URBAN ECONOMIC POLICY
Supporting the U.S. Census Bureau's Revised Census 2000 Plan
Tax Incentives to Revive Distressed Communities and Promote Smart Growth in the 21st Century
Opposing Mandatory Social Security Coverage for State and Local Employees
Increasing the Limit on Small Issue Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds
Post Office Community Partnership Act of 1999
A National Agenda for Cities and Metropolitan Areas
Revising the Federal Budget "CAPS"

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URBAN ECONOMIC POLICY

A NATIONAL AGENDA FOR CITIES AND METROPOLITAN AREAS

WHEREAS, many outstanding leaders in both the Democratic and Republican parties have recognized that our central cities and nearby suburban areas are essential to the quality of life and success of our nation's metropolitan regions; and

WHEREAS, our central cities possess tremendous assets as centers of art and culture and education and commerce, as places to live and work and engage in recreational activities, and as the centerpiece to any regional strategy for efficient and affordable growth; and

WHEREAS, nearly 80% of our country's population live in metropolitan areas and, in many of these regions, the majority of the population live in centrally located urban and older suburban areas; and

WHEREAS, our central cities and inner-ring suburbs share common priorities, such as public safety, good schools, the promotion of homeownership, accessible transportation, and linking job seekers with the workforce needs of the private sector; and

WHEREAS, our central cities and older suburbs also share common challenges, including concentrations of poverty, a shrinking percentage of regional jobs and population, and loss of revenue to newer suburban communities; and

WHEREAS, promoting residential and business activity in our cities and centrally located suburban communities is essential to avoid unsustainable patterns of urban sprawl that increase traffic congestion and impose enormous costs on taxpayers through the unnecessary duplication of infrastructure such as schools, roads, streets lights and water and sewer lines; and

WHEREAS, many federal polices in the areas of housing, tax, transportation spending, and regulatory requirements discourage investment in our older communities and subsidize the outmigration of people and businesses to the exurban fringes of our metropolitan areas; and

WHEREAS, these federal policies and practices have a negative and unfair impact on residents of urban and older neighborhoods and result in the inefficient and counterproductive use of public dollars, and

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of our metropolitan economies and our nation to utilize the existing assets and infrastructure in our centrally-located communities and to provide the residents of these communities with a fair opportunity to succeed,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the presidential candidates, and the chairs and leadership of the Democratic and Republican parties to endorse a more comprehensive and vigorous strategy for our nation's cities that includes increased public investment in housing, transportation, economic development, and jobs - and increased incentives for private investment - in our central cities and nearby suburban areas; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors strongly urges the presidential candidates and the major national parties to endorse and actively support specific changes to federal tax, transportation and housing policies and to regulatory and administrative actions that discourage residential and business activity in our central cities and nearby suburban areas.

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