Cities can no longer meet service demands. Highways and water supply systems are increasingly inadequate; the quality of local health care and education has never been lower. These are problems which are germane to cities new or old, growing or declining, Sunbelt or Frostbelt.Thirty top urban affairs and municipal finance experts focus on the issues and approaches to the major financial problems facing cities in the 1980s. In these invited essays demographic changes, regional economic shifts, inflation, voter resistance and changing intergovernmental roles are viewed each for their impact on the capacity of cities to finance public services.The book is essential reading for city managers, business administrators, public officials, planners, planning board members and those interested in the future viability of American cities.

This case study of a politically reformed, middle-sized Midwestern city provides a model of fiscal stress that contrasts sharply with that of America's vast metropolitan centers. Dr. Rubin examines the interaction of social, political, and economic causes of the city's predicament. She then goes on to analyze the specific factors that solved the city's problems over a six-year period. Finally, she offers a self-correcting mechanism that would allow a city to save itself from financial trouble without direct state or federal assistance. This study suggests that local political factors were even more important than national factors in contributing to the city's fiscal stress. It also brings into question the theory that generosity to the poor creates urban fiscal stress and that giving less to the poor will solve urban financial problems.

"Fiscal stress is a problem of growing concern to all levels of government. This volume provides in-depth analyses of the causes and consequences of financial stress, and offers solutions for managers charged with the responsibility for maintaining fiscal solvency and adequate and equitable services"--Back cover.