Interesting piece from Neal Peirce on citiwire.net about the emergence of a de facto urban, or as he pefers--metropolitan--policy brain trust in the Obama administration.
He attributes this development, ironically, to the lack of such a coordinated urban policy effort in past administrations. It left a vacuum in which "many veterans of years of work in cutting-edge city and state governments, moved quickly to identify joint approaches–synchronizing, for example, aid for new transit stops and affordable housing, or energy-saving weatherization and revitalizing low-income neighborhoods."
"Now the Obama Cabinet, including such seasoned urban veterans as Shaun Donovan (HUD) and Arne Duncan (Education), instinctively looks for collaborative ways to address city-region challenges."
Also, he notes:
"Obama has also ordered–for the first time in 30 years, since 1979 under President Jimmy Carter–a serious interagency review of all federal programs that impact cities. Urban observers anticipate it will be a quality effort because the man in charge will be a top administration intellect, urban analyst and author Xavier de Souza Briggs, Obama’s appointee as director of general government programs at the Office of Management and Budget.
It’s hard to find a mayor or city activist who doesn’t believe these steps, plus the new administration’s collegial, open attitudes, represent an extraordinarily positive turnaround."
