By Dave Gatton
January 31, 2011

The Council for the New American City met on January 19 during The U.S. Conference of Mayors 79th Winter Meeting to set its 2011 agenda. Focus will be on making cities competitive, addressing the prolonged housing foreclosure crisis, and expanding its DollarWise financial education campaign.

Leading off the agenda was a sobering presentation by IHS Global Insight Director Sara Johnson, who released a report forecasting unemployment rates for the nation's 363 metro areas. By the end of 2011, the report project that 109 metro economies, almost one-third, will have unemployment rates of ten percent or higher. One-hundred sixty-nine metros, nearly half, will see employment growth in 2011 of less than one percent, while 44 metros will see no job growth or actual job losses throughout the year.

In a troubling forecast, Johnson indicated that 152 metros would not regain their lost jobs from the recession until after the end of 2014, with 32 of those metros not returning to their pre-recession job levels until after 2025.

In a discussion on competitiveness, Norm Jacknis of Cisco told the mayors that in the knowledge-based economy future employees would be able to work from almost anywhere around the world. Urban economic development efforts would have to rely less on traditional real estate development and focus more on livability and having the technology infrastructure to connect employees to businesses and knowledge centers anywhere on the globe. Cisco will work with the Council to develop demonstration projects with cities to maximize their technology infrastructure to develop these capacities.

Debora Shurfrin, of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, said that cities should focus on how to leverage large institutions that could serve as anchors for their inner city economies, such as hospitals, research institutions, and universities. She encouraged the mayors to identify those institutions and develop strategies for expanding their economic reach to local small businesses and the redevelopment of surrounding neighborhoods. ICIC will work with the Council on strategies to encourage capital formation for these small businesses.

Safeguard Properties Chairman Robert Klein, REO Clearinghouse President Heidi Coppola, and Enterprise Communities Executive Robert Grossinger provided a forecast of continued high levels of foreclosures for 2011. Klein announced that the industry would soon unveil additional capacity for cities to identify and communicate with property preservation entities and servicers for foreclosed, vacant and abandoned properties. Klein told the mayors that the property preservation industry and cities had made great strides in establishing communication mechanisms to provide information on foreclosed properties, "but we must continue to improve and expand that communication," he said.

Coppola helps cities aggregate foreclosed properties for resale. However, as important and essential as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program is, Coppola said cities were still left enormous volumes of foreclosed and abandoned properties. Her recommendation was to link those properties to other groups, such as veterans and working families, in an attempt to promote responsible home ownership and rental properties in order to prevent more vacant properties. REO Clearinghouse will work with the Council to demonstrate new models of cooperation along this front.

Lora McCray, of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), indicated that Employer Assisted Housing would be one area the NAR would work with the Council in the coming year. As downpayment requirements have increased, many employers are considering helping employees buy a home through downpayment assistance. Employers are one resource to ensure that homeownership remains viable for many worthy first-time homebuyers.

Finally, Jim Penniston, of the Foundation for Financial Planning, reported on the DollarWise Campaign's expanded initiative to hold Financial Planning Days in major cities and metro areas across the country. To date, over 20 events have been held since the fall of 2010, where certified financial planners provide pro bono, no'strings-attached financial advice to the general public. Cites such as Burnsville (MN), Oakland (CA), Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, and Macon (GA) participate in the program, which will be expanded in 201l.

Wynn Lum, of the Bank of America Foundation and founding sponsor of the campaign, thanked the mayors for their participation and indicated that Conference of Mayors President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz will release the 2011 DollarWise Innovation Grants and Summer Youth Campaign Awards in the plenary session of the winter meeting.