Time Magazine Names America's Best and Worst Mayors

WBAY TV ^ | April 16, 2005 | Staff Writer

[Diana in Wisconsin]

NEW YORK - Time magazine has named what it calls the "five best big city mayors" in America.

The winners are: New York's Michael Bloomberg, Atlanta's Shirley Franklin, Baltimore's Martin O'Malley, Chicago's Richard Daley and Denver's John Hickenlooper.

Gavin Newsom of San Francisco gets an honorable mention.

Time also designated three mayors as the nation's worst: Detroit's Kwame Kilpatrick, San Diego's Dick Murphy and Philadelphia's John Street.

Neither list was ranked, and the mayors were listed in alphabetical order.

The lists appear in the issue of the magazine that hits newsstands tomorrow.

Bloomberg and Murphy are Republicans. All the others are Democrats.

[End Times Sentinel]

First and foremost, Hermann, and excellent, insightful post!  Thank you for the time and effort to compose it!

 

While we both agree that Street is a corrupt buffoon, I attribute the inarguable resurgence in the city to his not being involved with it.  Let the developers come in, do what they do best, and the free market will raise the values.

He really hasn't done anything to lessen the headaches in dealing with city hall / L & I, etc.

 

That being said, I don't much directly attribute much to any of the mayors.  In the last 20 years, I can't really think of anything that came from the Mayor's office, or even city hall that had a major effect on me.  My taxes are still too high for what I recieve in return, it takes too long to get pot holes fixed, the snow removal plan is still called "July", etc.  But, that's all part of living in any large city.

 

My thinking is the one thing that had the biggest impact on the city's resurgence is the ten year tax abatement on new properties.  In the Italian Market area that I call home, the new development has been breathtaking.  I wouldn't recognize it from ten years ago.  And that's a perfect example of "Government butt out and let the business people conduct business!"

 

I do think a truly bad mayor can bring down a city with horrible initiatives, but through some good luck, Goode and Street didn't impact too heavily, and Rendell (although I despise the man for what he's done statewide and nationally) was little more than a cheerleader when the city could use one.

 

Owl_Eagle

(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,

 it was probably sarcasm)

[hipaatwo]

First off hi neighbor, I've lived in the Bustleton Section of the City,Oxford Circle, and Rhawnhurst. I just read the other day that the mayor is closing "little city hall" at the Welsh Rd. Mall to save money. This is going to be a hardship for the elderly and others who now will have to travel downtown if they have city business that has to be taken care of.

My sons' father works for the Police force for abandoned autos. He told my son yesterday he is getting pulled from his job to go back on patrol for PHOTO OPS just to show that the police are in force in the bad neighborhoods. I repeat it is only a PHOTO OP.

Yes they are building new houses,I know exactly where you mean. I can't believe they are building houses for $300,000 on Rhawn St., but the surrounding neighborhoods are getting worse and worse. I used to live at Robbins and Castor and now the neighborhood isn't safe anymore.

[Andy from Beaverton]

I don't think Portland has term limits. Her popularity finally hit the toilet.

[hipaatwo]

Read post #31 and then Owl_Eagles reply and mine #42

[Hildy]

Do you think any of them will go to jail? The mess that is San Diego is breathtaking.

[Cincinna]

"Screw Bloomberg.......he concerns himself solely with a new Jets stadium and needs to be gotten rid of asap."

And whom exactly do you think would replace him?
"Freddie" Ferrer, bigger hack and shill than Dinkins, or Virginia Fields?

Bloomberg has done an excellent job, bringing NY back after the 3 trillion dollar hit on September 11. NY is now seen as the MOST desirable place to live.

Real estate values have continued to rise, demand for houses and family size apartments far outstrips supply. Retired folks are moving back from the suburbs to be in NY.

NY is still the greatest city in the world, and an extraordinary place to live and work.

[Proud_texan]

Weird to me that they consider Atlanta, raking 41th in the list of cities by population, a big city.

Atlanta itself is actually very small, it's the metro area that's huge and the mayor of Atlanta is, well, pretty small potatoes seeing as how Fresno or Mesa has larger populations and land areas.

In fact if the mayor of Atlanta keeps doing such a good job I expect Atlanta to be out of the top 50 in five years.

[Mo1]

Much as I dislike to admit it, Street appears to have been a better overall Mayor for the city than anyone since Rizzo.

Sorry .. I ain't buying that

Goode, Rendell and Street have been all bad mayors in their own special way

I'd throw Green in there .. but no one remembers what he did or didn't do

I grew up in the Roxbourgh section of Philly .. and he has changed considerably since I got married and moved out

[hipaatwo]

Thanks for your reply and of course I agree with you..LOL..except I still live here.

[Temple Owl]

Time also designated three mayors as the nation's worst: Detroit's Kwame Kilpatrick, San Diego's Dick Murphy and Philadelphia's John Street.

Really?

[Hermann the Cherusker]

I just read the other day that the mayor is closing "little city hall" at the Welsh Rd. Mall to save money. This is going to be a hardship for the elderly and others who now will have to travel downtown if they have city business that has to be taken care of.

I'd rather see these sort of things cut to keep bringing taxes down. The City has got to reduce its employment burden on the taxpayers. Ditto for the surplus firehouses Street is trying to close.

Yes they are building new houses,I know exactly where you mean. I can't believe they are building houses for $300,000 on Rhawn St., but the surrounding neighborhoods are getting worse and worse. I used to live at Robbins and Castor and now the neighborhood isn't safe anymore.

Ummm try $350,000+. Ryan Homes quickly discovered the pricing point was far above their original estimate for their development.

And, Robbins and Castor is really a different world from Rhawn St. in Rhawnhurst. And its not that Oxford Circle isn't safe anymore. Its that unsafe people are now living there thanks to Section 8 blockbusting. Which is a shame.

However, I have to laugh at the people paying $295,000 for a "Townhome" in North Wales or Upper Merion. You could buy 3-4 equivalent "Townhomes" in Mayfair or Tacony for that price.

[hipaatwo]

However, I have to laugh at the people paying $295,000 for a "Townhome" in North Wales or Upper Merion. You could buy 3-4 equivalent "Townhomes" in Mayfair or Tacony for that price.



I'd rather be in the suburbs. I'm the only one in my family that lives in the city.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

That being said, I don't much directly attribute much to any of the mayors. In the last 20 years, I can't really think of anything that came from the Mayor's office, or even city hall that had a major effect on me. My taxes are still too high for what I recieve in return

Rather than looking at it that way, I choose to think of it as "what would I be paying if I lived outside the city?" The answer is of course lots more, since Philadelphia property taxes (and property values) are so much lower than the suburbs. Yes, I'd be getting some shiny/fancy public school system. However, I'm not dissatisfied for now with paying a nominal amount (slightly over $1200 each) to send my kids to the parish school.

My dad had to pay twice what I did for a similar home and pays three times the property taxes in Wallingford, Delaware County (this roughly gives him a bill of $1300 PER MONTH more than me simply to have a home). He still pays the wage tax too, since he works in the city. I can't understand what possessed him to do something so foolish as to move there AFTER we were all grown up and then turn around and flush $16,000 down the toilet every year.

My thinking is the one thing that had the biggest impact on the city's resurgence is the ten year tax abatement on new properties. In the Italian Market area that I call home, the new development has been breathtaking. I wouldn't recognize it from ten years ago. And that's a perfect example of "Government butt out and let the business people conduct business!"

Oh, I agree entirely. Just wait until the new Delaware riverfront homes start going up in Bridesburg and Tacony. Westrum is currently clearing the Philadelphia Coke site in Bridesburg. Since Bridesburg is a nice little neighborhood on the cusp of becoming something better, like Manayunk, I expect a literal explosion in real estate along there. The whole riverfront from Penn Park north has the potential to transform itself like Little Ferry and Edgewater did in northern Jersey. It just needs a little push in the right direction to get the red tape out of the way.

[Richard Kimball]

Wow. I'd forgotten all about that.

[TXBSAFH]

Any twosome Newsom gets an honorable mention? Yeah this is a fair and balanced article. (SARCASM OFF)

[Kieri]

I think the real reason Kwame Kilpatrick (D-Detroit) made this list is because he's embarrassed the liberals. How? The taxpayers shelled out $26,000 for a Cadillac SUV instead of a Prius or some other squished-up hybrid.

Kilpatrick is a disgrace but that was to be expected. He wants the rest of the state to pour money down the sinkhole known as Detroit -- and our Canadian Trash governor is more than happy to comply -- as long as it gets her votes.

[Yonkers Finest]

Banned smoking in bars, jacked up property taxes, increased transit fares, got three fire houses shut down in areas known to be busy, and signed that oh so beautiful Executive Order 41 only a few years after 9/11 prohibiting police officers or other city employees from reporting a person's immigrant status to federal officials letting thousands of illegals run rampant in the city and leaving cops with their hands tied behind their backs.


NY will always be my home and will always be the greatest city in the world but it certainly has nothing to do with bloomie.

And no I don't think Fernando Ferrer would do a good as his replacement. I'd like to think that maybe a Republican who was actually "conservative" might replace him.

[JeffAtlanta]

Am I the only one who noticed that all these mayors were in executive charge of ratholes?

Atlanta is not a rat hole.

[JeffAtlanta]

Atlanta itself is actually very small, it's the metro area that's huge and the mayor of Atlanta is, well, pretty small potatoes seeing as how Fresno or Mesa has larger populations and land areas.

True - Atlanta is the 9th biggest market in the county and will probably move up to 6th or 7th within a few years. Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Dallas are becoming the new power centers in the country as more and more of the population is moving out of the rust belt.

Franklin does control the Atlanta airport which is HUGE when it comes to the importance of the Atlanta area. Without it, Atlanta would have never grown to be any bigger than Chattanooga or Birmingham.

Previous Atlanta mayors have abused the Atlanta airport and rewarded their friends and family with cushy airport jobs and sweetheart deals. Franklin is actually doing a decent job with the airport - not great, but not too bad.

She has also had to try to clean up the mess left by Maynard Jackson and Bill Campbell. All in all, she is the best that the area could have realistically hoped for in the current political environment.

[TypeZoNegative]

Did Minneapolis' own PR Ryback make the list of the worst mayors?

His little Photogate stunt didn't help him that much.