Reports & Publications

Many local leaders are turning attention to growing their small business community in order to realize tangible economic impacts including job creation and exporting local goods and services.  The most effective ways local governments create opportunities for small businesses, according to the new NLC research, are to provide an efficient regulatory environment and avenues for local businesses to engage with policy makers.  Other local tools to support small businesses, including management development assistance, revolving loan funds and marketing assistance do not appear to have the expected impact on small business growth.  The analysis is based on the 2009 National League of Cities/International City-County Management Association Economic Development survey. 

With increased fiscal challenges for many cities across America, more local leaders have begun investigating alternative means for delivering services, namely contracting or privatization.  A survey on Local Government Contracting conducted by American University with support of NLC finds that contracting produces high-quality services to citizens, but only when local government managers ensure strong relationships with contractors, vendor competition, and contract accountability.  The use of contracting creates the need for a new set of local management skills and raises issues about the quality of contracted services, new costs associated with contracting, managing vendor competition and ensuring optimal contract performance.

State of America’s Cities: Special Section on Workforce Development” reports that while cities are increasingly involved in workforce development activities, there appears to be some potential governance and partnership challenges between the workforce investment boards and city governments.

The foreclosure crisis is an opportunity to reorient housing strategies to focus on creating and supporting neighborhoods that offer residents an attractive place to live. The Building Resilient Regions Network, funded by the MacArthur Foundation through the University of California at Berkeley, is developing applied knowledge about how regions can be resilient in the face of significant challenges, such as foreclosures, rapid immigration and economic restructuring. As part of this project, “Resilience in the Face of Foreclosures: Lessons from Local and Regional Practice,” highlights the ways in which cities and counties, and their elected local leaders, are successfully responding to the continuing waves of home mortgage foreclosures, vacant properties and destabilized neighborhoods. Covering six metropolitan areas, St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Cleveland and Riverside-San Bernardino, the report offers a summary of significant strategies that help mitigate the foreclosure challenge and set the stage for initiatives designed to revitalize the neighborhoods that have been adversely impacted.

This report compiles information from a survey conducted in the summer of 2009 to municipal officials, both elected and managerial, to find out more about their views, attitudes, and local practices in public engagement.

The nation’s city finance officers report that the fiscal condition of the nation’s cities continues to weaken in 2010 as cities confront the effects of the economic downturn.2 Local and regional economies characterized by struggling housing markets, slow consumer spending, and high levels of unemployment are driving declines in city revenues. In response, cities are cutting personnel, infrastructure investments and key services.

Three in four (75%) city officials report that overall economic and fiscal conditions have worsened over the past year. To deal with the fiscal implications of declining economic conditions, seven in ten city officials report making cuts to personnel (71%), including hiring freezes, layoffs, and furloughs, and delaying or cancelling capital projects (68%). Twenty-two percent of city officials indicate they are cutting public safety budgets, which is typically an option of last resort.

New survey research shows that local governments are now facing a fiscal crisis that will force job losses approaching 500,000 and significant cuts in much-needed public services. NLC, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties jointly released the survey results at a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday and were joined by several members of Congress offering their support to cities and counties during these difficult economic times.

This research brief, based on the results of NLC's State of America's Cities survey, reports on municipal officials views related to participation in democratic decisionmaking, the public, the media and community groups.

This Research Brief, based on the results of NLC's State of America's Cities survey, reports on municipal officials' views about public engagement and their efforts to involve the public in deliberating issues and helping to solve problems.

City officials around the country are reporting declining retail sales and increases in retail store closings in their communities. The survey also finds that locally owned retailers on main street are particularly vulnerable. City officials from cities reliant on sales tax revenues are more likely than city officials from cities with other types of revenue structures to report that retail conditions are worse now than they were last year, before the major impacts of the recession took hold.

This report surveys the current state of U.S. cities’ finances, reviews city leaders’ responses to those conditions, and places these developments in the context of efforts aimed at securing the nation’s recovery from the current severe slump.

While the nation’s economy may be approaching the late stages of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, local government budget tightening and spending cuts over the next several years could well impose a significant drag on the nation’s economic recovery. Cities face layoffs, canceled contracts with small businesses and vendors, reduced services and sizable budget shortfalls for 2009 that are expected to grow much more severe and widespread from 2010 to 2012.

This report examines state-local fiscal structures and the way in which state fiscal regimes do or do not create a fiscal environment that makes it difficult for municipalities to effectively fund their own activities – including those that contribute to economic development at the local and regional levels.

The 2008 NLC Housing Finance and Foreclosure Crisis Survey showed that cities and towns across the country are facing mounting fiscal challenges as a result of the home mortgage crisis. In fact, one-third of city officials (33%) say that their city revenues and/or revenue estimates have decreased some (27%) or a lot (6%) over the past year.

The importance of entrepreneurs and small businesses has been a central theme in discussions of the national recovery. On the local level, city leaders understand first-hand the importance of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Entrepreneurs and small businesses: create new jobs and employ local residents; play a pivotal role in creating a unique sense of place that enhances a community’s quality of life; and in a more footloose, global economy, homegrown businesses may have deeper roots than those gained through attraction strategies. This tool kit examines the question: How can local governments support entrepreneurship and small businesses? To encourage entrepreneurs, local governments need to examine how they can contribute to an entrepreneurial eco system by tackling efforts within city hall and partnering and connecting with external stakeholders.

As a culmination of NLC’s work over the last decade responding to the challenges of governing democratically, NLC’s democratic governance project has published Planning for Stronger Local Democracy: A Field Guide for Local Officials. This tool kit, made possible with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, is designed to assist officials in strengthening local democracy by cultivating transparency and inclusivity with citizens and key allies with shared responsibilities and mutual accountability for addressing and solving problems.

While the majority of local leaders feel that expanding global economic linkages is critical to competitiveness, many communities are not engaged in efforts to support these linkages.  Much of this disconnect can be attributed to local leaders not knowing how to connect their communities to the global economy, and a lack of information available about their potential roles.  The purpose of this guide is to provide practical tools, resources and promising practices to facilitate local action. In particular, the guide focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade — two areas in which local leaders can have a true impact in their roles as catalysts, conveners and connectors.

Economic health and prosperity is a defining component of sustainability. Yet until recently the conversation surrounding sustainability efforts has focused largely on issues of environmental protection and too often presumed to be in competition with, or otherwise tangential to, economic growth. This guide presents five components often associated with sustainability – green space, community design, complete streets, food access and green buildings – that also benefit the local economy and in so doing, may enhance regional resiliency and the ability of cities to compete in the global marketplace. This publication has been made possible through a grant from Wells Fargo.

The ways in which we shape our built environment—including the range of transportation options, provision of open space, and accessibility to places of work, education, or basic services—contributes to the physical health of our communities by either restricting or facilitating opportunities for physical activity, recreation and community interaction. Local leaders play an important role in promoting public health through creating the conditions for individuals to incorporate healthy options into their daily lives. This guide explores several ways that cities are incorporating options to promote active living and emphasize the multiple connections to sustainability principles.

In order to counter pressures on the municipal sewer system, and inspired by nature’s ability to absorb and filter water, cities are turning to ecosystem-based stormwater management projects that are cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and beneficial to public health.   Short of rebuilding entire conventional pipe and tank systems, many cities are adopting these alternative strategies – referred to as “green infrastructure” – that reduce the amount of water needing treatment while conserving precious water resources for the future.  Cities such as Tucson, Arizona; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Edmonston, Maryland are finding innovative water infrastructure solutions.

The collection, transportation, and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) presents considerable costs to local government, poses threats to public and environmental health, and when landfilled or incinerated results in a permanent loss of valuable materials. Across the country local governments are addressing these challenges through innovative, cost-effective, and responsible strategies to divert waste from landfills, recover and repurpose valuable and/or toxic materials, and even generate revenue and support local businesses. This guide presents four options that cities may consider to reduce MSW and benefit their communities.

A key piece of our nation’s infrastructure is the urban surface transportation system.  As local elected officials face issues with funding it, they must also grabble with how to address congestion, air quality and other environmental concerns, and quality of life all while ensuring they are working with their regional partners.  NLC has released a publication that discusses issues with the urban transportation system and provides a broad overview of the causes of urban transportation problems and of the implications for finding good solutions.

Many cities are conducting inventories of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions to serve as the foundation for informed and effective climate action plans. Cities are finding that these projects also save money, reduce air pollution, improve public health and boost a city’s reputation for livability. This guide provides guidance for municipal leaders seeking to take this first step toward mitigating climate change.

City leaders are acknowledging that their cities’ future economic competiveness and long term success is directly tied to the quality and skills of its workforce. Workforce Development for Economic Competitiveness provides city leaders with strategies to strengthen their role in the workforce development.

Local governments are taking steps to bolster the energy efficiency of residential, commercial and public buildings through weatherization projects and policies. This guide examines the multiple benefits of weatherization and the action steps cities can take, while highlighting several examples of innovative city initiatives.

In a world of constrained resources, local governments of all sizes and metro types are exploring new ways to reduce costs and infuse innovation. Privatizing Municipal Services examines one method, privatization – the provision of goods or services to the public by private businesses under contract by the public sector — is increasingly looked to as a viable option.

Shared equity housing models are increasingly becoming a popular tool of providing permanently affordable housing for low and moderate income households. This municipal action guide explains this new framework, expands on its benefits, and provides action oriented steps for city officials.

Leadership is consistently identified as a critical factor in effective economic development. Although leadership can come from many places within the community, local elected officials are particularly well-positioned to take on this role. "The Role of Local Elected Officials in Economic Development: 10 Things You Should Know" identifies fundamental ways elected officials can become informed and strategic decision-makers who can connect the policy “dots,” be effective communicators, and take a leadership role in economic development.

An introductory resource, this guide presents action items to strengthen existing sustainability programs or to use in the development of new initiatives. The presented items are widely applicable across cities regardless of population size, geography, or level of experience with sustainability initiatives.

This guide presents local officials with the first steps and directions for developing or re-establishing efforts toward integrating immigrants into civic life. It provides guidance for conducting meetings with small groups of local leaders that are representative of the many cultural and ethnic facets of the community. It includes suggested agendas, background materials, planning considerations, and successful formats for civic engagement.

This Municipal Action Guide (MAG) highlights opportunities for local governments and community-based organizations to promote financial access and education among immigrant residents. The MAG also identifies different types of financial literacy programs and their purposes. 

The National League of Cities, in collaboration with The Urban Institute, has developed a ten part educational series of materials and tools to help local elected officials obtain and use information about the results and outcomes of government services in helping their citizens.

Municipal governments face increasing pressures on their budgets and  are being forced to make difficult decisions about service delivery. This Municipal Action Guide helps local elected officials take a hard look at how they can run their governments more efficiently.

By capitalizing on funding for green affordable housing practices, city officials can incorporate sustainable building design into public housing developments, resulting in lower energy bills for residents, a reduction in pollution and landfill waste, and improved occupant health, comfort and productivity. This guide provides strategies and action steps for planning, financing and building affordable, sustainable housing, and highlights the experiences of nine cities.

Many city officials express frustration when working with developers toward redevelopment. City Developer Relations: Working Together Toward Successful Redevelopment offers a starting point for the simplifying the process and highlights successful projects.

Transportation planning, which is directed largely by federally-mandated Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), tends to occur at a broader, regional scale, while land use authorities are vested primarily with local jurisdictions. Given the intrinsic connection between transportation and land use, the best to route to improving the quality of life in cities, towns, and regions is to ensure that regional and local perspectives, especially in the long-term, are mutually supportive. This Municipal Action Guide provides local officials with strategies and action steps to help foster transportationland use integration that both articulates local interests and advances regional goals.

This Municipal Action Guide (MAG) discusses the challenges and solutions of establishing an effective democracy based governing structure.

This report on resilient cities focuses on the responses carried out by local actors in Michigan in communities adversely impacted by job and real property losses during the last decade. The examples, reflections and experiences were gathered during a Leadership Forum, which brought together federal, state and local decision makers. The three major themes that are woven into this report are inclusive community engagement, capable local leadership and cross-cutting partnerships. The lessons from the experiences in Michigan will serve as models for other communities struggling with similar challenges.

Mexico’s consular network is the largest and most extensive of any foreign government in the U.S. For the last twenty years, and especially since 2003, with the creation by a presidential decree of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME), the Mexican Consulates have fostered and developed programs and initiatives to assist, educate and help Mexican citizens living in the U.S. This report highlights a selection of successful practices developed by the Mexican Consulates with their local partners, including local governments, school districts, public libraries, faith-based organizations, police departments and the private sector.

As part of NLC’s extensive work on democratic governance and civic engagement, we have assembled a collection of promising practices in cities across the country. These examples represent the variety of programs and partnerships that can be used to encourage citizens to become more engaged in their communities and provide them with the opportunities to do so.

NLC, in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation’s Building Resilient Regions Network (BRR), commissioned a scan of six cities—Camden, Dayton, Milwaukee, Oakland, Phoenix and Tampa—to determine the actions these communities took to address the ongoing housing foreclosure crisis and specifically to explore methods for becoming a more resilient community. Interviews were conducted with elected officials, nonprofit housing organizations, civic leaders, bankers, developers, housing activists and advocates and other observers of housing and policy work. This publication contains a synthesis of the important findings that emerged from the interviews and a detailed description of each of the six cities’ response to the foreclosure crisis.

Sustainability is a fundamental component of building a strong community, not only in terms of the physical environment, but also for economic prosperity. In recent years many cities across the country have begun providing leadership and advancing economic strategies by incorporating environmental stewardship and sustainability principles throughout programs to promote economic development. This City Practice Brief, made possible through The Home Depot Foundation, NLC’s Sustainability Partner, highlights the strategies and experiences of four cities, Denver, Colo., Boston, Mass., Chattanooga, Tenn., and Grand Rapids, Mich., using sustainability to spur economic growth.  

A healthy urban tree canopy has been associated with environmental and economic benefits such as reduced heating and cooling costs, low-cost stormwater management and aesthetic value and comfort. This case study highlights how an urban forestry initiative in New Haven, Conn. has brought together multiple city departments, a community based non-profit and an area university to also generate social value by creating workforce development opportunities for youth and the formerly incarcerated.

Public Safety Programs for the Immigrant Community addresses cities’ role in immigrant public safety and is designed to give cities a starting place to plan and improve their public safety outreach programs toward their local immigrant communities. The report, from NLC’s Municipal Action for Immigrant Integration Program highlights seventeen public safety programs and good practices from a diverse group of U.S cities and includes recommendations for developing immigrant public safety programs in other communities.

Flexibility and community support have enabled the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to provide real help for low-income residents since its inception in 1974. The creative and innovative use of CDBG dollars has transformed local ideas and designs into practical solutions that strengthen communities and the bonds between local actors. This guide exhibits five city projects that are exemplary in their use of CDBG funds.

This city practice brief highlights city and non-profit programs that either connect new immigrants to existing community resources or promote information and cultural exchange between old and new residents. Together, these strategies support an immigrant integration framework of community outreach, resource access and education to teach new residents about city services and civic responsibilities.

Municipal governments are implementing policies and programs that allow residents to grow, sell, buy and eat more sustainably produced and locally grown foods, while strengthening the community and region.  Comprehensive sustainability plans for food systems can include strategies to attract grocery stores in food deserts, improve support for urban agriculture and farmers' markets through zoning codes, and reduce food related waste by composting.  This City Practice Brief covers a range of solutions from cities that seek to ease the environmental burden of their food system and cultivate economically strong local food sources.

As cities of all sizes face challenges in maintaining effective, agile transportation systems, bike share programs are emerging as a cost effective and sustainable way to expand the portfolio of transit options.  By providing an automated, public, bicycle rental program with a pricing structure that incentives short trips, cities are realizing economic, environmental and public health benefits.  Denver, CO, Washington, DC, Minneapolis, MN and Buffalo, NY are highlighted in this City Practice Brief.

This brief presents local practices that public officials and their staffs are incorporating in their communities to govern in more participatory, deliberative, inclusive and collaborative ways.

This brief illustrates the diversity of citizen volunteer programs and strategies that city officials are implementing to achieve city priorities and to strengthen and expand services.

Cities across the country are experimenting with the development of data capturing devices and the increased availability of data being presented in new and creative ways. From a municipal perspective, this information can have a profound impact on the way local governments provide services and govern their communities. In order to make the most effective use of this information, cities are making huge investments in their information technology (IT) infrastructure. The IT tools cities are using range from cloud computing, to municipal Wi-Fi networks, to handheld devices for a variety of applications, to software programs that better inform decision-making processes. The examples in this brief show how cities are working to expand or update their technological infrastructure through these methods and are reducing costs and increasing efficiency in addition to ultimately meeting their communities’ needs.

NLC and Public Technology Institute (PTI) surveyed a set of its members to identify technology topics they would like to learn more about.  Technology tools that promote transparency in municipal government was the leading topic of interest.  In response to the need for more information about transparency, the National League of Cities (NLC) developed, Using Technology to Promote Transparency in City Government, a resource guide that provides a set of examples of how cities can work to increase transparency in their day-to-day practices.

This City Practice Brief provides examples of a variety of immigrant affairs committees, councils, and commissions created in order to offer advice to local government officials on issues relating to immigrant groups.

This City Practice Brief describes mayoral offices established to address the needs and concerns related to immigrant communities.

This City Practice brief highlights local efforts to help immigrants prepare for the naturalization test and interview with tutoring, classes, and legal advice clinics.

Retail Redevelopment offers examples of how cities and suburbs across the country have redeveloped their abandoned regional malls, poorly maintained strip centers, and other retail spaces into community assets.

This City Practice Brief focuses on local program developed to improve immigrants’ access to employment opportunities, including job training, English as a Second Language classes, and job placement.

This City Practice Brief examines nine cities' programs of engaging their citizens in their community's civic affairs. 

This City Practice Brief highlights cities that underwent changes in their operating structure to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.

This City Practice Brief provides examples of cities collaborating with external partners to achieve mutually related goals. 

This City Practice Brief discusses municipal examples of cities partnering with one another to promote cooperation and improve community development. 

The national discussion on civility, borne out of the terrible events in Tucson, demonstrates that many believe the current overheated rhetoric is not working as a means to solve the nation’s problems. This action guide assists city leaders in creating a framework democratic governance that encourages governing in a participatory, deliberative, inclusive and collaborative way. 

The MAII report, Municipal Innovations in Immigrant Integration: 20 Cities, 20 Good Practices, describes local efforts to promote immigrant integration in a variety of ways. Small, medium-sized, and large cities are included to represent a range of possibilities.

This report is the first in a series entitled Municipal Innovations in Immigrant Integration, American Cities Series. The Indianapolis Model, 2000-2007 focuses on the initiatives related to immigrant integration in the City of Indianapolis during the Peterson administration. Helping City Leaders Respond to Global Change (2009) This report includes a Transatlantic comparison of local strategies to promote immigrant integration.

This publication, in partnership with the Grassroots Grantmakers, the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, and NeighborWorks America, focuses of the neighborhood structures of Portland, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and other cities that have experimented with creative ways to engage citizens in public decision making and problem solving.

This resource offers a framework for understanding how local elected officials view issues and challenges they face in governing and the role citizen engagement plays in solving them. Changing the Way We Govern: Building Democratic Governance in Your Community (2006) A detailed guidebook with narratives and case studies to apply to the work of local officials, city staff or anyone involved with engaging citizens in governance.

In 2002, the National League of Cities (NLC) along with the National Association of Counties (NACo), the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), and the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA), developed a Local Officials Guide on Telecommunications and Rights-of-Way.  The guidebook is intended to help local elected officials to deal more effectively with the complex issues involved in the management and control of the public rights-of-way.  NLC, NACo, USCM and NATOA are working to update this guide as rights-of-way continues to be an important issue for cities.  If you have information from your city or examples of best practices on dealing with rights-of-way issues, please send them to Leslie Wollack at wollack@nlc.org or Julia Pulidindi at pulidindi@nlc.org.