Author: Smart City Memphis
Agricenter Diminishes Shelby Farms Park Potential
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
We’re not sure of everything Agricenter International is trying to harvest on its prime 1,000 acres of public land, but much of it looks to us like just a bushel-full of embarrassment. Put simply, it just gets clearer and...
Read MoreSmart Politicians Pay Attention To Cities
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
Surely, it’s about time to have a presidential campaign that’s about cities.So far, cities have been just short of pariahs in the endless debates that have regularly punctuated the party primaries. Candidates were asked all...
Read MoreCashing In On The Chance For Change At Memphis Schools
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 9, 2008 | Uncategorized
It is a perfect storm at Memphis City Schools, and that’s not necessarily all bad.There’s investigations, scandals, academic crisis, fumbling management and general lack of direction. Despite some predictions to the...
Read MoreThe Crime Is In Not Facing Facts And Acting On Them
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 7, 2008 | Uncategorized
Memphis has always been a tale of two cities – black and white, wealth and need, downtown and Boxtown, golf scores and body counts. That last pairing comes from two disparate, and ultimately disturbing, reports this week. The...
Read MoreThis Week On Smart City: Neighborhood Change
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 6, 2008 | Uncategorized
Marty Sumner is the Chief of Staff of the High Point North Carolina Police Department. A decade ago, street-level drug dealing and criminal activity were rife on the streets on High Point North Carolina. The police force was...
Read MoreCity Council’s Taxing Job Only Half-Done
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 5, 2008 | Uncategorized
Here’s hoping that the Memphis City Council isn’t too busy toasting its historic vote to cut school funding by $73 million to see that its work is only half-done.In the midst of the wall-to-wall media coverage of the vote on...
Read MoreCouncil Halbert Replies To Blog Post Commending Council Vote On School Funding
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 5, 2008 | Uncategorized
We were sent a copy of a letter addressed to us from Council member Wanda Halbert in the wake of our Tuesday blog post, so we’re sharing it here. As a point of clarification, the clause at the end of the second italicized...
Read MoreThe "One Thing" About Economic Growth
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 4, 2008 | Uncategorized
Maybe City Slickers’ Curly was an economic development consultant, because it would be hard to come up with better advice for Memphis: “One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean s—.”Forget the...
Read MoreAuthentic Memphis
Posted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 4, 2008 | Uncategorized
There’s just something special about Memphis, says a PGA Tour writer. Read it here.
Read MoreLatest Bill Day Cartoon
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 →
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About Smart City Memphis
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.