McGowen, MLGW and Big and Little Things
By John Branston MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen has (rightly,sort of) demanded an apology...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Jun 9, 2025 | City of Memphis Government | 1
By John Branston MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen has (rightly,sort of) demanded an apology...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | May 26, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Criminal Justice, Economic Development, Taxation | 0
Leave This Blank:Leave This Blank Too:Do Not Change This:Your email: Today is a holiday for...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | May 19, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Shelby County government, Taxation | 0
State law forbids local governments from receiving windfalls from reappraisal but that doesn’t...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Apr 22, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design, Shelby County government, Taxation | 2
In just a two-year period – 2019-2020 – more than 7,000 single-family houses in Memphis were...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Apr 7, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design, Population Loss, Rightsizing Memphis | 0
Memphis and Shelby County leaders have received yet another wake-up call, and after more than 20...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Mar 27, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design, Politics and Government, Shelby County government | 0
Thanks to the highly-respected Portland urbanist and economist Joe Cortright for republishing my...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Mar 20, 2025 | Arts and Culture, City of Memphis Government | 0
In the wake of the release of the recent Sound Diplomacy blueprint for Memphis Music, it’s not...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Mar 17, 2025 | Arts and Culture, City of Memphis Government, Economic Development | 0
Now, for the hard part. Memphis has its latest blueprint for the future for music, this one by...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Mar 11, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Planning and Urban Design | 0
A favorite economist and urban thinker is Joe Cortright whose wisdom is regularly posted to his...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Mar 6, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, John Branston, Libraries | 0
By John Branston Have you noticed that the escalators are not working at the celebrated Memphis...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Feb 20, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, Downtown Revitalization, Shelby County government, Taxation | 3
Memphis City Council is poised to raise the city hotel-motel tax to its maximum of 4.0%, an...
Read Moreby Smart City Memphis | Feb 3, 2025 | City of Memphis Government, John Branston, Politics and Government | 3
By John Branston The line forms this week outside the door of Mayor Paul Young’s office on...
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, columnist at Memphis magazine, author of two books and a museum exhibition, and consultant on public policy and strategic planning. Smart City Memphis was called one of the most intriguing blogs in the U.S. by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal wrote: “Smart City Memphis 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 solves 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.