Was the mayor completely helpless to these phenomena?
I mean it's only in hindsight that we can look back and say that these things happened. At the time, they were slowly happening over many years. Surely someone who served as mayor for decades may have had some power to help stem "white flight" and deindustrialization.
A pattern I've seen a lot especially in big US cities is hard-leaning leadership getting elected, leading to many people who are capable of leaving doing so. This makes it even easier to elect hard-leaning leadership, which then makes even more of the same people leave. It creates a self-reinforcing cycle, and then residents of these cities end up blaming their issues on anything other than what they voted for. As a result, I'm skeptical of claims like these.
I guess that settles that. I may have to look into running for mayor. It seems like shrugging one's shoulders anytime a problem doesn't rest squarely within one's city limits allows for avoiding all accountability for one's own policies and actions (or lack thereof).
Yes. It's a cushy job. Nobody will expect you to singlehandedly reverse white flight or re-industrialize after the nation's largest industry decides to offshore the bulk of its production. All you'll have to deal with is the aftermath.
I mean it's only in hindsight that we can look back and say that these things happened. At the time, they were slowly happening over many years. Surely someone who served as mayor for decades may have had some power to help stem "white flight" and deindustrialization.
A pattern I've seen a lot especially in big US cities is hard-leaning leadership getting elected, leading to many people who are capable of leaving doing so. This makes it even easier to elect hard-leaning leadership, which then makes even more of the same people leave. It creates a self-reinforcing cycle, and then residents of these cities end up blaming their issues on anything other than what they voted for. As a result, I'm skeptical of claims like these.