Author: Smart City Memphis

To continue the conversation about what investments Memphis should make, here’s a few guiding principles:1) Invest in people2) Build state-of-the-art infrastructure3) Treat citizens as customers4) Streamline taxes and...

Just a few additional thoughts on where to invest then and now…+ Clean Up. This is one basic that wasn’t mentioned in the earlier post. Long-time Memphians took special pride in being the “Cleanest City in...

While Mayor Herenton suggests the sale of Memphis parks, Nashville is one of many cities investing in their parkland to make their city more competitive in the knowledge-based economy. Here’s a recent article from the...

The continuing controversy about tax freezes is about to come to a climax with the release of the long-awaited consultant’s report on Memphis and Shelby County’s economic development strategies and its overreliance...

Soon, we will enter yet another budget season for local government, and once again, there will be the regular hue and cry about the tax rate, bonded indebtedness, fund balances and the need for public sacrifice. But for the...

Just when you think you’ve heard it all when it comes to tax freezes, you find out there’s always one more way to give away county tax money.In that parallel universe where $60 million of tax dollars has entered the black hole...

On September 14, we wrote about the “Miracle at Mineola,” spotlighting a Democratic county executive whose brand of direct leadership conquered disastrous budgetary threats and halved the portion of his budget going...

Next time we’re recruiting an international corporate headquarters like International Paper to Memphis, maybe we should call the governor. In the case of Nissan North America, state government is giving almost $200 million in...

It was the quote that caught our eye. “For every dollar that comes into the city and county coffers, $1.57 will have to be paid in social costs,” argued Bill Wheeler, executive director of Families First, in his opposition to...

As a followup to yesterday’s blog about the influence of development interests over county school site decisions, this article from the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser indicates that some places are coming to grips with the...