Author: Smart City Memphis

Do universities have hidden value to cities? We know about their role as employer, as purchaser of local goods and services, as producer of smart people, and as a source of research. But our guests today are mining their value...

It is a fundamental characteristic of government that it is reactive in nature. Nothing quite proves it as well as the recent rhetoric about Memphis’ crime rate, replete with press conferences about Operation Safe Community,...

Here’s the test. Check out these two photographs. One shows the construction site for Shelby County Schools.The other shows a construction site for Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development.Guess which is...

From The Nation blog:Congress is about to return to Washington this week after taking a long summer break for campaigning and before taking a long fall break for campaigning. During the brief period of governing that will be...

New Orleans has always been a dichotomy. There’s always been squalor existing alongside luxury, entrenched poverty intermingled with gaudy wealth, decaying shacks just blocks from Garden District palaces, the gentility of Creole...

Is the desire to become a creative city at risk of becoming the latest brand of wishful economic thinking by city leaders?Our guests this week are exploring the potential of creative industries as viable economic development...

From CEOs For Cities blog comes a proposed bill of rights that would be a welcome aspiration for Memphis:Berkeley resident Sharon Hudson has proposed an urban bill of rights for the city as a reaction to what she sees as...

Construction has begun on the Southeast Shelby County High School, and already, Shelby County Schools is showing as much sensitivity to the environment as it does to people trying to speak at its meetings.Most of the site has...

Last week, The Commercial Appeal called the vote by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners on a conservation easement for Shelby Farms Park a “big step in preserving the park forever.”More accurately, it was one step forward...

This week on Smart City:Growing up in cities shouldn’t be difficult. Good cities have ample sidewalks, parks, unmatched cultural opportunities and plenty of places to play and explore.But according to David Driskell,...