Answers to the Hard Questions Can Shape Memphis in May’s Future
There are a barrage of questions these days aimed at the Memphis River Parks Partnership related to the design of Tom Lee Park, but more and more, another set of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 17, 2019 | Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development, Livability
There are a barrage of questions these days aimed at the Memphis River Parks Partnership related to the design of Tom Lee Park, but more and more, another set of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 14, 2019 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Parks and Greening
In light of the discussion about the future of Tom Lee Park, we are reposting a commentary from July 24, 2017, saluting Mayor Strickland...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 12, 2019 | City of Memphis Government, Livability, Shelby County government
Watching the overheated reaction from some Memphis in May acolytes to a proposed design for Tom Lee Park, we are left with the feeling that we’ve seen this movie before. We saw it with...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 10, 2019 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Taxation
Jimmie Covington’s blog post from last Thursday began with these paragraphs: “Shelby County had a better than usual growth in its property tax base this year, according to...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 6, 2019 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Taxation
By Jimmie Covington Shelby County had a better than usual growth in its property tax base this year, according to assessed value figures reported by Property Assessor...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 3, 2019 | Uncategorized
Roy C. Nixon, better known to his friends by his nickname, Skip, was the first Shelby County mayor and he too often – and unjustly – is treated as a footnote in the history of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Jun 3, 2019 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development, Memphis City Schools, Shelby County government
We have been blogging for more than five years about the pivot point to be provided by the Memphis bicentennial and the opportunity to point the city toward the future with a clear sense...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 31, 2019 | Arts and Culture
The title, White Boy¸ seems to leap off the cover of Memphis Tom Graves’ latest book, but the story inside is even more attention-grabbing than that. It begins: I am...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 29, 2019 | City of Memphis Government, Parks and Greening
Decades ago, Memphis acted often on the low expectations that translated into an “it’s good enough for Memphis” attitude. Today, many years later, the impact of this disregard,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | May 27, 2019 | Uncategorized
We’ve been re-reading one of our favorite histories of Memphis – Memphis During the Progressive Era 1900-1917 by William D. Miller (1957) – and we’re always struck...
Read More
by Bill Day. Memphian Bill Day is two-time winner of the RFK Journalism Award in Cartooning. His cartoons are syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons. Cartoons Archive →
Since 2005, this has been Smart City Consulting’s blog with the aim of connecting the dots and providing perspective on issues and policies shaping Memphis. Editor and primary author is Tom Jones, City Journal columnist at Memphis magazine, author of two books and a museum exhibition, and consultant on public policy and strategic planning. He has written articles for MLK50, The Commercial Appeal, and USA Today. The blog was called one of the most intriguing blogs in the U.S. by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal said it “provides some of the most well-thought-out thinking about Memphis’ past, present, and future you’ll find anywhere,” and the Memphis Flyer said: “This incredibly well-written blog sets out to solve the city’s ills – from the mayor to MATA – with out-of-the-box thinking, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ideas.” If you have questions, submissions, or ideas for posts, please email Tom Jones, at tjones@smartcityconsulting.com.