In remarks following the Conference’s Annual Business Meeting, he said, "And the fundamental fact of this new century, whether one’s from Boise or Boston, Peoria or Philadelphia, indeed Seoul or Singapore or Seattle, is the multicultural imperative. With my Minnesota colleague, Curtis Johnson, I’ve been writing newspaper series on the future of U.S. metro regions for the last 13 years. We are convinced that the metropolitan regions of our times — we deliberately call them "citistates" — will be the focus of 21st century global economic activity. That with the end of the Cold War, military power, the specialty of nation states, has subsided in importance, while economic activity, the strong suit of cities and regions, has become the central arena of human contact and progress."

The San Diego and South Florida metro regions were described in examples to underscore how regional economic activity and cooperation are now transcending national boundaries, supporting his claim that citistates will dominate the 21st Century.

Metro Economic Output

Peirce said, "I believe the mayors of America have a major role to play in portraying, in their own citistate regions and across the United States, the importance of metro regions in today’s world." He noted the metro economic studies by Standard and Poor’s DRI for the Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties. "The work, done by Standard & Poor’s DRI division, not only shows that as economic actors, major U.S. citistates compete in size with major world nations. In gross product, for example, the New York region ranks 13th among the world’s top economies, just ahead of Australia, Argentina and Russia. The Los Angeles citistate is bigger than Korea, Chicago greater than Taiwan or Switzerland," he said.

Citing additional DRI findings, Peirce said, "Just as vital, the study shows that this nation’s 314 metro regions are clearly its economic drivers. They provide 84 percent of America’s new jobs, 95 percent of high-tech positions, 88 percent of the country’s income. The country needs to hear more of Wellington Webb’s message — that Metro regions are growing, producing more, and creating unprecedented levels of employment."

Metro Economies Challenge Federal/State Policies

Peirce discussed what this data means for governmental policy-makers. "The first has to do with how the federal government, and also the state governments, treat and deal with metro regions. Traditionally, these higher governments show an irresistible urge to micromanage, manipulate, and often discriminate against the metro regions — their older center cities in particular. Talk about the kind of antiquated, counterproductive politics we should be shedding as we enter a new century. Instead of playing off city against suburb, states need to regard entire regions — as strong subsidiaries they would want, corporatestyle, to incentivize to succeed, so that the regions’ fiscal return will rise and entire state populations can benefit."

He then told the mayors, "You all may cringe at the analogy, but I think you should be telling the state and federal governments that your city regions are the cash cows of the modern economy — a proposition proven by those USCM/NACo statistics. And that what we need is to push, in the years ahead, for a coherent body of federal and state incentives to increase your regions’ productivity by conscious and explicit federal and state policies encouraging regions to collaborate, to get business and non-more profit sector players at the COG and MPO tables. Great corporations prosper by incentivizing, not micromanaging their major subsidiaries. Washington and the state capitals need to view their regions the same way."

Census and Changing Demographics

In discussing the upcoming results of the 2000 Census, Peirce said, "The totals can make such a substantial difference for you in terms of city prestige and government service entitlements."

Peirce noted that the results would cast "new light on some of the problems cities must deal with, including the severe disparities of wealth in our time. As well as the impacts of continuing waves of suburban expansion and sprawl — balanced, though, by a heartening but still largely measured trend of middle class folks deciding to return to downtowns and other seasoned neighborhoods."

Citing demographic trends, he pointed out that every 7.5 seconds a baby boomer turns 50. "Cities that use their wits can find a way to draw a niche crowd of 50-plussers tired of cul-de-sacs and crabgrass and gruesome traffic delays. And not just that — precisely because of the improved city management and reduced crime rates so many of you’ve been involved with, your cities are creating settings attractive also to our young professionals, even some of the dot.com crowd," Peirce said.

He discussed at length data conveying "the incredible spread of peoples from ethnicities and races that differ from historic native populations." Peirce pointed out that "the growth of those we call minorities is already so intense that the combined numbers of blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans will accelerate, in the century we’ve just entered, to a clear majority of America’s population shortly after 2050." He explained that California would be the first state to reach this threshold, with Texas expected to reach this level by 2010.

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