State of the Cities 2019

Brooks Rainwater and Anita Yadavalli share news of the 2019 State of the Cities Report by the National League of Cities.

"In its sixth year, State of the Cities analyzes more than 150 annual speeches given by mayors from cities, towns and villages of diverse populations and geographic regions," according to the website that supports the new report.

According to the article, the report finds mayors prominently concerned about parks and open space, housing, and economic development. That last point continues to be the most discussed.

Economic development continues to be the number one issue for city leaders. It has maintained top billing for the entire six-year history of the report, with infrastructure and health and human services rounding out the top three. Not only has economic development maintained its dominance, but the level of focus has actually increased year over year, with 74 percent of speeches covering it in 2019 compared to 58 percent in 2018.

The article breaks down the findings of the report by region, and also breaks down the report by "subtopic"—which is the interest in parks and recreation takes center stage.

Planetizen also picked up coverage of the State of the Cities report from 2018 and 2017.