On Comeback Cities

This was my favorite book of the semester. Sadly, as thoughtful and spot on for its time, the book seems out of place - more of an historical account due to the swiftly changing economic situation. This at least gives us the opportunity to reflect upon where we were heading, and to remain positive that once this crisis passes we may continue that work.

I found it beneficial to focus on some of the small positive changes occurring within our inner cities as the last reading for this course. While the author was dead wrong on the economic impact of things such as the CRA, banking failures and easy credit's impact on the nation, there was much to be hopeful for with regard to actual citizens, businesses, communities and indeed even governments on a micro scale having a macro impact.

The softening economy could potentially enhance these developments just as much as they could hinder them. If people are positive and forward thinking, they may realize that it is with the community that much of this change will come about. Improving education and economic opportunities within the Inner City as well as many other depressed regions will be a grass roots effort. There will be little financial assistance from the federal government for several years most likely, as it is dealing macro-economically with the challenges. States are much poorer, several in deep recessions with huge deficits. This poses and opportunity for citizen action, small scale development and improvement - and hopefully a return of personal responsibility in America. One can hope.

I of course wish the age of handouts and fast money and negative savings will end with this crisis, but the lack of responsibility for one's actions along with the sense of entitlement that has been fostered may hamper this effort. Learn to live within your means and teach that to your community. This will aid in returning much needed common sense to leaders and organizations that will be at the forefront of improving the lives of the citizenry.

Comeback Cities, along with many of our readings, has reinforced my own personal belief that to affect change in the Inner City and to foster growth and development, cooperation and a sense of community through regionalism, we must focus on the micro level - by recapturing the American spirit of compassion, civic involvement, individual effort, hard work, selflessness and respect. Once we learn that government is not always the answer and a quick handout will not resolve our problems, we as a society can finally look around and tackle the problems staring us in the face.

I would like to end this by saying thus far that this course was the most thought provoking and compelling course in the MPA program thus far. We could use more of these types of lessons with regard to Public Administration - the practical, thoughtful, realistic view of the polices and procedures and their very real impact on society.