US Mayors Say Economic Development Is Top Priority: Report

The report was based on an analysis of 50 state-of-the-city addresses given by mayors between January 1 and April 1, 2024, and a survey of 202 mayors between March 28 and April 26, 2024.

The mayors of Rochester, Minnesota, Sunny Isles, Florida, and Elaine, Alabama, are among the mayors that listed economic and workforce development, infrastructure, and housing as their top priorities. They were part of a panel discussion when the report was released during an online meeting on July 24.

Mayor Kim Norton of Rochester, Larisa Svechin of Sunny Isles, and Lisa Hicks Gilbert of Elaine said in a panel discussion about the report that they all face similar challenges.

They say infrastructure, public safety, public health, and housing issues must all be addressed to meet their economic development goals.

Ms. Norton has been mayor of Rochester since 2018. The town has a population of about 125,000, and its leading employer is the Mayo Clinic. Like her fellow panelists, she said her city faces many challenges in its efforts to promote economic development.

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Rochester has implemented downtown revitalization projects, created a downtown business task force, surveyed residents to determine their needs, and worked with county and state agencies on transportation issues. However, like the other cities represented, she said inflation and a lack of federal support make it difficult to keep up.

The mayors pointed out that economic and workforce development depend heavily on affordable housing, sound infrastructure, and reliable city services. However, rising construction costs make meeting those needs challenging.

“We have a whole city that has huge infrastructure needs,” she said. “It’s a struggle that all of us deal with.”

Ms. Gilbert said she knows that difficulty all too well. She is mayor of a town of 553 situated on the Mississippi River in Phillips County, eastern Arkansas. She said her town’s most significant infrastructure need was to improve its more than 60-year-old water system.

“Our water system is held up by duct tape. We’re out of duct tape, and we don’t have any money to buy more duct tape,” she told the panel.

While grant funds are available, she said the application process presents its challenges. Her job as mayor is part-time, but she often finds herself fulfilling other roles, such as city clerk, maintenance supervisor, and head of the water department. Finding the time—and qualified help—to apply for a grant was a daunting challenge, she said.

The town has applied for a $500,000 grant to rehabilitate the town’s water tower. She hopes that improving the water system will provide the momentum that the rural town needs to improve its housing situation.

She said that currently there isn’t enough housing for the construction workers and business owners the town hopes to attract.

Ivonne Montes Diaz, one of the report’s authors, said many mayors raised housing as an issue.

She said sixty percent of mayors say housing is a problem.

Ms. Svechin said Sunny Isles Beach is a victim of its own success. The community is located on a barrier island just northeast of North Miami Beach, Florida. It has just over 21,000 residents, mostly retirees.

The town’s main source of revenue is property taxes. The average asking price for real estate at $3.4 million. The average minimum rent is $1,825. She said the trend in recent years to rent homes to vacationers through temporary online rentals has served to drive property values even higher.

As property values rise, so do taxes. The increase can become a burden for those on fixed incomes. Ms. Svechin said the rising property values have the city’s retired residents preparing for a problem they never expected: homelessness.

She said the city has looked into building more housing, but increased inventory also increases demand, which drives prices up.

“For every solution, you sort of create a problem,” she said.