Archaic Rules and Insider Political Games Block New Business Opening
By Susan Adler Thorp In the many years I’ve observed and written about local business, government,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 2, 2026 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, State Government
By Susan Adler Thorp In the many years I’ve observed and written about local business, government,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 29, 2025 | Arts and Culture
My family went to see the movie Song Sung Blue last Friday to show our support for our hometown...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 23, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development, Parks and Greening, Tourism
After months of high-powered negotiations involving Memphis in May International Festival, Memphis...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 18, 2025 | Economic Development, Education, Talent
This blog post was previously published as my City Journal column in January, 2025, Memphis...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 15, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Taxation
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners is expected today to once again perfunctorily approve Tax...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 11, 2025 | Shelby County
About three weeks ago, I posted some key metrics that showed Shelby County’s ranking in comparison...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 8, 2025 | Criminal Justice, Shelby County government, State Government
Just when we think there’s nothing worse than Sheriff Floyd Bonner’s management of the Shelby...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 4, 2025 | Data Points, Federal Government, Shelby County
Federal transfer payments – Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, and SNAP, for example...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 1, 2025 | Economic Development, Regionalism
About every 10 years or so, Memphis discovers regionalism. That seems once again to be where we...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 25, 2025 | Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Shelby County government
It’s déjà vu all over again, but when it comes to the crisis in the Shelby County Jail, there’s no...
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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 →
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, City Journal columnist at Memphis magazine, author of two books and a museum exhibition, and consultant on public policy and strategic planning. He has written articles for MLK50, The Commercial Appeal, and USA Today. The blog was called one of the most intriguing blogs in the U.S. by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal said it “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 solve 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.