Cities on a Hill?

For many Americans, cities have become a beacon of hope. They are widely recognized as engines of the U.S. economy and laboratories of policy innovation and democratic deepening. Indeed, many view the can-do, eye-level politics of our city halls as an antidote to legislative paralysis in Washington, D.C., and the culture of top-down, self-serving, and polarizing party politics inside the Beltway. But are cities really generating equitable and sustainable gains in the health, wealth, and well-being of Americans and enlivening democracy from below?