The Lessons Of The Bird Electric Scooters
If we had any skepticism about the entry of the Bird motorized scooters into Memphis, it was destroyed in our walk down Main Street yesterday to lunch. There,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 19, 2018 | City of Memphis Government, Transportation
If we had any skepticism about the entry of the Bird motorized scooters into Memphis, it was destroyed in our walk down Main Street yesterday to lunch. There,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 18, 2018 | Education
Another Shelby County Board of Commissioners’ budget vote, another shortchanging of public schools in Shelby County. It all began just over a decade ago with...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 13, 2018 | City of Memphis Government, Transportation
Years ago, we blogged about the deteriorating condition of Lamar Avenue, the negative impact it had on our economy, and the risks that Memphis was about to lose existing...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 11, 2018 | Trends and Issues
By the time I was a college sophomore, with six years growing up in Northeast Arkansas and 14 years in small town Collierville, I had never known anyone who had committed suicide. Then,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 6, 2018 | Uncategorized
Leadership of The Commercial Appeal last week assured staff members that parent company Gannett had pledged resources sufficient to fend off the challenge of an upstart non-profit...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 4, 2018 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Planning and Urban Design
The latest prestigious architectural award for Crosstown Concourse was a powerful statement that the age of derivative architecture in Memphis...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 29, 2018 | Parks and Greening
Shelby Farms Conservancy President Jen Andrews is today accepting a gold medal at the Independent Publishers Regional and Ebook Awards...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 23, 2018 | Criminal Justice, Shelby County government
Paul G. Summers’ nine-page letter regarding the federal oversight of the Shelby County Juvenile Court proves nothing so much as his lack of qualifications to write it in the first place....
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 21, 2018 | Uncategorized
A new media outlet for Memphis moved dramatically out of the due diligence process and assertively into the implementation phase with the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
There are tremors shaking part of Memphis but they’re not coming from the New Madrid Fault. Rather, they originate at 495 Union where The Commercial Appeal, at least for now, is...
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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.