‘Economic Development’ Most Mentioned Topic in Mayoral State of City Speeches

A recently released analysis of mayoral State of the City addresses finds that economic development was the most frequently mentioned topic in such speeches for the third straight year. The National League of Cities’ (NLC) State of the Cities 2016 report reviews speeches from 100 mayors across the United States and in cities with populations ranging from 50,000 to more than 300,000. Economic development was mentioned in 75 percent of mayoral speeches, making it the biggest issue on mayors’ agenda – ahead of public safety (70 percent) and city budgeting (52 percent) – according to a NLC press release.

Regionally, economic development ranked as the most mentioned topic in the West and South, while finishing second in the Northeast, and third in the Midwest. Economic development also ranked as the most important topic for mayors in cities with populations less than 50,000 and more than 100,000, but third in mid-sized cities with a population between 50,000 and 99,000 people.

Broadly, the most commonly mentioned economic development subtopics were jobs (mentioned in 55 percent of State of the City speeches), arts and culture (35 percent), and business growth (33 percent). Several technology-based economic development subtopics also emerged in a number of speeches. These include:

• Internet and broadband (mentioned in 22 percent of all State of the City speeches analyzed);
• Attracting technology companies (18 percent);
• Accelerators and incubators (13 percent);
• Manufacturing (13 percent);
• Entrepreneurship (12 percent);
• Maker movement (5 percent);
• Economic gardening (3 percent);
• Innovation Districts (3 percent); and,
• Sharing economy (2 percent).

Read the NLC’s State of the Cities 2016 report here: http://www.nlc.org/Documents/Find%20City%20Solutions/City-Solutions-and-Applied-Research/NLC%20State%20of%20Cities%202016.pdf