Recreating A First-Class Park System Begins With Facing Facts
There was a time – during the heyday of the Memphis Park Commission – when Memphis was recognized nationally for having one of the best city...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 10, 2016 | Livability, Parks and Greening
There was a time – during the heyday of the Memphis Park Commission – when Memphis was recognized nationally for having one of the best city...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 6, 2016 | Trends and Issues
Shelby County continues a trend line of losing population and income. The following are data from the IRS. Shelby County Net Migration Trends 2011-12: -3,162 2012-13: -7,099 2013-14: -5,668 Shelby County Gross Income Migration...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 4, 2016 | Livability, Parks and Greening
There’s really no substitute for aiming high. For way too many years, when our community set out to create public places and construct important buildings, the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 1, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
Memphis Zoo opened its Zambezi River Hippo Camp a few days ago, and we were reminded once again of the incredible transformation that the Memphis Zoological Society has led in turning a pleasant, well-loved local zoo into an...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 29, 2016 | Criminal Justice
The incarceration rate for the Memphis MSA is about 80% higher than the Atlanta region and more than three times higher than Birmingham region. The Memphis MSA rate is two times higher than Baltimore, four times higher...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 27, 2016 | Criminal Justice, Poverty
Monday’s report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation gives new meaning to the aphorism: Do the crime, do the time. As it turns out, the people doing the time are also children, whose...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 25, 2016 | Neighborhoods, Poverty
Memphis should be so lucky as to have a gentrification problem. If it did, it would indicate that people are moving back into Memphis core neighborhoods and that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 22, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Shelby County government
The EDGE board and its president, Reid Dulberger, have shown admirable restraint in the face of special interests calling for them to expand the tax freeze program that is...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 20, 2016 | Taxation
Awhile back, the lede in the New York Times said: “When it comes to taxes closes to home, the less you earn, the harder you’re hit.” These were the results of an Institute on...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Apr 18, 2016 | Economic Development, Tennessee Legislature
The catfish is the Tennessee state commercial fish, and it’s the perfect mascot for our bottom-feeding Legislature. Time after time, just when we think it can’t go any lower, it always manages...
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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.