by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Politics and Government | February 8th, 2012 12:16am CDT | 5 Comments
It’s as easy to imagine Memphis without FedEx as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Both are here because of fortuitous – if not providential – twists of fate. Both are equal parts myth and fact, and from a germ of an improbable idea, each founder [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) City of Memphis Government, Politics and Government | February 6th, 2012 12:44am CDT | 6 Comments
It seems the perfect time for City of Memphis to decide what it wants to be when it grows up, and specifically if this means growing out. Normally, the single greatest driver of the political process is crisis management and scenario thinking is about [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | February 3rd, 2012 12:30pm CDT | Comments Off
Our friend, Chip Pankey, also an award-winning photographer with a great eye for his hometown, shared this photo of Abe Schwab Dry Goods Store on Beale Street. There’s no question that it’s distinctly Memphis) as is Mr. Pankey’s talents). His photography website is always worth a visit to see some fascinating images of our world. [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) City of Memphis Government, Politics and Government, Tennessee Legislature | February 1st, 2012 5:00pm CDT | 12 Comments
Anti-Memphis suburban politicians –the political equivalent of The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight – have done it again. They regularly manage to yank defeat from the jaws of victory. Driven by narrow partisan agenda and conversations in the Nashville echo chamber, they lose all perspective of the consequences of [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 30th, 2012 2:00pm CDT | 11 Comments
Apparently, there is no hunger more intense than being power hungry. It’s proven on a daily basis by Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris and his sycophant, Tennessee Representative Curry Todd. Hardly a day goes by that an action of the Norris-Todd cabal doesn’t leave us wondering if [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 27th, 2012 12:12am CDT | Comments Off
Our friends, Louise Mercuro and Maggie Conway, took this photograph at Park and Airways and it’s distinctly Memphis. Their comment: “Don’t tell Memphis that it isn’t an innovative and creative city.” If you have any we can post, please email them to tjones@smartcityconsulting.com.
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 26th, 2012 12:44am CDT | 2 Comments
Here’s an email that we got from a reader who always has sound insights into our airport: Another week goes by and yet another CA article about service cuts at Memphis International…. With theAmsterdam flight generating over two billion in economic impact since its inception, do you think Smart City could do a round robin [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Leadership | January 25th, 2012 12:15am CDT | 3 Comments
Posted June 1, 2011, and unfortunately, even more relevant today as Tennessee Representative interferes in local affairs yet again to serve a narrow – and narrow-minded – special interest group: It’s hard to think of anything that’s uglier about life in Memphis than the self-loathing that passes for normal [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development | January 23rd, 2012 12:41am CDT | 3 Comments
There was little time for a celebration following the Greater Memphis Chamber’s announcement about $1.2 billion in private investment and 14,000 new jobs. The day after the Chamber announcement, Brookings Institution ranked us as one of the worst-performing metropolitan economies in the world — #171 of the [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Education | January 20th, 2012 12:55am CDT | 13 Comments
So, let’s take Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner at his word. His obsession with a municipal school district for his town is not “separatism,” he said, although it does seem Freudian that he picked that word. Then again, there’s another “ism” that does fuel the rush to judgment [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Parks and Greening | January 18th, 2012 12:57am CDT | 7 Comments
We wrote yesterday about what Tom Lee Park could be…a magnet for recreation and leisure…as opposed to what it is today…forlorn and bleak. We got an email asking for some ideas of what could be done, and we suggest that anyone interested in possibilities should visit the website [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Parks and Greening | January 17th, 2012 12:44am CDT | 17 Comments
Tom Lee Park is a room with a view. It’s a magnificent view but the room is empty. That’s because Tom Lee Park is essentially a field without any activity beyond the month of May or anything to make it more than a spectacular backdrop for joggers or more [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 16th, 2012 12:14am CDT | Comments Off
This annual holiday in honor of America’s great nonviolent prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is always a timely occasion to read the inspiring words of a minister who understood that his faith called for him to stand up for those traditionally frozen out of public decision-making [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 13th, 2012 12:09am CDT | Comments Off
We know we imagined it, but we thought we heard much of Memphis say “amen” when they read Church Health Center founder and executive director Scott Morris’ January 2 op-ed column in The Commercial Appeal. Dr. Morris urged Memphians to emulate University of Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner in their [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 11th, 2012 12:05am CDT | 2 Comments
The folks at the Family Action Council of Tennessee suggest that they stand like a rock on their principles. That shouldn’t be particularly hard for them since it’s a rock that they’ve climbed out from under. Even in an era where we have all become [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 9th, 2012 12:39am CDT | 1 Comment
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners ramps up for another vote to bring more secrecy to public decision-making and our mayors are working again to close some public records. It all too much to understand, particularly considering that public confidence in government is at record lows and a [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development | January 5th, 2012 1:48am CDT | 3 Comments
The problem with negotiations is that hindsight is always 20-20 when the smoke clears a few months later. The truth of the matter is that City of Memphis, Shelby County, and State of Tennessee could have insisted on putting more conditions into the contract with Electrolux. It is equally true [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | January 3rd, 2012 12:05am CDT | 5 Comments
When will the madness end? It’s a question we often ask ourselves when we read about planned highway construction by Tennessee Department of Transportation, aided and abetted by the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization. Here’s the latest: a $30 million cloverleaf on I-40 just over the Fayette County [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development | December 29th, 2011 12:55am CDT | 1 Comment
The guest post today is by Steve Bares in observance of the 10 year anniversary of Memphis Bioworks. Dr. Bares is one of Memphis’ really smart thinkers, and Bioworks has been smart thinking from its inception. It leverages existing strengths, it’s the rare economic development project here that isn’t built on cheapness but quality, and [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Poverty | December 28th, 2011 12:11am CDT | 1 Comment
What Memphis needs now is a balance of realism and optimism. We should all feel upbeat about developments that have positioned Memphis positively in the last couple of years: the convergence of important national initiatives in Memphis, the fact that our MSA in 2010 had a larger increase [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | December 23rd, 2011 9:02am CDT | Comments Off
Memphis is a mythic city. There are of course the mythic musicians and entrepreneurs who created our greatest exports to the world – from B.B. to Elvis to Chilton and from Kemmons Wilson to Pitt Hyde to Fred Smith. And yet, there are mythologies of a different kind. They limit Memphis’ options for progress, trap [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Uncategorized | December 21st, 2011 12:22am CDT | Comments Off
Josh Whitehead is the author of three of our favorite blogs that deal with urban design, architecture, Memphis history, and livability. The following one is taken from his most recent post to Creme de Memph about the city tradition of building architecturally impressive schools. He illustrates well what we’ve written several times: While the notion [...]
by 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 →
Photograph by Amie Vanderford
Memphian Amie Vanderford is a photographer for peace and justice. Her portfolio includes photographs from Peru, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Indian, and her hometown.
