Proposed Federal Budget Cuts Could Slam Memphis
The City of Memphis is in the throes of a budget process that will produce a proposed budget by the Strickland Administration in about 10 weeks, and just when...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 26, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Education, Livability, Neighborhoods, Poverty, Shelby County government
The City of Memphis is in the throes of a budget process that will produce a proposed budget by the Strickland Administration in about 10 weeks, and just when...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 24, 2017 | Uncategorized
Twenty years before Donald Trump became synonymous with the words, “You’re fired,” 2,500 Memphians lost their jobs because of him. For them, there was no...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 20, 2017 | Leadership, Poverty, Trends and Issues
President Donald Trump.* Like a major league baseball player who used steroids to win, Mr. Trump will forever have an asterisk next to his name. He benefited from...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 18, 2017 | Arts and Culture, Livability
The UrbanArt Commission is the Jonas Salk of Memphis arts and culture. Remember him? He’s the medical researcher who invented the first polio vaccine that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 16, 2017 | Economic Development, Planning and Urban Design, Taxation, Transportation
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is part of a growing coalition of mayors calling for more State of Tennessee funding support for public transportation. It is a promising sign that modern...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 13, 2017 | Arts and Culture, City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development, Leadership, Livability, Neighborhoods, Parks and Greening, Planning and Urban Design, Poverty, Shelby County government, Taxation
We wrote 153 blog posts in 2016, and we always look back to see which subjects you had the most interest in. Clearly, last year, that was parks, particularly the campaign to...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 12, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Parks and Greening, Talent
We’ve been revisiting the 15 most read blog posts of 2016. We’ve previously posted #6-10 and #11-15. Thanks again for your support for the past 13 years. The following are the top 5 blog posts. It’s worth noting that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 11, 2017 | Uncategorized
We’ve been looking back at the 15 most read blog posts of the 153 we wrote last year. We’ve previously posted #11-15 and today, we’re posting #6-10. As we wrote previously, we appreciate you reading and commenting, and most of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 9, 2017 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Parks and Greening, Poverty
In the next three days, we’re looking back to our 153 blog posts from last year to see which one you liked the most, based on readership. To that end, we’re posting the 15 most read posts counting down from #15 to #1. Based on...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jan 6, 2017 | Economic Development, Poverty
Our media air waves and political squares are dominated by talk about all kinds of issues, but they are largely silent on the single issue that ultimately has the...
Read More
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.