Reforms could make cities work

Talk to anyone about cities and the conversation quickly moves to negatives -- to issues like crime and violence, traffic congestion, schools that don't work, poverty, decay, racial tensions and divisions, out-of-control taxing and spending and, too often, out-of-control police and self-serving politicians.

But that's not the way it has to be. Cities are also about grand public spaces and places to work; porches and sidewalks, lofts and high-rises -- and neighborhoods, places to live; and all kinds of people from all walks of life scurrying about to make a living or to enjoy themselves -- from the coffee house and sports arenas to the performing arts centers. Put another way, cities are about diversity, proximity, choice, community and markets -- good and desirable things, not bad things. And if we can change the way government does business, we can change the way people experience cities. That is the message of Milwaukee mayor John O. Norquist in a soon-to-be released book called The Wealth of Cities: Revitalizing the Centers of American Life.

Norquist is a Democratic Leadership Council kind of Democrat. To some that means "moderate" or "centrist." What it really means is a pragmatic approach to ideas that work, to public policies that can help achieve traditional values like opportunity, responsibility and community. Most of Norquist's ideas to fix cities meet those tests. Here is a sampling.

• Taxes and spending. Leaner governments, lower taxes and eliminating the federal deficit benefit cities. "Cities must recognize that it is an act of social justice to reduce the tax burden on urban taxpayers, whether the tax is local, state or federal." It is the job of the city to reduce costs through sound management and especially by introducing competition into the process of providing government services.

Not everyone will agree with all of Norquist's ideas. I certainly have problems with some of his ideas about environmental regulation. But the more political and civic leaders discuss and implement public policies that reflect the core ideas of opportunity, responsibility and community that guide Norquist's thinking, the faster we will fix the cities where most Americans live.