How Federalism Has Failed Cities (And Also Might Reinvigorate Them)

America’s cities and metropolitan areas constitute the engines of the national economy and our centers of trade and investment. They deliver and help finance the public goods in our country, and they influence, through a myriad of powers, the shape of our built environment, the physical space of our communities, and, hence, how individuals negotiate their personal and professional lives on a daily basis.

Yet cities and metropolitan areas cannot go it alone. Their efforts depend on the support of federal and state governments—maddening, meddling, and domineering as they may be. State and federal governments are, through mandatory entitlements, tax incentives, and spending programs, the largest single investors in cities and metropolitan areas, their infrastructure, their residents (particularly disadvantaged residents), and their leading-edge institutions. They set the regulatory rules of the game by which cities and metros (and their companies and core institutions) grow advanced industries, attract global talent, and compete on the world stage.