PROMOTING INVESTMENT IN AMERICAN CITIES AS ENGINES OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH

WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and its Council for Investment in the New American City have shown, through its series of U.S. Metro Economy Reports, that U.S. metro areas accounted for over 86 percent, or more than $3.6 trillion, of the growth of the American economy in the decade of the 1990s; and

WHEREAS, U.S. metro regions, comprised of America's cities, generate nearly 85 percent of the nation's employment, income, and production of goods and services, thereby demonstrating that they are the engines of the American economy; and

WHEREAS, the total economic output of the ten largest U.S. metro areas exceeds the total economic output of 31states combined; and

WHEREAS, if U.S. metro areas were nations, 47 of the world's largest economies would be U.S. metro economies; and

WHEREAS, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, the 1990s was the best decade for cities in over 50 years, with many cities gaining in population and other stemming decades of population decline; and

WHEREAS, if the nation is to maintain a growing and dynamic economy, U.S. metro areas and their cities must continue to grow and maintain their global prominence as international economies; and

WHEREAS, to maintain the growth of U.S. metro economies, cities must continue to remove barriers to, and provide incentives for, continued and growing investment in American cities; and

WHEREAS, to ensure future, sustainable productivity growth within the American economy, the Federal government must assist cities in providing competitive, productive, and cost-efficient infrastructure, including transportation, environment and communications, that will improve the productivity of the American worker; and

WHEREAS, cities provide an opportunity for American and international business to invest and expand their markets in the urban communities; and

WHEREAS, along side business investors, the most important investors in American cities are families and individuals who choose to buy a home or start their own business within the city, and in order to position themselves as investors, residents must be financially literate and maintain good credit histories,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, The United States Conference of Mayors supports the continued development of its U.S. Metro Economy Reports, releasing annually a new national economic measure called "Gross Metropolitan Product" of the nation's 319 metro areas; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors, through its Council for Investment in the New American City, encourages mayors, CEOs, business organizations, and urban non-profit groups to disseminate USCM's metro economy reports, emphasizing their area's gross metropolitan product, to promote regional economic cooperation in competing within the global economy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors and the Council for Investment in the New American City develop public/private coalitions to develop and promote federal, state and local incentives to attract further investment in environmental infrastructure, brownfields redevelopment, mixed-use commercial development, transit-oriented development, and increased homeownership in cities as part of a national investment strategy for the New American City; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on its Council for Investment in the New American City to develop a national financial literacy campaign to encourage mayors to launch local initiatives to promote financial literacy within their communities, thereby empowering citizens to become individual investors and stakeholders in America's cities through home ownership and start up businesses.