In spite of prevailing opinion, U.S. cities are alive and well and continue to play a major role in the nation's social fabric. The federal policies of recent years must be reversed to keep cities functioning as the place where the United States reimagines itself and learns to manage difference. (SLD)

There is little likelihood of significant new funding for cities. The future may require real decentralization in the ways we live, with fundamental restructuring of political and economic institutions. A system of communities structured locally around new institutions and supported by regional planning might sustain a different culture. (SLD)