Painting The Town: Utility Boxes as Canvases
There are a number of cities in the U.S. that are fighting big boxes. Most often, they are about retail boxes, but here, we need to declare war on the proliferation...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 18, 2016 | Arts and Culture, Downtown Revitalization, Livability
There are a number of cities in the U.S. that are fighting big boxes. Most often, they are about retail boxes, but here, we need to declare war on the proliferation...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 16, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Taxation, Tennessee Legislature
A lot of Bible verses get quoted in the Tennessee Legislature to justify political positions and legislative actions. When it comes to deannexation, the verse that comes to...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 14, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design, Politics and Government, Shelby County government, Tennessee Legislature
It doesn’t take a CSI unit to determine that the fingerprints on sprawl’s smoking gun belong to Shelby County Government. However, that doesn’t mean that City of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 11, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Tennessee Legislature
Just when you think we have seen the ultimate example of hypocrisy and petulant pandering by the Tennessee Legislature, they can always go deeper. That’s what Tea Party...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 10, 2016 | Parks and Greening, Shelby County government
The appointment this week of 32-year-old Jen Andrews – described as “a 21st century leader for a 21st century park” – as the new executive director of Shelby...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 8, 2016 | Economic Development, Education, Livability, Talent
“We have to get more people to choose Memphis as home while also – at the same time – improve the circumstances for the people who live here. This is important: It’s not...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 7, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Livability, Parks and Greening
Overton Park Conservancy issued the following position statement this afternoon. The statement makes the salient point that the contracting authority for City of Memphis rests with the mayor, not Memphis City Council. ...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 4, 2016 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Taxation
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland must feel like somebody who gets married, and shortly after returning from the honeymoon, the statements for his spouse’s maxed-out credit...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 3, 2016 | Uncategorized
Phyllis Betts comments about yesterday’s post about the looming housing crisis spotlighted by Brad Watkins of Peace and Justice Center: There is an immediate crisis that needs to be dealt with now. Perhaps through a...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Mar 2, 2016 | Leadership, Poverty
It’s easy to think in Memphis – with some of the lowest home prices in the nation – that we don’t have a housing problem. After all, among the 48 largest MSAs in the...
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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.