Leading City Issues of 2012: Snapshot from CitiesSpeak.org

Jobs and the economy, sustainability, government performance, youth violence prevention, community design, and, wouldn’t you know it, beer, emerged as leading city themes of 2012.  We surveyed the most read posts of the year from NLC’s CitiesSpeak.org blog to get a snapshot of the top local issues on the minds of readers. In order of most viewed content:

• Cities Court Craft Breweries
  Craft breweries have caught the eyes of local officials and economic developers and they are encouraging the development, growth, and attraction of these companies.   

• Untangling the Skills Mismatch Debate: Implications for Local Economic Development
  The skills mismatch debate underscores why a solitary focus on college completion is insufficient to build competitive regional economies.

• How Cities Support Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
  There’s been no shortage of interest and commentary about the importance of entrepreneurs and small business to the nation’s recovery.   In response, NLC released Supporting Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses: A Tool Kit for Local Leaders.

• Elevating the Principles of Net-Zero Buildings to Teach Us About Building Sustainable Communities
  The possibilities presented about achieving net-zero energy at scale were exciting: How do net-zero design strategies alter the discourse about how we design and build? Does NZEB necessitate a paradigm shift in the way we imagine and deliver buildings?

• “New Urbanism”: What Does it Mean to City Leaders?
  The term new urbanism brings about visions of the constructed reality of Truman Burbank—played by actor Jim Carey in the 1998 Hollywood movie, The Truman Show.  The movie depicts Burbank’s fabricated made-for-TV life in his made-for-TV small town and was filmed on location in Seaside, Florida.

• Measure, Monitor, Adjust, Repeat: Cities Effectively Use Performance Measures to Achieve Community Goals
  “What is City government doing? How well are we doing it? How can we do it better?” These three questions guide Devin Quirk’s work for the City of Boston, “Boston About Results” (BAR) Program.

• Kids Living in Combat Zones…in U.S. Cities
  Which group do you think has higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): American soldiers deployed to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, or American children living in high-crime urban neighborhoods who are exposed to community violence?

• Economic Benefits of Green Cities
  From energy efficient strategies for buildings to increasing opportunities for recreation and tourism, cities are taking action and seeing returns on their sustainability investments.

• How are trends in public administration affecting your city?
  From new leadership styles to e-democracy to generational change, these trends are affecting city governments, elected officials, and communities.

• Anything New in Economic Attraction?
  Business attraction has been and continues to be an essential part of economic development for many communities. In the context of difficult political, economic and fiscal realities, have economic attraction strategies changed?

In 2013, expect new content on a wide-range of issues, such as city fiscal conditions, business development, workforce development and post-secondary success, sustainable local food systems, municipal broadband, neighborhood revitalization, veterans housing, education, dropout recovery, afterschool learning opportunities, violence prevention, health and wellness, family financial stability, and local data initiatives.