Data Points: Housing Affordability
Point2 Homes recently looked at the 50 most populous cities in North America to determine the affordability ratio for each. Based on the numbers, Memphis is...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 12, 2018 | Trends and Issues
Point2 Homes recently looked at the 50 most populous cities in North America to determine the affordability ratio for each. Based on the numbers, Memphis is...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 10, 2018 | Uncategorized
Memphis magazine managing editor Frank Murtaugh suggested a few days ago that while our attention is focused on statues, we should...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 8, 2018 | Criminal Justice, Poverty
We take the proponents for a Juvenile Assessment Center at their word: nothing final has been decided and they are open to suggestions. Based on that, it seems a good time, with a new...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 6, 2018 | Uncategorized
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 4, 2018 | Economic Development
Following up our Data Points post from last week – Memphis Metro’s GDP Lags – economist David Ciscel posted data in the post’s comment. However, the data were garbled so we are posting...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 2, 2018 | Economic Development
The following post was written by a favorite Memphis economist of ours, David Ciscel, former Chair of the Economics Department,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 28, 2017 | Uncategorized
A few years ago, Zach Hoyt, local attorney, wrote a blog post here that expressed his concern about the slow growth of the Memphis MSA GDP (Gross Domestic Product), pointing out that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 22, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening, Politics and Government, Uncategorized
It was June, 2005, when we started this blog, and one of our first posts was about the visual blight and racist history of Confederate statues in Memphis parks. Over the years, in dozens of posts, we called attention to...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 20, 2017 | Economic Development, Regionalism, Transportation
“Sprawl is a rot that tends to consume the old city. We can hope that Memphis is just 20 years behind other cities, as people across the country...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 18, 2017 | Economic Development, Shelby County government, Transportation
Looking back, there’s no real argument that suburban sprawl was not a direct hit on the city at its center, draining Memphis of its people and its...
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, 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.