Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: Memphis’s Peer Cities
The Greater Memphis Chamber says that Memphis’s nine peer cities are New Orleans, Oklahoma...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 29, 2026 | Uncategorized
The Greater Memphis Chamber says that Memphis’s nine peer cities are New Orleans, Oklahoma...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 27, 2026 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development, Tourism, Uncategorized
Mud Island Park has been called many things, but most of all, it should be called a cautionary...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 23, 2026 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government
Shelby County voters will decide in the August election (now in the early voting stage) if the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 20, 2026 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Leadership, Livability, Neighborhoods, Parks and Greening, Planning and Urban Design, Transportation
You may have seen Kelsey Huse on her bike. You may have seen her advocating in public meetings for...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 16, 2026 | Economic Development, Livability, Population Loss, Regionalism
Population is not a vanity metric. It is a scorecard. When people move to a city, it is an act of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 13, 2026 | Livability, Population Loss
We live in a time of valuable research with insights into how cities succeed – and how they fail...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 9, 2026 | Data Points
On June 29, 2026, the blog post here was “The Pressing Memphis Diaspora” based on the significant...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 6, 2026 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
Overton Park, the grande dame of Memphis parks, is 125 years old this year, transcending a history...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 4, 2026 | Uncategorized
Cartoonist Bill Day never fails to prove the point that a picture – in his case, a cartoon – is...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jul 2, 2026 | Poverty
Map Source, Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet 2025 Despite every effort to combat poverty, Memphis...
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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 →
Smart City Memphis has been called the oldest, continuously operating in its original form, independent blog in the U.S. Its aim since 2005 has been to connect the dots and provide perspective on issues and policies shaping Memphis. 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 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.