Author: Smart City Memphis

This week’s column by longtime urban commentator Neal Peirce has special meaning for our community, where the amount of taxes waived for businesses approaches $100 million a year. When tax freezes given by Memphis, Shelby...

With the search for the next president of the Memphis Regional Chamber now down to five candidates, the decision looms as one of the most important that will be made in setting the course for the city’s future.It has not always...

In recent years, Memphis has shown a welcome appreciation for doing things right – National Civil Rights Museum expansion, AutoZone Park, FedEx Forum and Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The cumulative effect of these...

From the New York Times:By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANI’ve been thinking of running for high office on a one-issue platform: I promise, if elected, that within four years America will have cellphone service as good as...

If term limits are an idea whose time has come, perhaps a good place to start would be the members of the more than 150 public boards in Memphis and Shelby County.Media attention regarding terms limits concentrates on elected...

In response to last Thursday’s blog about ministers preaching hate, we received another copy of the following email, which seems to make a reappearance every few months, but which bears rereading:On her radio show, Dr...

 For those who asked about the weedy welcome mat at Memphis International Airport, here’s a photo of what the “flower bed” that was supposed to greet our guests actually looks like these days. Let’s tell the truth. Hollywood...

Frustrations about the Shelby County budget are leading some county commissioners to do something they haven’t done in years – question the amount of county money being spent for a state office – the district attorney general....

Well, if nothing else, we’re consistent. When faced with how to sell Memphis to a group of International Paper Company executives accustomed to the high quality of life that their current Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters gets...

As a late but satisfied reader of Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City” about the great Chicago World’s Fair, I came across the following passage this morning…”The exposition promised to...