ABSTRACT
On 21 June 2008, US Senator (D-IL) and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of the US Conference of Mayors in Miami, FL. In a speech entitled, “A Metropolitan Strategy for America’s Future,” Obama offered the following observations on the state of metropolitan America (emphasis added):
So, yes we need to fight poverty. Yes, we need to fight crime. Yes, we need to strengthen our cities. But we also need to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution. Because strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America. That is the new metropolitan reality and we need a new strategy that reflects it – a strategy that’s about South Florida as much as Miami; that’s about Mesa and Scottsdale as much as Phoenix; that’s about Stamford and Northern New Jersey as much as New York City. As President, I’ll work with you to develop this kind of strategy and I’ll appoint the first White House Director of Urban Policy to help make it a reality.
