Shopping For Political Outcomes Through Referenda
I answer the ringing phone and the caller says she is calling on behalf of a professional polling company. After she gets information about my partisan preferences and my...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 15, 2018 | City of Memphis Government, Politics and Government
I answer the ringing phone and the caller says she is calling on behalf of a professional polling company. After she gets information about my partisan preferences and my...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 12, 2018 | Livability, Planning and Urban Design
This is the text of a speech delivered in Detroit to the Congress for New Urbanism conference by Carol Coletta, a senior fellow at the Kresge Foundation’s American Cities Practice. It is reprinted from City Observatory. Could...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 11, 2018 | Education
By Jimmie Covington It seems like it would be a simple thing to understand but the top elected officials in Shelby County, the general public and the news media have not...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 10, 2018 | City of Memphis Government, Economic Development
Bellefonte Nuclear Plant So, what could Memphis do with $487 million a year for 30 years? It could reduce the city property tax to zero and have tens of millions left...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 8, 2018 | Economic Development, Leadership
It’s impossible for us to think of a local organization that experienced what the Greater Memphis Chamber has gone through in the past 10 days. Back then, pressure...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 5, 2018 | Data Points, Trends and Issues
Increasing the population within Memphis is a major priority of the Strickland Administration and economic development leaders, but it is becoming more of a problem for...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Oct 3, 2018 | Uncategorized
One of our oft-used aphorisms is “every system is perfectly designed to produce the results that it gets.” Memphis is just such a system, and that’s why it’s surprising when the...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Sep 28, 2018 | Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development, Leadership
With a deep sense of loss, I extend my sympathy to the many friends and family members of Phil Trenary, president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber, who was fatally...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Sep 27, 2018 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Economic Development, Shelby County government, Taxation
Approximately $800 million in city and county taxes has been waived in the past 10 years, but when the conversation turns to the out-of-control PILOTs here,...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Sep 25, 2018 | Economic Development, Poverty
“Our advantage is the Negro…and there is no race problem at all.” That comment was made in 1900 when The Commercial Appeal was assessing the state of a new century’s...
Read Moreby 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.