Andrew Cuomo spoke to the mayors on Monday, June 12, probably for the last time as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He opened by presenting framed posters for National Homeownership Week to Conference President and Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb and to Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran.

Releasing the findings of the 4th Annual State of the Cities Report, the HUD Secretary said that the growth in cities has been strong and sustained in high-tech and other jobs, business creation and homeownership. During the economic expansion, wage growth in cities has surpassed that of their surrounding suburbs. But despite the strong recovery cities, suburban growth continues to outpace urban growth especially in the important high-wage, high-tech industries. In a sign of the "Digital Divide," the number of high-tech jobs in the suburbs is growing 30 percent faster than in central cities.

The State of the Cities Report says that there are four "megaforces" challenging cities today: 1) The New Economy driven by high-tech job growth. 2) The New Housing Challenge of housing costs rising faster than inflation, creating a record shortage of affordable housing. 3) The New Demography of an aging and more diverse population and a declining middle class. 4) The New Forces of Decentralization that are consuming land – primarily in suburbs—at twice the rate of population growth.

The State of the Cities plot the progress of cities. "If I had told you 4 or 7 years ago how far cities would come, you wouldn’t have believed me, " Secretary Cuomo said. The nation has come from its greatest deficit to its greatest surplus. Unemployment, crime, poverty and welfare are all down, while the homeownership rate at 67 percent is the highest in history. Moreover, the homeownership rate in cities at 50 percent has never been higher. "And there has been a tremendous rebirth in cities across the nation, almost universal."

HUD has also turned around. "HUD has been turned from a liability to an asset, because we remade HUD in your image", the Secretary said. "We have taken down 100,000 public housing units, and replaced these with low-density developments through the HOPE VI program. We have gone to computers, reduced the number of applications, and created the Consolidated Plan, which won the Harvard Kennedy School Innovations Award. We have taken the homeless programs, turned them over to local control, increased the budget, called the program the Continuum of Care, for which we also won the Innovations Award."

We now have an urban agenda. The President and the Speaker of the House have agreed to a New Markets Initiative. "This is bi-partisan support for economic support to cities, which would not have happened four years ago," the HUD Secretary said. "Both presidential candidates spoke about issues that mattered to you, this would not have happened four years ago", the Secretary added. "But because of your credibility, and your work, and the importance of urban America, we can do something about it. It is not a pointless cause. We can make a real difference. Why? Because you are making a real difference," Secretary Cuomo said.

"The State of the Cities Report that we put out today tells us where we are going. We have an affordable housing crisis. This is not just about the low-income poor. This is a middle class housing crisis. The economy is so strong, it is driving up the costs of housing beyond the reach of the low and moderate income" the Secretary said.

"We must also attract quality jobs to the cities. We know how to solve the problems, we just need to do it. We must give resources along with the responsibility. Give the mayors CDBG, HOME, and Section 8, give them the tools that they need," the Secretary said.

To this end, Secretary Cuomo urged the mayors to call on Congress to support the Administration’s budget to provide HUD with a 23 percent increase. "We need the funds in the nation’s cities. We have a great economy, we need to invest now," he added.

Education, sprawl, and gun safety must also be addressed. The Secretary commended the mayors on their action in bringing lawsuits against gun manufacturers that led to the Smith and Wesson agreement to make guns safe. He called on Congress to pass gun legislation this year, and for the gun manufacturers to sign the agreement.

The Secretary closed by saying that he believed the most important accomplishment was that we truly found our voice in the national debate. Recalling seven years ago, he said that the questions were: "What do we say? What is our case?" The mayors did not want to ask Washington for anything. The mayors did not want to be seen as holding out a tin cup. "The truth," Secretary Cuomo said, " is that we can’t meet the need of cities on our own. The truth is we shouldn’t be asked to meet the needson our own. We are asking for equity. We are asking for an investment. Invest in the cities for it is good for America."

"If you give mayors the resources, they will do it. We turned around the cities, and we turned around the nation. We are not done yet. We are strong, but we can be so much stronger." The Secretary asked: "Can you imagine what could be done if we had the resources for every city and every individual? Can you imagine what we could do? We are not there yet, but we can be. Your success and progress, as sweet as it is, has only told us how good we can be."

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