best Times, a monthly news magazine for...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 10, 2017 | Planning and Urban Design
Memphis has the greatest density of any city in our region, but it only barely leads Bartlett and Germantown. Meanwhile, it lags behind its peer cities in the number...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 8, 2017 | Livability
We wrote last week about Memphis in May International Festival and this year’s honored country, Colombia. We were lucky that our friend and talented...
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.