American cities: Thrive or nose dive?

Some of the United States’ major cities are waving goodbye to their veteran mayors this year.

Antonio Villaraigosa’s eight years as mayor of Los Angeles ended over the summer. Thomas Menino’s 20 years of leadership in Boston is over in January. And New York City’s Michael Bloomberg is leaving too, after more than a decade at City Hall.

Bloomberg told an audience at the Economic Club of New York last week that his city today is drastically different from the one he took over in 2002.

Violence. Government dysfunction. Decay. In the 1970s, the Big Apple lost more than 10% of its population. It was the prime example of a growing nationwide trend of middle class residents fleeing cities for the suburbs.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bloomberg took office and plunged into recovery mode, investing heavily in a broken lower Manhattan. The entire city’s revival would eventually become his legacy — and an inspiration to other metropolitan areas across the country.

Today crime is way down in New York. It may be due in part to a tough, controversial policing policy called stop and frisk. Though many minority residents see it as discriminatory, murders are down 65%, and shootings have been halved.

Physically, the city’s face is changing. Over 40,000 new buildings have been built over Bloomberg’s tenure. And a third of the city has been rezoned, making it easier for development. Long-term residents witnessing this rapid gentrification complain that the city is becoming a place of the superrich and superpoor. 

Echoing New York’s success, cities are now where 80% of Americans live, responsible for about 75% of the nation’s economic output.

There are still many challenges, though. Next year comes with tight budgets, ailing infrastructures and municipal employee pensions to be paid.

A recent report by the National League of Cities, an advocacy group, says U.S. cities are on the mend but some key issues still need addressing.