Updates on Urban IQ Offenders
We’ll move to some other urban design and fabric faux pas soon, but we continue to get emails about the continued close of Madison Avenue. We got this update from Urbanut about the “Main Street Trench:”...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 29, 2011 | Planning and Urban Design, Uncategorized
We’ll move to some other urban design and fabric faux pas soon, but we continue to get emails about the continued close of Madison Avenue. We got this update from Urbanut about the “Main Street Trench:”...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 28, 2011 | Economic Development
No one can say that there’s never any good news in the newspaper. Last week, the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board met for the last time. For years, the IDB has handed out tax waivers to anyone who could...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 26, 2011 | Economic Development, Uncategorized
The good news is that Memphis traditionally has not been hit as badly as many cities during normal economic downturns. The bad news is that Memphis hasn’t benefitted as much from the economic upticks either. This was made clear...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 21, 2011 | Planning and Urban Design, Uncategorized
We’re kicking off our project, with your help, of identifying some egregious tears in our urban fabric and indifference to urban design. The idea grows out of our post last week – and the outstanding examples submitted by...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 20, 2011 | Transportation
The recent announcement that Memphis will participate in the Obama White House’s Strong Cities program to break down silos so federal agencies can do more to help us achieve our goals. Well, here’s our project for...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 19, 2011 | Memphis City Schools
While we encouraged and supported Memphis City Council’s attempt to end the double taxation of Memphians for public education, that noble battle was lost when the courts abandoned all logic and confirmed the current...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 18, 2011 | Economic Development
McKesson Corporation’s request for the munificence of the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board frames up one of the primary fallacies in the unbridled IDB policies that waive $32 million in city-county taxes...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 15, 2011 | Planning and Urban Design
“This sure is one tough city.” We were driving a visitor to Memphis from the airport to downtown. We hadn’t said a word about crime or public safety at all. The comment was triggered by the Memphis obsession with razor wire. Of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
We’re fighting the temptation to ask what “real” cities would do, but we’ve never been in a major city that is as lackadaisical about maintenance and repair as ours. This photo is a case in point. The sad thing is that...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 13, 2011
While local government has tried improved management, expenditure control, long-range fiscal planning, program evaluation, and modern accounting systems, it can never cover the costs of the growing social agenda of 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.