Making The Most of U of M
It’s the time of year when we pause to remember people and groups that we tend to take for granted. The University of Memphis is at the top of our list this year. Apparently, it’s...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 15, 2016 | Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Economic Development, Planning and Urban Design, Transportation
It’s the time of year when we pause to remember people and groups that we tend to take for granted. The University of Memphis is at the top of our list this year. Apparently, it’s...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 12, 2016 | Economic Development, Shelby County government
The fix was in from the beginning. At least that’s the conclusion that could be easily drawn from the way that the Tennessee Valley Authority’s use of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 6, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
About 12 years ago when we began this blog, we lamented the fact that Memphis was not involved in national conversations or on the radar for philanthropic...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 2, 2016 | Trends and Issues
MEMPHIS, TN — Etsy, a marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods, today announced that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Dec 1, 2016 | Taxation, Trends and Issues
It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The one created by Google is worth $2 billion, which is the amount of debt that Shelby County Government issued...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 28, 2016 | Uncategorized
The presidential campaign damaged a number of American institutions and chief among them was the traditional news media. We’re not talking about the media’s unpopularity...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 23, 2016 | Cartoons
Bill Day’s most recent cartoon. From our first blog post in early 2005, we’ve written about the battle for talent and how some cities are winners and some cities are...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 21, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Civil Rights
We were wrong in our concern about the slippery slope of policies created by President-elect Donald Trump. It’s more of an avalanche. Already, there is talk about religious registries, use of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 17, 2016 | Trends and Issues
8,000 – Children Under 6 years with no parents in labor force – 13% 82,000 – Children in low-income households with High Housing Cost Burden – 72% 3,000 –...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Nov 15, 2016 | Livability, Parks and Greening
Almost a century ago, Shelby County Government started buying up land “out in the country” for the working prison farm envisioned by Memphis political boss, E.H. Crump. That began a journey in 1918 that against all odds...
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.