Centers and Institutes
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Browsing Centers and Institutes by Author "Armstrong, Andrew"
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Item Chicago Case Study(Center for State and Local Government Leadership, George Mason University, 2013-09-01) Shafroth, FrankChicago, after a significant effort to remake itself into a global city today confronts unprecedented challenges. The city took a serious turn for the worse during the first decade of the new century. The gleaming towers, swank restaurants, and smart shops remain, but Chicago is experiencing a decline different from other large cities. It is a troubled place, one falling behind its large urban brethren and presenting a host of challenges for Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Challenges confronting the city’s fiscal future are: schools, which one commentator cited as “almost insoluble;” police—crime—gangs (also “almost insoluble”); infrastructure (on which the mayor has earned very high marks); pensions, where Chicagoans’ long-term debt and pension obligations per capita rose 185% since 2002—which are inextricably linked to the state; and bringing jobs back to Chicago. These challenges come as state and federal aid are reduced.Item Detroit Case Study(Center for State and Local Government Leadership, George Mason University, 2013-09-01) Shafroth, FrankDetroit filed for municipal bankruptcy protection on July 19, 2013. The city is in dire fiscal straits and now in a U.S, bankruptcy court for what the city’s emergency manager termed “the Olympics of restructuring.” The filing is a critical step to ensuring continuity of essential services and critical to rebuilding an economy for the city. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed an Emergency Manager in March, who in June announced a moratorium on repayment of all unsecured municipal debt. The emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, issued a report and declared the city insolvent. Detroit cannot stay on its current path and survive, and now its fate will be determined in a federal court, where the city’s financing and operations must be completely restructured. After decades of population decline (In 1950, there were 1,849,568 people in Detroit. In 2010, there were 713,777), the city today is home to an estimated 40,000 abandoned lots and structures. Between 1978 and 2007, Detroit lost 67 percent of its business establishments and 80 percent of its manufacturing base. The city has spent $100 million more, on average, than its revenues since 2008. According to the census, 36 percent of its citizens are below the poverty level, and, last year the city reported the highest violent crime rate for any U.S. city with a population over 200,000. Writer Billy Hamilton calls the city “either the ghost of a lost time and place in America, or a resource of enormous potential.”