Official Publication of the National League of Cities OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES
NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
Volume 34, Number 33 | September 5, 2011

IN THIS ISSUE
www.nlc.org
PAGE 3

PAGE 3
NLC Webinar to Focus on Foreign
Direct Investment, Trade
PAGE 4
NBC-LEO Conference Focuses on
Leadership Development
PAGE 5
Spotlight on Nampa, Idaho: NLC 50
Year Milestone Award Winner
PMS 301
Urban Economist Glaeser to Speak at Congress of Cities PMS 201
by Cyndy Liedtke Hogan
Attendees at the 2011
Congress of Cities and
Exposition will have the oppor-
tunity to tie their entire confer-
ence experience together during
the conference’s final general
session with speaker Edward
L. Glaeser, a pioneering urban
economist who shows how city
environments foster knowledge,
innovation and wealth.

Edward L. Glaeser
achievement, including entre-
preneurship, idea creation and
transmission, and even better
personal health. According to
The New York Times, Glaeser
“has spent several decades inves-
tigating the role cities play in
fostering human achievement.”
“While much of the cur-
rent news on cities focuses on
constraints and deficits, Glaeser
compellingly argues that cit-
ies will continue to be lead-
ing centers of growth, where
people, opportunities and
resources come together,”
said Chris Hoene, director of
NLC’s Center for Research and
Innovation. “Glaeser’s writings
and ideas are a terrific match for
the conference program.”
The Congress of Cities and
its four concurrent conferences
—Your City’s Families, Green
Cities, Economic Development
and Infrastructure — will
look at how cities spur growth
through investment in infra-
structure, sustainability, small
businesses and investing in the
health and education of chil-
dren and families.

Conference Activities
Leadership Training
Institute seminars will take place
Wednesday and Thursday,
November 9 and 10. These
seminars have an additional fee.
Mobile workshops, which
see page 8, column 1

President Calls for Transportation Reauthorization
NLC, Other Advocates Urge Congress to Act Quickly
by Leslie Wollack
Newspaper Handling

NLC joined transportation advo-
cates across the nation in endorsing
President Obama’s call for Congress to
enact a clean extension of federal sur-
face transportation programs when they
return to Washington this week.
Acknowledging that there will be
no time to make policy changes to the
current program before the September
30 expiration deadline, the President
called for a clean extension of current
programs without policy changes in a
speech last week in the Rose Garden.
Obama was joined by U.S. Department
of Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood, AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka, Chamber of Commerce Chief
Operating Officer David Chavern and
local construction company representa-
tives.