{"id":11,"date":"2008-11-06T16:52:51","date_gmt":"2008-11-06T21:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/?p=11"},"modified":"2009-03-11T11:12:53","modified_gmt":"2009-03-11T16:12:53","slug":"a-president-of-the-city-and-for-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/beyond-gotham\/a-president-of-the-city-and-for-the-city","title":{"rendered":"A President Of the City and For the City"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the balmy night of Nov. 4, a jubilant crowd gathered at New York\u2019s Times Square, arms uplifted, flags waving, many shouting \u201cObama! Obama!\u201d They poured into the crossroads of the world to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.<\/p>\n

How fitting that such an outpouring for Obama\u2019s victory happened at one of America\u2019s main city spaces. Revelers also took to the streets in Harlem and Washington, D.C., among other places around the globe caught up in the night\u2019s elation.<\/p>\n

For the site of their own post-election gathering, Obama and his campaign chose not a suburban hotel ballroom but a great city park, Chicago\u2019s Grant Park, the scene of open-air concerts, festivals, and major civic events. The very place where police and demonstrators clashed in bloody confrontations during the Democratic Party\u2019s national convention in 1968 became the scene of a glittering night where thousands wept tears of joy upon hearing the news that Obama had defeated John McCain and became our first African-American President. The healing of a public space reflects the continuing healing of a country.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s wonderful that cities took center-stage on this night. For Barack Obama is a man of the city in ways beyond what many of our recent Presidents have been. And that \u2013 fortified by his sense that thriving cities and towns are important to the health of America \u2013 portends good possibilities for urban policy, historic preservation, smart growth, sustainable development, anti-sprawl efforts, energy conservation, and intelligent transportation priorities.<\/p>\n

This hope \u2013 and it is a hope, not a conclusion \u2013 is grounded in Obama\u2019s biography, his values, and his policy proposals. Obama and his family live in Chicago\u2019s Hyde Park<\/a>, a racially diverse neighborhood that is home to the University of Chicago (where Obama taught Constitutional law for 12 years) and many other cultural and educational institutions. In his mid-20s, Obama worked for a church-based community organization on Chicago\u2019s South Side in areas such as tenants\u2019 rights, job training, and college-prep tutoring. When he later graduated from Harvard Law School, Obama turned aside high-paying job offers from New York firms and instead headed back to Chicago to join a law firm there. <\/span><\/p>\n

In my view, our incoming President is a refined kind of street guy. He plays hoops and enjoys going to his favorite city restaurants with his wife, Michelle. One can sense Obama\u2019s comfort with and pride in Chicago. <\/span>Does this matter? I think so. City life shapes a consciousness of community, neighborhood, and the interconnectedness of city and suburb in metropolitan regions. Though it may seem paradoxical to some, it means supporting rural communities and farms in a comprehensive approach as strongly as cities.<\/p>\n

Hearing Obama speak about communities, I believe he \u201cgets it\u201d about how we need to be ever-vigilant and hard-working in restoring, revitalizing, and preserving our cities and towns and in taking a regional approach. In a campaign swing in Ohio over the Labor Day weekend, <\/span>Obama told his audience that \u201cwe need to allow communities like Toledo to get back on their feet,\u201d according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer<\/a>. <\/em>He warned those living in suburbs not to think their localities are protected from the hard times cities have often seen. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get past the notion that we can leave the cities to rot,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n

Actions Beyond the Words?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bush-Cheney Administration\u2019s urban policy over eight years can best be summed up in two words: \u201cignore\u201d and \u201cimperil.\u201d In contrast, the urban, energy, and rural policy proposals and views of President-Elect Obama and incoming Vice President Joe Biden give reasons to hope for progress, especially their Blueprint for Change. <\/em>Among their key proposals:<\/p>\n