Author: Smart City Memphis

The more that you scratch the surface, the clearer it seems that an adequate facilities tax or impact fee is not the answer to Shelby County Government’s financial woes. The real answer seems to lie in a tax proposal that works...

You’ll never find this in the annual reports of the Center City Commission or the Riverfront Development Corporation, but in our book, one of their most noteworthy achievements is their construction signs. They’re the first...

The controversy about the nativity display at the Bartlett Library is beginning to look as orchestrated as “The Singing Christmas Tree.” More and more, it appears to be a three-act play co-written by Broadmoor Baptist Church and...

On the surface, it looks like a battle between Ophelia Ford and Terry Roland. In truth, it’s a battle about the credibility of the Shelby County Election Commission.The Senate hearing on the complaint filed by Roland is the sort...

We receive regular responses to our blog posts from a reader who always contributes to the quality of the discussion, as proven by this post to the commentary about the riverfront. We pull it from its buried position to give it...

If Memphis is anything, it is ever a tale of two cities, as we were reminded from three recent studies on the core city. The reports – one by the Brookings Institution and the other two by the U. S. Economic Development...

In response to Thursday’s posting of Carol Coletta’s letter about the riverfront, we received a complaint from a regular reader. We publish his comment here, followed by Carol’s reply:LibertyLarry said…...

Did you ever notice how quickly those of us who are in the majority – this time, I’m thinking Christian – can advise the minority to quit being so sensitive and to be more tolerant about our religious intrusions into their...

This article from today’s Chicago Sun-Times reports on research that began as part of our work at Coletta & Company (now Smart City Consulting) with economist Joe Cortright for Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland,...

The Commercial Appeal letter to the editor:If Memphians can’t make our riverfront a signature gathering place, what are we capable of doing? Your Dec. 5 editorial, “Land bridge going nowhere,” misses the fact...