Author: Smart City Memphis

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...

From the Nashville Tennessean:Mayor Bill Purcell said yesterday he will not seek a third term of office, ending months of speculation and creating a wide-open field for the August 2007 race for his successor.The timing of...

You can forgive environmentalists for flashbacks to the Overton Park expressway controversy in the 1970’s as they watch the relentless push to to construct the massive Walnut Grove Road/Humphreys Boulevard redesign although a...

There is an aphorism in local government that goes like this: “There’s always money for anything the mayor wants to do.” It doesn’t matter if the deficit is growing, it doesn’t matter if the budget is out of balance and it...

If officials in the Capitol are confused about the role of Homeland Security and the role of FEMA, they’re not alone. The same goes here.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, elected officials sought to reassure us that we...

Last week, the Tennessee Film Commission held a hearing in Memphis that focused on the need for tax incentives for film companies in our state. Chief among the witnesses was Linn Sitler, executive director of the Memphis and...