Author: Smart City Memphis

As we pointed out last week, the rhetoric of Shelby County Schools officials often bears little resemblance to reality, whether the subject is growth, consolidation and academic achievement.It’s a prime example of how if...

From Otis White’s Urban Journal at governing.com:If ever there was a lost cause for cities, you’d think it would be affordable housing. After all, the average price of housing in the U.S. has increased by 73 percent in the...

From AIA Oregon Newsletter: By George Crandall, 8 figure dream lifestyle Lifestyle centers are cropping up across the country. Communities everywhere are jumping on the lifestyle bandwagon without questioning how these new...

In light of the historic compromise highway plan that can end a generation of controversy about the Kirby-Whitten Road through Shelby Farms Park, we are revisiting our November 7 post about the “context sensitive...

Sometimes, when the spirited defense of the current PILOT program begins, it seems to lose touch with reality. In the consultant’s report recommending the overhaul of the current tax incentives program, this is what’s written on...

Emily Trenholm must sometimes feel like the tiredest member of the Donner Party. If she dozes off, there’s just too much that can happen.As executive director of Community Development Council of Greater Memphis, Emily is...

It’s an immutable law of modern politics that no matter what else you do as an elected official, you have to keep your base happy. No matter what. Sadly, in recent years, this inviolate belief has grown to obsession, spawning an...

Walking through downtown Memphis, memories of Tokyo often come to mind.In one of the largest cities in the world, regardless of the neighborhood or part of the city, the streets are immaculate and the sidewalks are clean. That’s...

Sometimes, it’s the petty corruptions accepted as part of the every day workings of government that are the most amazing. We thought of that yesterday in light of the way that one assistant county attorney surfaced in a variety...

From the Washington Post:By Carol Coletta and Joseph CortrightMonday, February 13, 2006Recent headlines about the latest census data on U.S. cities have had city leaders –most notably D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams —...