Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Federal Stimulus

The Missed Opportunity For an Urban Stimulus: Mayors ‘Were Ignored’

Two-thirds of America's population, and more than three-quarters of its economic productivity, come from major cities. So why did the Obama administration's economic stimulus law end up giving metropolitan areas the short end of the stick?

Dan_Malloy1.JPGDaniel Malloy, Democratic mayor of Stamford, CT (Photo: Bridgeport City Council)

Harry Moroz of the Drum Major Institute attempts to answer the question this week in a new article for The Atlantic. Talking with mayors from around the country, Moroz heard deeply felt frustration from mayors in both parties about the decision to route stimulus money -- particularly for transportation -- through state capitals rather than cities:

During the bill’s conception, mayors stressed that a state-focusedstimulus would bring slow, inefficient results, and that more jobscould be created if money were funneled directly to urban areas. In a report issued last winter,the U.S. Conference of Mayors listed more than 15,000 “ready-to-go”projects that could provide 1.2 million new jobs in just two years.

So what happened, exactly? “I think we were listened to,” saysStamford, Connecticut, Mayor Daniel Malloy, who will run for governorof his state as a Democrat in 2010. “I just think we were then ignored.And I don’t think we were necessarily ignored by the president. I thinkwe were ignored by the Congress.”

Congress' move to "ignore" city leaders, as Malloy put it, is all the more surprising considering how many senior Democrats hail from urbanized regions: think San Francisco, New York City, and the Washington D.C. area.

But no one can accuse the nation's mayors of failing to speak up. In a February letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood [PDF], 20 city chiefs urged that stimulus funding formulas send transportation aid to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) from regions with more than 200,000 residents as well as to state DOTs. Their pleas were not heeded, however, and cities ultimately paid a price.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

US DOT Doesn’t Want to Fund Road Diets Anymore

One of America's largest road safety programs will look "unfavorably" on applications that reduce lane capacity for vehicles – even in urban areas where there's nowhere else to build bike lanes, sidewalk extension, and other sorely-needed infrastructure.

April 3, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Planning Connections in Panther City

Fort Worth's Kelly Porter on the city's city’s history, incredible growth and Texas high-speed rail.

April 3, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Ask for Privacy

Under the Elon Musk administration, private investment might be the only way forward for intercity rail, but it's not as if such ventures have it easy.

April 3, 2025

Duffy Delivers Mixed Messages on ‘Woke’ Transportation Funding Delays

The U.S. DOT secretary says he's drowning under a backlog of grants from the Biden administration — but somehow has time to scrutinize them all for a "woke" agenda.

April 2, 2025
See all posts