AN ECONOMIC-STRATEGY FOR AMERICA INNER CITIES - ADDRESSING THE CONTROVERSY

Revitalizing America's inner cities requires a radically different app roach. We must Stop trying to cure the problems of these distressed ur ban areas by perpetually expanding social programs and hoping that eco nomic activity will follow. An economic strategy is needed to build vi able businesses that can provide sorely needed employment opportunitie s. Economic development in inner cities will only come from enhancing the advantages of an inner-city location and building on the base of e xisting companies, while dealing frontally with, the present disadvant ages of the inner city as a business location (many self-inflicted by poor government policies). There is genuinely economic potential in in ner cities that has been largely unrecognized and untapped. The privat e sector must play a central role, as it has in successful economic de velopment everywhere. The private sector is already investing in inner cities. By improving perceptions and addressing problems in the inner -city business environment, this trend can be accelerated. Community-b ased organizations (CBOs) deserve much credit for helping to create th e conditions under which the private sector would consider investing. Now, however, inner cities are ready to move to the next stage, which will require new CBO strategies. Rather than advising, financing, and owning inner-city companies, CBOs should facilitate private sector inv olvement, change attitudes, train residents and link them to jobs, and , where appropriate, develop sites. There is a continued, vital role f or government and for public resources in inner-city economic developm ent, not a role focused on direct intervention and operating subsidies , but on creating a favorable environment for business (e.g., assembli ng and improving sites, training workers, upgrading infrastructure, st reamlining regulation).