Author: Smart City Memphis

It is inevitable.It’s the “consolidation moment,” the time in every meeting where the future of Memphis is being discussed. It’s when someone holds up the merger of city and county governments as the answer to all that ails our...

In light of Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton’s latest call for consolidated city-county governments, we’ll focus on the facts and fiction of consolidation in the next few days, beginning with the reprise of a March...

This week on Smart City, we’re talking innovation with two inspired thinkers. First we’ll speak with Chris Anderson. He’s the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and is author of the book, The Long Tail, which...

We need more churches like Idlewild Presbyterian Church.If you are Christian, you may be like us. We tire from our faith being high jacked by a minority who uses it as a whip to lash anyone who disagrees politically, who has a...

There could be merit to the proposal for the school boards to have taxing authority, but it’s up to school officials to carry the burden of proof. They’re not even close yet.If Dr. Jeff Warren’s prescription for taxing authority...

Who would have guessed that the most serious wave of socialism wouldn’t bubble up from the demands of the unwashed masses but would walk over in Canali suits from Wall Street?It’s been a long, strange journey, and it may get...

There is little question that city and county governments made a serious misjudgment when they expanded the Memphis Cook Convention Center.Because of it, we’re inclined not to join those dismissing out of hand Mayor Willie W....

In politics, you know things are getting out of hand when your very presence produces an added overlay of suspicion and mistrust that complicates public decision-making.That’s certainly been the case with the conspiracies...

This week on Smart City: two different cities, two unique challenges. We’ll speak with Ana Menezes and Lindsay Enters from the group TeachNOLA. The organization works to bring the best and brightest teachers to New Orleans...

Memphis City Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash and his educational émigrés are coming face-to-face with a fundamental reality of Memphis City Schools – our urban school system has operating systems that are anything but...