Author: Smart City Memphis

We live in the Age of the Big Lie.George Orwell saw it coming, but it took a couple of decades longer than he thought. Somehow, it seems appropriate that Ronald Reagan was president in 1984, because his administration gave voice...

Memphis is #5 with a bullet. Unfortunately, it’s the list of the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rates. As alarming as that statistic is, it could be much worse if it wasn’t for Tennessee’s liberal annexation laws. That’s...

Educational experts disagree about the wisdom of creating schools for overage students, the strategy that’s a centerpiece of Memphis City Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash’s strategies to turn around the low-performing...

How do you find out what people want for their city? Sometimes, you just ask them. John Lewis is the president of Intelligent Futures and leader of Imagine Calgary. Imagine Calgary asked citizens four key questions to find out...

Nothing is quite as confusing as government financing, and that’s never been truer than now.There seems to be big numbers every where – the $30 million for The Pyramid, there’s the idea of a new convention center likely to...

Memphis needs some “leap frog” strategies to get more competitive in the knowledge-based economy.Just how badly we need the strategies was underscored in the past few days with the release of the highly-regarded annual report by...

The Pyramid is more empty than we even thought it was.Memphis City Councilman Bill Boyd recently toured the arena and learned that many of its “furniture, fixtures, and equipment” are missing. According to one person who has...

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson has formed a political action committee that will financially support candidates “who believe in limited government.”The senator – the most underperforming Tennessee senator in 30 years –...

Sometimes, local government really ought to pay attention to its consultants.Yes, there are times when there’s really no downside, but we can think of one whose price tag is $100 million.That was how much city and county...

A couple of weeks ago, we suggested that Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton apparently was overqualified to be vice-presidential candidate for the Republican Party. Perhaps, we were too hasty. We just read that when Alaska...