Author: Smart City Memphis

You can never underestimate the power of the roadbuilding industry.While University of Memphis President Shirley Raines is forced to cut a budget that long ago lost any fat in it, while the state shortchanges our community’s...

This week, we’re talking with people who use the internet to help you explore your city. Want to find out what’s happening in your neighborhood? Adrian Holovaty knows. He’s the creator of Everyblock.com, a...

It’s hard to remember when we’ve seen two more hopeful headlines:One yesterday said: “Shelby County Commission rejects Wal-Mart Supercenter.”A day earlier, there was another: “Riverfront plaza to replace lot.”Is it possible that...

We asked recently how deep the hole can get before Memphis can’t climb out of it, and we thought of this seminal question again this week when the electrifying young mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, came to town. Newark is...

We have two answers to that question on this week’s show. First we’ll speak with Dan Biederman. He’s the co-founder of the Bryant Park Corporation in New York, a private organization that transformed Bryant...

The most exciting things happening in Memphis these days are found at the grassroots level.There’s no lack of new ideas, new programs and new vision that are springing from the imagination and creativity that we find when we get...

Some county commissioners are like the guy who doesn’t kiss his wife for 20 years, but gets mad when somebody else tries to.That’s a relatively accurate version of how Memphis City Councilman Jack Sammons summed up some county...

Nothing contributes more to success with the public sector than timing, persistence, and positioning.There’s no better proof than Shelby Farms Park. Considered DOA six years ago by Shelby County Government, it has risen from the...

Barack Obama’s candidacy has raised a host of issues surrounding race in America. To help address some of those issues we have Dr. Camille Charles on the show this week. Camille is the Director of the Center for Africana...

The grand experiment that began 32 years ago to reinvent Shelby County Government as an urban government is coming to a close. It began with such promise on a clear, unseasonably warm New Year’s Day in 1976 when Shelby...