Karin Dryhurst

Do Cities Need a Support Group?

Philadelphia is not alone.

The Philadelphia Inquirer painted a picture of cities sharing the pain last week--and pointed out that unlike New York, L.A., Phoenix and San Diego, Philly hasn't proposed handing pink slips to city workers.

Mark Muro from Brookings says that Mayor Nutter will need to continue to come up with creative solutions for Philadelphia and that leaders might need to consider current service cuts the "new norm."

But the Inquirer fails to mention that these crises aren't just in the hands of mayors and that some of them are passed on down from the state government. Take San Francisco, which had funding cuts handed to them from the Governator and now has announced 15,000 layoffs at the city level.

The Inquirer names Chicago as one city that has avoided layoffs, but Gov. Quinn has threatened to slash funding for cities, claiming they need to "share the pain," by giving up $300 million in income taxes.

Karin Dryhurst: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 1:36 PM, Mar 08, 2010 in Cities
Permalink | Email to Friend