No Lucky Cloverleaf for Memphians
Two articles in Sunday’s Commercial Appeal could have been “tombstoned,” which, in the parlance of newspaper journalism, means the headlines and stories are side-by-side. Of...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Feb 29, 2012 | City of Memphis Government, Taxation, Transportation
Two articles in Sunday’s Commercial Appeal could have been “tombstoned,” which, in the parlance of newspaper journalism, means the headlines and stories are side-by-side. Of...
Read MorePosted by Mark James | Feb 28, 2012 | Arts and Culture
Growing up in Memphis as a fan of off beat independent film, I was often envious of the venues of our peer cities. The Belencourt in Nashville, The Plaza Cinema in Atlanta, Zeitgeist Multi- Disciplinary Arts Center in New...
Read MorePosted by Steve Bares | Feb 27, 2012 | Economic Development
I have to say, it is great to see cranes, cement trucks and construction on the UT-Baptist Research Park. The great recession that brought about the national quagmire in the banking and commercial real-estate sectors, made it...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Feb 27, 2012 | Taxation
Nothing is quite as confusing as government financing, and that’s never been truer than now. There seems to be big numbers every where – the $30 million for The Pyramid, there’s the idea of a new convention center likely...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Feb 24, 2012 | Economic Development
From JonathanFields.com: I was recently giving a keynote before a room full of entrepreneurs and from the audience a voice yelled, “why are you telling this to us? We’re not the people who need to hear this. This is...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Feb 23, 2012 | Planning and Urban Design
We’ve made such a mess of the suburbs we constructed in the last fifty or so years that one wonders whether they can ever be made into something more sustainable. Strip malls, traffic jams, cookie-cutter subdivisions, diminished...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Feb 23, 2012 | Economic Development, Education, Trends and Issues, Uncategorized
We’ve shown up in several places lately, and we appreciate the attention. Featured in PolitiFact First, The Commercial Appeal’s outstanding PolitiFact’s Truth-o-Meter ruled that...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Feb 22, 2012 | Uncategorized
From Reader Supported News: Is it true that the Bible teaches peace and the Koran war? Only if you approach the books selectively, taking the gentlest of Jesus’ teachings and setting them against the harshest of...
Read MorePosted by SCM | Feb 21, 2012 | Planning and Urban Design
From Placeshakers: By the early to mid 1970s, something was wrong with rock and roll. It no longer fought the system. Worse than that, it had become the system. Bloated. Detached. Pretentious. Performer and audience, once fused...
Read MorePosted by Smart City Memphis | Feb 21, 2012 | Taxation
Shelby County Government has been a prisoner of the past. Or more specifically, it is captive to poor decisions about public policies made as long ago as 30 years, policies that set county government off in directions...
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.