Author: Smart City Memphis

Here’s the mantra for Shelby County. Let’s all say it together: Sprawl is bad and density is good. But if you ever wonder why high density has such a bad name in Memphis, it’s because some developers are just dense when it comes...

Soon, the Shelby County Election Commission will decide what kind of voting machines it will buy to replace the geriatric Shouptronic machines that have been used here for two decades.The Election Commission needs about 1,500...

Let’s be frank: tax freezes are about land development, not economic development. That’s why you may have noticed that the leading defenders of the current Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board’s Payment in Lieu...

From Boston Globe:There’s something for everyone at the beautiful, civilized Millennium ParkCHICAGO — This city’s new Millennium Park is the best urban public park I’ve ever seen, anywhere, and that...

From New York Times:An ‘Emerald Necklace’ May Grace Urban AtlantaCity leaders are looking to transform an abandoned 22-mile railroad loop into a civic jewel of parks and public transit.ATLANTA — Kudzu smothers the...

Yesterday, Leadership Memphis concentrated on a provocative question, “What Makes a Great City?” and it heard from a highly informative panel of five local leaders, from a noted national urban observer, and from Denver Mayor...

From Nashville Tennessean:Mayor Bill Purcell set about the business of establishing his legacy yesterday, telling his cabinet to use the next 22 months to “get ‘er done” on sidewalks, courthouse renovations and...

City government has dug a financial hole that an elephant could fall into, and that’s only fitting, because there is an elephant in the room every time the city’s budgetary collapse is discussed.First, the hole. With this week’s...

In last Thursday’s blog, “Lack Of A Green Vision Leaves The City’s Reputation Black and Blue,” we were critical of Memphis Mayor Herenton’s plans to sell neighborhood parks at a time when they are needed as pivotal anchors...

Hurricane Katrina was an event that revealed clearly the fissures that exist in the divergent world views of whites and African-Americans. Tennessee Waltz is another.Here, white Commercial Appeal editorial writers flippantly...