Author: Smart City Memphis

Sixteen bullet points makes for a full Memphis agenda. (See “Kicking the Addiction to Tax Freezes.”) But here are four more to make it 20.Examine City, County and MLGW Compensation and Pension Systems and Report...

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to admit that an idea, although well-intended, just doesn’t work. One of those ideas is the observation platform built at the tip of Ashburn-Coppock Park at the current southern terminus of...

In the beginning was the dial-up. Then dial-up begat DSL, and DSL begat the cable modem. And now, we have arrived in the land of milk and honey…and Wi-Fi.The problem is that Memphians will probably have to travel to other cities...

The danger in being an opinionated member of a fact-finding task force is that sooner or later you do actually run the risk of coming face to face with the facts. That seems to be the source of the palpable discomfort displayed...

Great Balls of Fire. We haven’t been this excited since Commercial Appeal editorial writers rhapsodized about how important it was to Memphis that The Rolling Stones booked a concert date in the FedEx Forum.That’s right up there...

Contrary to some of the overheated rhetoric, the future of Western civilization doesn’t hinge on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners’ vote on a moratorium on development. In fact, it would have little real impact, except as...

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to determine if tax incentives for business are legal, and taxpayers are crossing their fingers that finally the courts will do what the politicians don’t have the will to do.It was back...

Let’s say this as clearly as we can. The status quo is simply not an option. In fact, today, status quo is a Latin phrase meaning failure. That’s why our city needs innovative, new economic development policies and a culture of...

The slash and burn political tactics of the Shelby County Board of Education is doing nothing to win points with Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, who recently ordered the Office of Planning and Development to conduct a complete...

• So we’re doing everything to get prepared for the “big one,” right? Just one question. If the three massive earthquakes in the early 19th century along the New Madrid fault – three of the largest four earthquakes to ever hit...