The challenges facing big cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have been widely examined by experts over the decades, as each has dealt with the loss of population and major industries.
Less chronicled are the situations in small- to medium-sized communities, many of which are in the Great Lakes region. How have they dealt with decline? Where have they followed or diverged from their larger siblings—or even each other—to manage and mitigate the worst effects of shrinking populations or shuttered plants?
University of Michigan researcher Stephanie Leiser and colleagues sought to find out by interviewing city managers of 21 small- and medium-sized cities. The study, published in the Journal of Urban Affairs, focuses on how those managers have responded to a long-term decline in population as opposed to more commonly researched economic shocks, such as the onset of the Great Recession or COVID-19 pandemic.
The main strategy to mitigate the stress of decline, the study finds, is to focus on economic development strategies that emphasize existing local assets and deep, community-specific knowledge. The authors sought to draw attention to three things they say don’t get enough attention:
- Most of what is known about city management and policy rests on an unspoken assumption of growth. There is no “playbook” for decline.
- The 100 largest cities in the country get nearly all of the research and media attention, but policy experts need to do a better job of thinking about smaller cities that are dealing with many of the same issues with less capacity, and also have unique challenges of their own.
- Mayors and elected officials tend to get the most attention, but in many places, city managers are the ones who are solving problems and getting things done for residents day in and day out. When city managers are doing their jobs well, they tend to be invisible, and it’s only when something goes wrong that people pay attention.
Leiser is a lecturer at the Ford School of Public Policy and leads the Michigan Local Government Fiscal Health Project at the school’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. She co-authored the study with Daniel Hummel, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and James Bourey, a former city and county manager who currently serves as executive director of the Seattle Architecture Foundation.
Leiser shares more insights from their research.
What were some commonalities among the approaches or viewpoints shared by the managers you interviewed?
The biggest commonality was just a pragmatic and flexible mindset, and the sense of professionalism managers bring to their jobs. The managers we interviewed had a wide range of opinions about different policies and strategies, but what they shared was an eagerness for action—to try something, and if that doesn’t work, try something else. One longtime manager in Muskogee, Oklahoma, said that sometimes you just have to ignore the naysayers “and just go do the good thing.”
Was there a particular city that stood out to you in terms of its approach or progress in dealing with its issues? Something distinctive or impressive, or both?
Our interview with Bryan Heck, the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, really stands out in my mind. It was one of the first interviews we conducted, and I remember being struck by Mr. Heck’s deep knowledge and clear-eyed assessment of the challenges his community faces. He didn’t sugarcoat or politicize issues. One thing he said about his management style that really resonated with me is: “It’s easy to come with problems. It’s difficult to challenge yourself with developing solutions.”
Of course, last fall (well after our interview), Springfield was briefly in the national news during the 2024 presidential campaign related to how it is dealing with an influx of Haitian immigrants. I thought Mr. Heck did an excellent job of cutting through the misinformation and focusing on the facts and the challenge at hand.
Where might you and your colleagues go from here in terms of helping to shape public policy on the city or state level? What about research by you or others that might build upon this study?
Honestly, doing this study inspired me more on the teaching side because it reminded me why the public service training we provide at the Ford School—to future city managers and other public servants—is so important. We don’t suffer from a shortage of analyses and opinions on policy issues, but how do we train people to actually solve problems and get things done in a way that is efficient, ethical and responsive to many stakeholders—all in an environment of polarization, misinformation and deteriorating trust in institutions?
Public service is a calling. It is rarely glamorous and definitely not for the faint of heart, but research tells us many people still have faith in their local governments, so we should be doing everything we can to put talented people in positions where they can serve their communities and build trust.
>>Read the study: Responding to decline: The perspective of city managers in shrinking cities in the United States
