Author: Smart City Memphis

A key to living and working downtown is a sense of proportion.We’ve been clear that we have a no tolerance attitude toward panhandlers. We are flexible about the homeless.That’s why we had no problems with the man earlier this...

Someone emails with this question:How come the stun gun incident involving 2 middle school students in the County Schools attacking another student and the brawl across the street from Houston High School don’t get...

Finally, someone is asking the right questions about The Pyramid.Someone is stepping back to ask the “real” question about its future. Someone is willing to consider that the two best ideas for the darkened arena may not just be...

And officials in DeSoto County wonder why we often have so little positive feelings toward them.Sometimes, it’s hard to shake the feeling that they are circling our community like vultures, looking to pick off our companies and...

New City Councilman Jim Strickland recently learned a key lesson about local government – many elected officials essentially see government as a jobs program.On its face, Councilman Strickland’s proposal to allow emergency...

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton has sent two strong signals that he intends to get more involved in the affairs of Memphis City schools.One was as he assertively and decisively brushed aside district indecision and took charge of...

This week’s guests are on the frontlines of making cities sustainable with their work on housing, mixed use development and Main Streets.Jonathan Rose has been called the father of the green affordable housing movement....

We wrote yesterday about The Commercial Appeal using some of Memphis’ most precious real estate – its front page – for its weekly “single mother counter.” We also suggested some other facts, trends and information that we...

To follow up the topic of contraception in our latest post, we think the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department should follow the lead of its New York City counterpart and develop its own condoms. To read more about the New...

With column inches in increasingly short supply, The Commercial Appeal uses its prime real estate on the front page to herald this bulletin – 1,024 children have been born to single mothers this year.Actually, it’s not really a...