Moving Beyond Talk To Fight Racism
And the cycle begins anew. Or, maybe, in truth, it never stopped. The toxic stew of guns, racism, injustice, and anger continues to poison America, and we appear to lack...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 8, 2016 | Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Poverty
And the cycle begins anew. Or, maybe, in truth, it never stopped. The toxic stew of guns, racism, injustice, and anger continues to poison America, and we appear to lack...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 7, 2016 | Education
In light of Germantown’s offer to buy the schools inside its town limits that are now operated by Shelby County Schools, it seems a good time to remember the racially-based gerrymandering of school attendance zones that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 5, 2016 | Trends and Issues
In the past decade, Memphis has ended up on several lists with the adjectives, “worst” or “miserable,” attached to it, and it happened again last week. This time, it was a list of the “50 worst cities to live” compiled by 24/7...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 1, 2016 | Livability, Neighborhoods, Parks and Greening
It could well be that we look back to today’s decision regarding zoo parking on Overton Park’s greensward as the seminal moment when we came face-to-face with the brand of leadership that Jim Strickland brought to the mayor’s...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 30, 2016 | Uncategorized
As we prepare for New Year’s – city and county governments’ new fiscal year begins Friday – we updated our list of proposed resolutions for Memphis for the next 12 months. Here they are: 1) Resist the temptation to treat...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 27, 2016 | Livability, Neighborhoods
The “breaking news” headlines go to the demolition of a long-abandoned motel near the eastern end of the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge that’s been a high visibility eyesore for decades, but the work to fight blight with the most...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 24, 2016 | Transportation
Between July, 2011, and July, 2015, Memphis International Airport (MEM) led the nation in the reduction in flights – 66%. At one point, Delta Air Lines flew 300 daily flights out of MEM. By time that it was announced that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 22, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Livability, Parks and Greening
Some things just baffle us. First, there was the decision in 2014 by City of Memphis to close the western two lanes of Riverside Drive to traffic and designate them...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 20, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Taxation
Relationships run a lot smoother when money worries are lessened. That’s one of the takeaways from the most uneventful City of Memphis budget hearings in more than 10...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 17, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening, Uncategorized
With the movement by City of Memphis to move Nathan Bedford Forrest from a city park to the cemetery brings to mind the Confederate detritus populating downtown’s Memphis Park. It’s time to clear that park with the...
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.