Instead, left to stand on their own, cities did better. Without money from the feds, the cities had to look someplace . Suddenly, cities became more interested in business and the economy. That s the big question. There are troubling signs that, after making great strides, many cities are falling back.
Crime is back up and the momentum is slipping away.
The jury is still out on Philadelphia. The fear is that many of the reforms initiated in cities during the 90s have not been institutionalized. By and large, the key to success for many cities was strong mayors who all came into power in the 90s. They paved the way for cities to catch the economic wave. Now, many of those mayors have moved on or left office because of term limits.