Mayors will take credit for whatever policy they instituted that s related to that revival, but it s hard to know whether their policies are really responsible for the result. After all, demographic movements are not necessarily within the control of urban administrations. Look at Philadelphia. You can take Ed Rendell as an example of someone who has made his reputation as a successful mayor. His success is based on the slight uptick in employment but, more dramatically, it s based on the revival of downtown Philly which means that suburban people are moving back in.
People moving back into the cities is one of the demographic trends of the nineties and beyond.
People are doing that because they are making balanced assessments of their lifestyles and the services available.