Meet the Candidates Roundup

It's time, once again, for another edition of our occasional series in which we take a look at how the other half lives. This time on Meet the Mayors, we have a quick roundup of innovative policies being pursued in other large cities throughout the country.

Click on "Continue Reading" and decide for yourself if the grass really is greener on the other side.

It Hot-lanta, Philadelphia-native and platinum-haired dynamo, Shirley Franklin has been brushing up on her Mandarin as she leads a delegation of her city's business leaders to China. She'll be there to convince the Chinese that "they love to fly and it shows" and therefore allow Delta to fly directly from Atlanta to China. In the process she'll be working on drumming up a healthy economic relationship between her city and the People's Republic.

Meanwhile, in the people's republic of San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom is ushering in a "permanent revolution" of his own. The City by the Bay seems determined to end its own dependence on fossil fuels. They're exploring new ways to use hydropower, solar power, biofuels, fuel cell technology, tidal and wave power, wind power, cow flatulence, french fry grease, and that funky technology from The Matrix.

Not only that, but Mayor Newsom is showing that its possible for one big city mayor to learn something from the mayor of another, very different, city. However, reminding us that those who spend too much time with their heads in the clouds can end up stepping in dog shit, the San Francisco Chronicle takes Newsom to task for losing sight of the little things.

In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley, he whose name probably appears in more stories with the word "corruption" than our own mayor, is doing what he can to make sure the grass surely is greener, or at least more plentiful in Chicago. If he gets his way, every flat roof in Chicago will be a green roof. The Philadelphia Weekly, coincidentally, did a story about green roofs here in Philly. I read it twice, but I couldn't find any indication that our own city government is embracing the concept like Mayor Daley.

Finally, Philly gets some mention with other hotspots like San Francisco, Miami, New York. Unfortunately, it's because, like them, our city may also be on the verge of watching it's hot condo market collapse. Joel Kotkin, the author "The City: A Global History" wrote a column for the San Francisco Chronicle to give advice to that city about what to do when the bubble bursts (or the boom busts or the bathroom breaks). He says:

Ironically, a significant correction in real estate prices -- albeit painful for some, including speculators, developers and promoters -- could contribute to a reorientation of urban priorities. Lower rents -- partly supplied by developers who give up on selling -- would provide incentives for middle- and working-class families to remain in the city. It could also allow artists, young professionals and others now being priced out of San Francisco a chance to re-enter the market.

The decline of the high-end market should also lead developers and city officials to move away from their elite obsessions and toward focusing private capital on a potentially huge pent-up demand for middle class and family oriented urban housing.

Like I've thought all along, maybe when one bedroom condos stop selling for 200 G's, I'll be able to afford a nice house in the city. Anyway according to today's Inquirer, ("Condo developer stops work, citing suddenly softer market"), the next mayor better be ready for an economic situation that is vastly different from the present one.

Stay tune for another exciting episode of "Meet the Mayors."