In America, most local leaders don’t run for city council, county commissioner, or mayor solely to solve climate change. But its challenges are now present in our communities — along with opportunities to solve them. Despite lingering disagreement about the causes of climate change, its impacts have reached cities and towns across America. That is
In light of our just-released State of the Cities 2018 report, this post is the first in a series of blogs that captures what mayors have been talking about most in 2018. According to this May’s State of the Cities 2018 report, intergovernmental relations was a topic of concern for many mayors. Interestingly, mayors across the country
In advance of our annual State of the Cities report, which will be released later this year, this blog series captures speeches given by mayors in 2017. This blog is part two of a four-part series focused on mayoral dialogues and sentiments around the fiscal responsibility of the city and the retirement needs of the
From 2010 to 2017, homelessness among American military veterans declined by an astonishing 46 percent. This historic progress was the result of sustained partnerships between federal, state and local officials, as well as philanthropy, the private sector and nonprofits. The progress for veterans is encouraging — but veterans only represent a fraction of the 553,742
In 2017, local leadership took center stage in the American political arena. Whatever the issue — climate, immigration, foreign affairs, public safety, law — mayors and city councilmembers emerged as a clear voice of reason in an unsteady time. Throughout the year, we’ve proudly worked to elevate the voices of city leaders on CitiesSpeak, bringing
The state of retirement funding has become an obvious fiscal concern for city governments, especially since the Great Recession. In fact, a recent National League of Cities survey revealed the cost of employee/retiree pensions ranks third (following infrastructure needs and public safety needs) among the most negative factors impacting city budgets. Perhaps more telling is
This is a guest post by Mayor Karen Best of Branson, Missouri. As mayor of Branson, one of my primary responsibilities is ensuring the sustainability and prosperity of our community. There is no better way to ensure our city’s future than providing our young people with opportunities to learn and grow in a safe environment
Across the country, children are returning from summer break for a new school year. For cities, the back-to-school season means intensifying their work to ensure that youth are supported — both in and out of the classroom. In their State of the City speeches this year, collected in our annual report, America’s mayors emphasized the
This is the fourth post in a series of blogs on the World Urban Forum 7 in Medellin, Colombia. Despite the economic forces that I wrote about yesterday, there seems to be an optimism pervading the Seventh World Urban Forum (WUF7) that is almost contagious. From the opening general session, where the organizers of this
