Economic Development in three Urban Areas: Atlanta, Baltimore and Cleveland

6192 Words13 Pages

Executive Summary
The following pages review the comprehensive strategies that have been used by the cities of Atlanta, Baltimore and Cleveland to improve their economic conditions. It should become apparent to the reader that the fate of each city is determined by many factors including historical events, the balance of power between stakeholder groups, the ability of the city to capitalize on federal programs and the relationships between the private sector and the community. Unfortunately, no clear winning strategy arose from each city’s economic development efforts; they all caused both gainers and losers.
Atlanta is a city that is led by business leadership whose main priority is to promote business interests that are at times at odds with the communities’ development. Baltimore, with very little private investment, relies heavily on its citizens' involvement whose collective bargaining and activism have hindered its political leadership’s attempts at growth. Cleveland has fallen victim to “ivory tower” leadership that has led to financial mismanagement and increased community frustration.
I have attempted to review the last decade in each city, and in the context of that city examine the strengths and weaknesses of their actions. The scope of this project is large. To focus the reader’s attention on the difficulty the cities have experienced in trying to meet their stakeholders’ needs and expectations, I have chosen to focus on a few specific actions that were taken in each city to promote economic development. This discussion is by no means exhaustive; additional learnings can be gleamed from further research.

Atlanta
Atlanta’s political and social structure and development has been characterized by what author Clarence Stone labels regime politics in his book Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta: 1946-1989. The regime’s determining factor is the loosely formed coalitions and collaborations between the white Atlanta elite and the black middle class leadership. The partnership (although the power was not balanced between the groups equally) has its beginnings in the 1940’s when astute white businessmen properly predicted the growth of a black middle class and a shifting in electoral power. Faced with two choices: to use their social and economic clout to fight the inevitable changes in politic...

... middle of paper ...

...nnovation Study Suggests Metro Area Must Change its Priorities to Increase Prosperity.” Atlanta Journal & Constitution. Nov. 5, 2001.

Shields, Gerard. “2 bills Aim to Bring BDC Into the Open; City Senators Want Agency's Meetings Accessible to Public; Mayor Opposes Measures; Proposals' Critics Say Business Dealings Require Secrecy.” The Baltimore Sun. February 21, 2000.

Siegel, Eric. “Renewal Efforts Move at Slow Pace; Empowerment Zone Shows Spot Successes Five Years After Grant.” The Baltimore Sun. Jan 10, 2000.

Smith, Jane. “A Dialogue on The Atlanta Project with Jane Smith, Executive Director.” The Inner City: Urban Poverty and Economic Development in the Next Century. ed Thomas Boston and Catherine Ross. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1997. pp. 291-297.

Smothers, Ronald. “Cleveland Mayor Warns Newark an Arena Is No Cure-All.” New York Times. Oct 20, 1999.

Stone, Clarence. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta: 1946-1989. Lawrence, Ks: University Press of Kansas, 1989.

“Videotape: The Cleveland Turnaround: Leadership In Action,” (Boston: Harvard Business Publishing Corporation, 1996).

The Cleveland Today website. http://www.clevelandtoday.org/info/edit.html

Show More
Related

  • More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ll. The inner city has many complications the fact that most are African American is a mere coincidence. If we as a nation are capable of fixing all institutions and structural issues we could bring the slums out of poverty. The cycle of unemployment and poverty is a terrible cycle that cannot only be judged by race and cultural values. When reading this book keep in mind the difficulties, any family or person could go through these tribulations. There are many arguments and sides to each problem; this is another one of those. The battle for inner city poverty, and the factors that go along with it, has not been finished. Wilson brings out a different aspect which could help people expand horizons and come up with better solutions.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Heartland And The Rural Youth

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    Now, a normal sized town contains fast-food joints, supermarkets, malls, and superstores, but a small town lacks that appeal. The small-town could be the most beautiful landscape known to man, but lack the necessary luxuries in life that a typical American would benefit from. Carr and Kefalas make this statement that emphasizes the town’s lack of appeal, “Indeed the most conspicuous aspects of the towns landscape may be the very things that are missing; malls, subdivisions, traffic and young people” (26). The authors clearly state that they realize that towns, such as the Heartland, are hurting because of the towns’ lack of modernization. For all intents and purposes, the town’s lack of being visually pleasing is driving away probable citizens, not only the native youth, and possible future employee’s away from a possible internship with the town. The citizens with a practice or business hurt from the towns inability to grow up and change along with the rest of the world, yet the town doesn’t realize what bringing in other businesses could potentially do for their small town. Creating more businesses such as malls, superstores and supermarkets would not only drive business up the roof, but it’ll also bring in revenue and draw the

    Read More

  • Tri-State Water Wars: Impact on Metropolitan Atlanta’s Future Growth

    2377 Words  | 5 Pages

    Metro Atlanta is on a collision course with reality – and the shock of this collision will have profound political and economic implications for future growth throughout the Southeast. The core problem is that Atlanta’s runaway growth will soon outstrip the available water supply (Corps, 1998). And if Atlanta continues to increase its water consumption until the maximum limits are reached, the effects on downstream users will become catastrophic, both economically and environmentally.

    Read More

  • Mayor Adrian Fenty

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    Geiger, Kim. "Washington Mayor Faces Reelection Battle despite Accomplishments." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Case Study: Cutting Back At City Hall

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Politics or politicking is a game that is more ostensible and reserved for the political arena; however, metaphorically, much of the political discourse can also be found within organizations. Politics in organizations, then, is design for groups to reconcile differences between interests, conflicts, and power (Morgan, 2006). The case study to be analyze (Cutting Back at City Hall) is one that illustrates all three aspects of interests, conflicts, and power as the City of Smithville, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the International Association of Firefighters (IAF), and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) deliberate the city’s proposed budget.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Los Angeles Sentinel And The 1992 Riots

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Wall Street Journal, leadership responsibility is generally deflected to the black communities themselves, evoking a “do it yourself” mentality. The implications of this line of thought are huge because they excuse Americans at large from confronting the inequalities they have created in society, designating the violence in the riots as a consequence of factors relevant only to poor black communities. In “Campaign 92” John Buchanan is quoted saying that he strongly apposes social programs and thinks that they actually hinder impoverished communities’ ability to improve their own situation. By downplaying the power of the government, opinions like this one take pressure off politicians to lead reform. Other articles such as “The Los Angeles Riots --- Who Speaks for Blacks?” show a subtle continuation of these themes, though through a more liberal lens. This particular article was written by Dorothy Gaiter who is, herself, a black woman and a leader in the black community. It argues that the violence and disorder in black communities comes from a lack of modern black leaders. She cites the increase of blacks in power from 1960s to 1990s and reasons that therefore there should be more responsibility for black leaders to control and pacify the violent outbursts in the communities. The article prominently features a chart measuring “Black Progress in the White

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Reshaping Metropolitan America

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reshaping Metropolitan America provides an outlook of the next fifteen years for infrastructure development in the United States. Nearly two-thirds of the buildings that will be necessary to handle the projected half billion residents of the Untied States by 2030 are not built yet. We also need to reshape our cities to handle the inversion trend; families and the next generation want to move back and live near downtown. Richard C. Nelson, the author, supports this population shift but does not strongly support it. Instead of trying to create room and additional infrastructure in downtown areas, Nelson believes that metropolitan areas should start to urbanize its suburbs to accommodate desired urban living. The American population is also changing

    Read More

  • Beowulf Is A Hero Essay

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    When defining a hero, it is classified as a man or women that exhibit bravery, courage, and self-sacrifice in the face of danger. There is also some that believe that a hero protects the weak from those who threaten harm or death. Beowulf is an example of a hero, considering the bravery, and self-sacrifice that is shown when battles arises (Davis, Harrison, Johnson, Smith and Crawford, 2004). Although, Beowulf proves to be the hero needed to save Heorot, there are still flaws in his intentions (Davis, Harrison, Johnson, Smith and Crawford, 2004). Beowulf changes the ideal of hero in this story considering he makes the same mistakes as the previous kings. ( Davis, Harrison, Johnson, Smith and Crawford, 2004).

    Read More

  • Atlanta Reconstruction

    484 Words  | 1 Pages

    With the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, Blacks earned the right to vote. This, although powerful in appearance, had little effect on the segregation that Atlanta’s white population had adopted. Black voters boosted the presence of the Republican Party, but not enough to over through that of the Democrats. As Atlanta’s growth subsided and the military presence was lifted, blacks left the inner city, taking refuge on the outskirts of town. Atlanta had seemingly succeeded in its goals. It welcomed northerners with open arms, but dealt with the blacks by simply shunting them to one side. Over time, blacks and whites simply lived life apart from one another.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Society Essay

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with, gender roles are the social and behavioral norms that are generally seen appropriate for either a man or a woman in a social or interpersonal relationship. Gender roles that society has created today reflect the way that people have acted upon in the past. When the idea of gender roles in our society comes up, originally the first thing that would come to mind were the roles that were expected of women. Howe...

    Read More

  • gender roles inherent or socialized?

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our society has been taught that gender roles are inherent, biological and behavioral characteristics. This belief is perpetuated through mass media, toys, clothing trends, advertisements, architecture, food and virtually everything else around us. This process begins at birth and continues through adulthood. These gender roles that society has set before us before us can be demeaning and create obstacles as well.

    Read More

  • Suburban Government Vs Urban Government Essay

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    The rise of Urban America began in the mid 1800’s with the dawn of the industrial revolution. With it came a rapid increase in the population of cities. This movement towards cities did not last forever, and after WWII, much of the population of cities moved to the suburbs. With the growth and decline of urban environments, and the growth of suburban environments, there has become a mixture of different types of local governments, some of which overlap the same geographical areas. Some view this hodgepodge as a problem, and have offered various solutions. To understand the different types of local governments and how they overlap, one must first understand the development of urban areas, and the movement from urban to suburban areas.

    Read More

  • Social Meaning Of Gender Essay

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    Socially constructed gender roles have a large impact on the society that we are bred in. Boys and girls are told from a young age what is considered normal for each of them based on what sex they were assigned. Girls are immediately told to be shy but not rude, love the color pink, and clean and cook in preparation of the man they are inevitably going to marry. Boys are told to ‘be men’ and never cry in the presence of anyone, emotions are for girls and anything less would be seen as merely weak. Parents usually prescribe their own upbringings to how their children should be brought up; girls are constantly reminded to watch how they come off to people. Girls must clean and cook, but never show frustration, smile even if she’s scared of unfamiliar

    Read More

  • The Importance Of The Honey Bee

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, lets look at the honey bee and it’s purpose in life. There are many different

    Read More

  • Gender Roles And Society's Role In Society

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender roles are known as specific behaviors and attitudes expected of males and females by society and are imposed through a variety of social influences. Different

    Read More

More about Economic Development in three Urban Areas: Atlanta, Baltimore and Cleveland

Open Document