Corinne Ramey
“Our Ignored Cities” in metro New York
An op-ed by DMI's Harry Moroz is in today's metro New York. Harry writes,
"As you read this, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with 8 million people, do you ever shiver with the strange feeling that you are being ignored? No wonder. We city dwellers are forgotten: The presidential candidates pay lip service to urban America while Congress argues about a farm bill on swine genome research and the Domestic Pet Turtle Equality Act (really).Though we have learned quite well to fend for ourselves, the federal government and, in particular, our presidential candidates have all but ignored urbanites.
After 24 debates, the closest the Democratic presidential candidates have come to addressing urban issues is vague statements about fighting inner-city poverty and limiting gun control. The urban issues bullet points buried in the nether regions of their campaign Web sites have rarely seen the light of day and have rarely been “speechified,” unlike almost every insignificant issue imaginable. Meanwhile, Sen. McCain appears oblivious to city dwellers’ existence."
Read the rest of the op-ed here. For more about cities and urban issues, check out MayorTV, especially the new interviews with the mayors of Scranton, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey.
Posted at 10:17 AM, May 06, 2008 in Cities | Drum Major Institute | Permalink | Comments (1)
Comments
One of the big reasons that urban issues are being ignored is the lack of a coherent progressive program for cities. Many major cities are now run by either Republicans or conservative Democrats. Even when these politicians have some progressive stances, their basic outlook on the economy, crime, employment, education, and housing is based on pretty conservative principles. School vouchers, reducing public housing, more police, and cutting taxes for businesses to stimulate high-end economic development all come from the neoconservative playbook. The closest we have to progressive urban agenda is grassroots demands for more government services in the form of smaller class sizes, less racist policing, and more affordable housing. The problem is that cities are so bankrupt because of their regressive tax structures, that they can only meet these demands in minimal or symbolic ways. If local mayors aren’t willing to get out front on these issues, how can you expect middle of the road presidential candidates to touch any of this with a ten foot pole?
Posted by: Alex S. Vitale | May 12, 2008 04:57 PM