Our Regional Reliance on Federal Transfer Payments
Federal transfer payments – Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, and SNAP, for example...
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...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 20, 2025 | Data Points, Shelby County
Tennessee has 95 counties and the Think Tennessee State of our Counties Dashboard has metrics that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 17, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
The following is my October City Journal column in Memphis magazine: Mud Island Park has been...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 13, 2025 | Data Points, Poverty
The indispensable Memphis Poverty Fact 2025 features a wealth of data that are equal parts...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 10, 2025 | Criminal Justice, Shelby County government
Frankie Dakin said it perfectly in a recent Facebook post: Shelby County Jail is now a human...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 4, 2025 | Data Points, Economic Development, Poverty
The singular failure of economic development plans in Memphis is their inability to reduce the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 30, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Federal Government, Memphis History, Parks and Greening
Grit and grind began as a slogan that aptly defined the Memphis Grizzlies’ identity during the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 27, 2025 | Books, Leadership
Memphian Lauren Ready’s book, Ask Like A Leader, is a treatise for our times. With the...
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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.