Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson are inventors of a new form of American journalism. They provide challenging “outsider” views — designed to inform and energize local civic forces — on the future prospects of urban regions across the United States.
These Citistates reports are generally commissioned by a major local newspaper. The Citistates team interviews a broad range of metropolitan leaders and citizens groups. Then, in a series of in-depth articles, the team draws on what has been learned from community leaders and citizens, as well as its knowledge of regions nationwide. An independent assessment of the region’s major problems and opportunities is written and then appears in the newspaper, either as a day-to-day series or as a special pull-out section.
“Citistates Reports,” or “Peirce Reports” as they were formerly called, have won wide acceptance in the American journalism. Since the first report was published by the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette in 1987, there have been 20 more — including series for the Seattle Times, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Owensboro (Kentucky) Messenger-Inquirer, Dallas Morning News, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Raleigh News & Observer, Spokane Spokesman Review,Philadelphia Inquirer, Boulder Daily Camera, Charlotte Observer, Reading Eagle and Times, Kansas City Star, Boston Globe, San Antonio Express-News, San Diego Magazine, Indianapolis Star and News the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The first six Peirce Reports were reprinted in the book, Citistates: How Urban America Can Prosper in a Competitive World (Seven Locks Press, 1993 — Copies available by mail order from publisher — +1 800-354-5348, or through Amazon.com)
Why Citistates Reports?
Citistates Reports are intended to stimulate — but never replace — vigorous civic dialogue. For a discussion of their role in communities, look here.
Peirce Reports were the subject of a special plenary session of the Urban Land Institute in St. Louis on May 2, 1997, with representatives from six Peirce Report cities on hand. For a full report on that session, look here.
2007 Report — Charleston, S.C. Region
A Citistates report on the pressing development issues facing the Charleston region, supported by local foundations and other groups, began publication in September 2007. To view the stories, click here.
2005-2006 — New England Futures:
Breaking pace from all its prior reports, the Citistates Group undertook a project encompassing all six states of New England. With interviewing in early 2005 and publication laterin late 2005 and early 2006, the project was mounted in collaboration with a broad-based New England Partnership of civic and business groups. For a full description of the project and updates on its progress, click here.
2004 — Boston Citistates Report:
A major Citistates report — BOSTON UNBOUND — was released May 26. Click here for a full PDF of the report.
The Boston Globe November 29 began a four week Op-Ed series based on Boston Unbound. To see the series, click here.
The Citistates Report for 2000:
The Citistates Group’s South Florida Citistates project, sponsored by the Knight and MacArthur Foundations, was published in The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) over four Sundays in November and December 2000. It marked the first time that two metropolitan dailies — and in this case fiercely competitive ones — had agreed to run the same series. The first Sunday’s articles revolved around South Florida’s exciting opportunities — in trade, and now Internet connections — to be North America’s gateway to the Caribbean and South America in a century when the sleeping Latin giant awakens. The second Sunday examined the incredible cultural and language mix of the region, the perils of ongoing antagonisms, and the countervailing opportunities for a citistate which learns to make an asset rather than a liability of its diversity — especially in the 21st century global economy. The third Sunday focused on South Florida’s perplexing growth challenges. And the fourth on how the three South Florida counties — Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — can fashion a less gridlocked transportation future — perhaps by reviving the region’s grand old dowager, the much neglected U.S. 1, making it a focus. Included is an insightful guest essay by our Citistates colleague, Manuel Pastor.
The series can be viewed at the site of the Citistates Groups’ partners in South Florida, the Collins Center for Public Policy.
Citistates Reports in the late ’90s:
The San Diego Millennium Project — a look at the future of a binational citistate — appeared in the October, November and December 1999 issues of San Diego Magazine. The October article focused on how San Diego and Tijuana can and must prosper in a single region, the November article on how a region could make 21st century preparedness of its workforce a central target, and the December piece on the immense growth challenges of a citistate with delicate ecology and limited developable space facing the likelihood of 1 million new residents in the next 20 years. A reprint of this series, available either in English or Spanish, is due for early January 2000.
Nashville and Middle Tennessee fell under the microscope of the Peirce Report research team in an autumn 1999 series published by the Nashville Tennessean. In Part I, the team explored Nashville and the neighboring eight-county region’s abundant strengths and palpable weaknesses. In Part 2, the team asked — How will the Middle Tennessee region face its mounting transportation gridlock? Will it follow the route forged by traffic-clogged Atlanta, or find ways to grow with less destructive sprawl? In Part 3, the focus was on strong potential in commuter rail for the region, plus a start at light rail reinforcing the center city. Charlotte’s newly developing regionwide public transit system was cited as a model. Finally, the team’s prescription calls for (1) a heavy dose of input from the community’s varied stakeholders, as well as (2) the suggested use of high-tech analytical tools to help with visualizing change.
For a report on how the region has responded to the Nashville report, including creation of the new organization, Cumberland Tomorrow, click here.
The Peirce Report on Lexington, planned with the Bluegrass Tomorrow, focused on growth issues in the area. For the introduction published in the Herald-Leader Online, click here. The Bluegrass region blazed the trail for preservation and reinventing government a generation ago. So why isn’t the region setting the pace for “smart growth” — compact housing, walkable neighborhoods, town centers, transit connections, the Peirce team asks? Despite the best efforts of the Urban County Council to preserve Bluegrass farms of Fayette County, a broader consensus is needed — and fast. Also in an accompanying article, the team suggests a regionwide organization of goverment officials as well as innovative representatives of the business and civic sectors for metropolitan planning. “Why not consider forming a Bluegrass Regional Council?”