Urban Issues? No Comment

With all the presidential debates going on this election season, not once have urban issues come up.

1 minute read

December 14, 2007, 1:00 PM PST

By Nate Berg


"The candidates have now held 25 or so debates without talking about urban issues."

"Someone ought to alert the Guinness people. For sidestepping matters of direct concern to more than 80 percent of the population - people living in metropolitan areas - this has to be some kind of record."

"The grievance is hardly new. But it is glaring this time around because of the large number of candidates who you'd think would have cities and their suburbs high in their minds. Look at them: former mayors of New York City and Cleveland, a senator from New York, a former community organizer out of Chicago."

"Sure, they have discussed terrorism, health care, the economy, immigration and other matters that affect cities as much as the rest of the country. But what about basic urban and suburban concerns like housing, transportation, crime, education, Medicaid costs, homelessness, crumbling infrastructure?"

Friday, December 14, 2007 in The New York Times

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