Author: Smart City Memphis

Let’s say this as clearly as we can. The status quo is simply not an option. In fact, today, status quo is a Latin phrase meaning failure. That’s why our city needs innovative, new economic development policies and a culture of...

The slash and burn political tactics of the Shelby County Board of Education is doing nothing to win points with Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, who recently ordered the Office of Planning and Development to conduct a complete...

• So we’re doing everything to get prepared for the “big one,” right? Just one question. If the three massive earthquakes in the early 19th century along the New Madrid fault – three of the largest four earthquakes to ever hit...

Another unfortunate feature of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is that they have overshadowed the growing storm about the pattern of behavior by Majority Leader Tom DeLay.While it seems that Rep. DeLay will be the ultimate...

If we, indeed, could muster the civic courage to demolish the Mid-South Coliseum, how could we re-use the land? A drive through the Cooper-Young neighborhood during last weekend’s festival revealed a surprising amount of...

Now here’s a novel idea. In a few weeks, just up river in St. Louis, they will actually demolish Busch Stadium, whose 39-year history has given thousands of us Memphians some of our favorite sports memories. For some, it’s Mark...

God bless every member of the Memphis Police Department, because they see things we can’t imagine and face risks that we’d never accept. But there are times that they do things that just defy plain common sense. And for once,...

Like father, like son. That’s why it shouldn’t be any surprise that childhood obesity is a growing health crisis in Memphis.After all, we already knew about the parents. Three years ago, Men’s Health and Self ranked Memphis as...

Watching the news unfold in New Orleans, we’ve learned painfully that the belief that someone is in charge when disaster strikes can be misplaced. Unfortunately, we also learned that too often, no one learns until it’s too...

Today, a Smart City guest with OK-FIRST, Oklahoma’s emergency management service, told me about “StormReady,” awarded by the National Weather Service to communitiies proven to be prepared to respond to severe...