Editorial | Urban Rebirth

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, May, 2007

Once again, Pennsylvania has lost the Rust Belt follies.

Of 302 mid-size to large U.S. cities analyzed recently by the Brookings Institution, 65 missed the urban rebirth begun in the 1990s. They lag their peers in key economic indicators, such as employment growth, new business starts, college graduation rates and income levels. Nine of these cities, including Philadelphia, are in Pennsylvania - the most of any state.

On the flip side, under Gov. Rendell, the state of Pennsylvania has worked harder than other struggling Northeast or Midwest states to turn those trends around.

And there's no better time to do it. Cities - even former manufacturing centers - are poised for resurgence, Brookings finds in...