Whenever I talk about organizational plans, I ask the audience to quote, verbatim (and without looking at their city’s website or their business card) their city’s vision statement, or mission, or set of core values. This evokes bemused laughter. I’ll often get partial answers: “There’s something about service.” “Quality . . . I think.” “Umm
Big cities and big data tend to get most of the attention in publications and on industry panels. Rapid urbanization and the explosion of data are headlining trends. In reality, however, the United States is a nation of small towns. According to Census Bureau information, the median American lives in a city with a population
Local Tools to Address Housing Affordability: A State-by-State Analysis is the fifth annual report produced in partnership with the 49-state municipal leagues. This post is part of a series highlighting findings from this new report. While the growing housing crisis stems from numerous factors, such as a housing shortage and lack of affordability, discrimination in the
Picture the scene: Approximately one thousand ten-year-olds packed into an expansive field house, explaining to their parents, teachers and other guests what worsening climate impacts will feel like in Evanston, Illinois, and how their ideas or products could help mitigate these effects. The crowd convened at Evanston Township High School (notably, the country’s largest high school
As a municipal leader, you may be familiar with the programs available at local recreation centers, a YMCA, or Boys & Girls club, but you may not know if the most vulnerable children and youth in your city have a safe place to go after school. The Wallace Foundation report, Governance Structures for City Afterschool
Don’t sleep on Naptown. Indianapolis was once known for its quiet evenings and small-town aura in a big city, hence the city’s nickname—Naptown. While it was once considered an insult, today the nickname “Naptown” has reclaimed some of it’s original flare (the name originated from the 1920’s jazz “Naptown sound”), as the city has transformed from what
Since December 2017, Census advocates have remained a in state of limbo as to whether or not a question of citizenship would appear on the 2020 Census. Now, after 19 months of advocacy and several federal court cases, we have a final answer: it will not. Didn’t the Supreme Court already rule on this? Yes,
Photo: Attendees at Vermont League of Cities & Towns discuss small community economic development strategies. When most communities pursue economic development, local leaders often think of creating a burst of economic opportunity from large employers that can quickly increase employment for residents while at the same time increasing revenue into the municipality’s coffers. However, this
As city leaders pointed out last week at the release of NLC’s Housing Task Force report, American cities, towns and villages are experiencing a severe shortage of housing for low-income residents. According to a new report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the supply of low-rent housing units has declined significantly since 2011.
Mayors in towns large and small recognize the power of collaboration — the strength in numbers. In my last blog post, we discussed the Greenest Region Compact (GRC), which featured 115 municipalities and 10 councils of government in Northeast Illinois as signatories at last count. It is the largest regional collaboration on sustainability in the United
