Seventy-two percent of political donors strongly agree that America cannot be strong without strong cities, and they view cities as the solution for some of the country's most pressing problems, including job growth and development, according to a new survey released today by CEOs for Cities and Living Cities. See… more

Finding people and organizations to partner with often comes down to personal relationships - who you know. But is this the best way?

CEOs for Cities member and City Anchors Learning Network participant John Schaerer developed this piece on creating intentional institutional partnerships. Though the work was originally intended to… more

Seventy-two percent of political donors strongly agree that America cannot be strong without strong cities, and they view cities as the solution for some of the country's most pressing problems, including job growth and development, according to a new survey released today by CEOs for Cities and Living Cities. See… more

A new analysis shows that high gas prices are not only implicated in the bursting of the housing bubble, but that the higher cost of commuting has already re-shaped the landscape of real estate value between cities and suburbs. Housing values are falling… more

While two miles per day may not seem like much, do the math and it adds up to $2.3 billion for the local economy.

This companion piece to Portland's Green Dividend looks at the… more

Cities innovate when people mix and mingle, sharing and combining ideas from different vantage points and traditions. That mixing takes place on shared infrastructures and in shared spaces that bring people together, according to urban innovation expert Charles Leadbeater.

Remixing Cities: Strategy 2.0 explores how co-creation and innovation can transform… more

How can cities turn traditional urban amenities into new urban assets that "contribute significantly to urban success?" That's the question we set out to answer with CEOs for Cities members and national experts when we convened in San Jose for our National Meeting on "Leveraging Anchor Institutions for Urban Success"… more

Cities provide big economic advantages for consumers: wider variety, more convenience, discovery and greater economic opportunity. These attributes underpin urban success, and strengthening these assets helps build metropolitan economies, according to a new study commissioned by CEOs for Cities called "City Advantage," written by Joseph Cortright. Download the report more

What if you could add $2.6 billion annually to your local economy? That's what Portland has effectively done by getting its citizens to drive just 4 fewer miles a day, according to a briefing paper by our colleague Joe Cortright called Portland's Green Dividend. What Joe found has big implications… more

Attracting and retaining talent is top-of-mind for urban leaders today. Yet, many cities are at risk of losing talented workers as they start families and have children. CEOs for Cities commissioned researchers at the Institute of Design to get beyond the obvious to help us understand what can cities do… more

Immigration is dramatically changing cities. With immigrants fueling a projected population increase in the U.S. of 130 million over the next four decades, "Portal Neighborhoods" are being recognized as an important tool for integration and economic opportunity, according to a new report by CEOs for Cities. "Strengthening Portal Neighborhoods," released… more

Urban leaders seeking success in the new economy should stop paying attention to ubiquitous city rankings and start focusing their attentions on four dimensions of success: talent, innovation, connections and distinctiveness, according to a new report released by CEOs for Cities. CityVitals, developed by Portland-based economist Joseph Cortright in partnership… more

Unprecedented access to capital, booming retail opportunities, and astonishing reductions in crime, all point to an upward trend in cities. While there is still much to be done, cities are by and large doing better at the beginning of the 21st century, after decades of decline. Presented to President George… more

This study was sparked by a sense that there may be something replicable and valuable in the Seattle story, a lesson about the geographic distribution of growth that leaders in other cities may want to understand.

As we enter the new century, the nation's cities face a new reality and challenge. Recent Census data reveal that as the distinctions between urban and suburban economies are becoming more transparent, so are demographic distinctions within regions becoming more blurry. The uneven conditions of poor "minority-majority" cities surrounded by… more

Information technology (IT) saturated American business in the 1990s, and countless new companies sprang up around Internet applications. In response, economic development officials across the country have tried to catch the "tech" wave by stimulating the growth of high technology companies and "clusters."

The tech boom of the 1990s created many successful companies, significant wealth, and expanded job opportunities in a new and growing sector of the nation’s economy. However, the benefits of technology development have largely accrued to a relatively small number of regions nationwide leaving many other communities both envious of… more

The future of cities depends on better schools. Acknowledging the now vast array of worthwhile school improvement efforts, a growing number among school reformers say that while committed to public education, they no longer believe that mandating performance change within the same system will prove sufficient.

Although the program is in the early stages and its full potential has yet to be explored, economic development practitioners insist that the NMTC program is a much-needed catalyst for private-sector investments. Used correctly, they say, the NMTC program can close financing gaps and bring difficult, previously stalled projects to… more

Walker Smith, who heads Yankelovich Partners and is one of the leading expert on the tracking and forecasting of consumer values and lifestyle trends, shared his insights into the paradox of the desire for connection without community with CEOs for Cities at its December 2005 national meeting.

Cities have always been brands in the truest sense of the word. As international place branding authority Simon Anholt writes, "Unless you've lived in a particular city or have a good reason to know a lot about it, the chances are that you think about it in terms of a… more

Two-thirds of highly mobile 25 to 34 year-olds with college degrees say that they will decide where they live first, then look for a job, according to a new survey commissioned by CEOs for Cities and conducted by The Segmentation Company, a division of marketing consultancy Yankelovich Inc. Read the… more

Rob Atkinson, Progressive Policy Institute

• High tech industry is growing.


• High tech industry flourishes through clustering, investment in infrastructure and talent...

Robert Weissbourd, RW Ventures | Christopher Berry, ShoreBank

• We have become a metropolitan nation. 75%-90% of economic assets and drivers are in metro areas (population, businesses, jobs, income, assets, tax payments, GDP and exports)...

As enduring components in a community, our nation's urban colleges and universities should be viewed as key institutions in urban economies and economic revitalization... Read the full study here.

One of the city's greatest assets is its available land for development. Unfortunately, many cities have land and properties that are vacant, abandoned or under-used, with few policies and regulations in place to convert them into revenue-generating, valuable sites...

For the first time in modern American history, population and income growth no longer tend to go together. Cities do not need to grow big to grow wealthy, and growing big does not necessarily lead to wealth...

In the knowledge economy, human capital is a critical component of economic growth. The American population is becoming more educated, but some cities' populations are becoming educated at a faster rate than others...

Joe Cortright, Impresa Consulting | CEOs for Cities
The U.S. is on the verge of a seismic shift in labor markets, and fault lines will emerge to threaten a city's economic future unless it succeeds in attracting the young, college-educated workers who propel today's knowledge-based economy...