Fighting Poverty and Blinding Justice At The Same Time
Twenty-five years ago this week, Los Angeles’ simmering police racism erupted into the open when the police officers who had viciously beaten Rodney King were...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 30, 2017 | Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Poverty
Twenty-five years ago this week, Los Angeles’ simmering police racism erupted into the open when the police officers who had viciously beaten Rodney King were...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 28, 2017 | Parks and Greening
The Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence has issued the 2017 edition of its City Park Facts, and once again, Memphis brings up the rear in the various...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 27, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Regionalism, Transportation
In light of our regional theme this week, we are reposting this commentary from December 20, 2016. Note: Ron Garrison is no longer CEO at MATA. The Interim CEO is...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 26, 2017 | Poverty, Regionalism
Our media air waves and political squares are dominated by talk about all manner of challenging issues, but they are largely silent on the single issue that ultimately has...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 25, 2017 | 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...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 24, 2017 | City of Memphis Government
This post is written by Jimmie Covington, veteran Memphis reporter with lengthy experience covering governmental, school, and demographic issues. He is a...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 20, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development
Most people think of Memphis as beginning at the Mississippi River where the cobblestones are located and the first stirrings of a downtown taking place...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 17, 2017 | Poverty
So, the question now is what can the outrage over the racist rant by a Memphian that strafed a Caribbean service worker accomplish? Yes, it’s a potent reminder of how...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 13, 2017 | Criminal Justice, Politics and Government
Abe Fortas – the forgotten Memphian – has been back in the news lately. Or more precisely, he has been in the background of the news lately. First, there was his relevance...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 11, 2017 | Uncategorized
The idea that the Memphis Zoo and the Overton Park Conservancy should equally split the costs of parking on the greensward isn’t logical or fair. After all, it’s the zoo that has the much larger budget, and as a...
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.