U.S. Mayors ‘Ready to Go’ on Green Economic Recovery

The U.S. Conference of Mayors released its second report, Mainstreet Economic Recovery, detailing “ready to go” projects that can be started quickly after funding is received.

The report covers 11,391 projects in 427 cities across the country. These projects, according to the report, represent “an infrastructure investment of $73,163,299,303 that would be capable of producing an estimated 847,641 jobs in 2009 and 2010.”

Reporting that, since the start of the recession, over 2.7 million jobs have been lost, the U.S. Conference of Mayors is hoping that their petition for funding for public works will be included in Obama’s economic recovery plan, set to take effect after his inauguration in January.

The infrastructure sectors include:

• Community Development - Construction of public facilities and improvements, water and sewer
  facilities, streets, and neighborhood centers
• Energy and Green Jobs – Energy retrofits of public and private buildings in local areas,
  installation of solar panels or wind turbines for the production of electricity on local buildings
• Transit Equipment – Purchase transit equipment needed to create additional capacity, help stabilize fare increases and improve reliability
• City Streets/Metro Roads – Undertake bridge, bus and rail, and road projects in metropolitan areas
• Airport Technology – Runway and taxi rehabilitations, extensions, and widening; airside service or public access roads; and noise mitigation and abatement
• Amtrak -  Upgrades to tracks, bridges and tunnels, electric traction, interlockings, signals and
  communications, and stations
• Water and Wastewater – Rehabilitating aging water and sewer infrastructure, complying with sewer overflow issues, and promoting source water protection and availability
• School Modernization – Repair and modernize school buildings in both large- and small-city school districts, improve their energy efficiency and equip them with first-class technology
• Public Housing Modernization – Repair and construction projects, including safety repairs
• Public Safety Jobs and Technology – Grants to put additional police officers on the streets and in the schools as school resource officers

Presdient of the Conference of Mayors, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, calls for these investments to quickly create jobs, improve the infrastructure that the private sector needs to succeed, help the small businesses of Main Street and produce lasting economic benefits for the U.S. According to Diaz, MainStreet metropolitan economies comprise 90 percent of our gross domestic product and drive the national economy, and improving these economies is the most direct path to creating jobs and stimulating the business that can begin to reverse the current economic downturn.

The next report, scheduled for release in January, will account for a larger number of cities and list a larger number of projects.