Combinatorial, piecewise-linear, and birational homomesy for products of two chains

This article illustrates the dynamical concept of $homomesy$ in three kinds of dynamical systems -- combinatorial, piecewise-linear, and birational -- and shows the relationship between these three settings. In particular, we show how the rowmotion and promotion operations of Striker and Williams can be lifted to (continuous) piecewise-linear operations on the order polytope of Stanley, and then lifted to birational operations on the positive orthant in $\mathbb{R}^{|P|}$ and indeed to a dense subset of $\mathbb{C}^{|P|}$. When the poset $P$ is a product of a chain of length $a$ and a chain of length $b$, these lifted operations have order $a+b$, and exhibit the homomesy phenomenon: the time-averages of various quantities are the same in all orbits. One important tool is a concrete realization of the conjugacy between rowmotion and promotion found by Striker and Williams; this $recombination$ $map$ allows us to use homomesy for promotion to deduce homomesy for rowmotion. NOTE: An earlier draft showed that Stanley's transfer map between the order polytope and the chain polytope arises as the tropicalization of an analogous map in the bilinear realm; in 2020 we removed this material for the sake of brevity, especially after Joseph and Roby generalized our proof to the noncommutative realm (see arXiv:1909.09658v3). Readers who nonetheless wish to see our proof can find the September 2018 draft of this preprint through the arXiv

2015 Menino Survey of Mayors

The 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the second nationally representative survey of American mayors released by the Boston University Initiatives on Cities. The Survey, based on interviews with 89 sitting mayors conducted in 2015, provides insight into mayoral priorities, policy views and relationships with their key partners, including other levels of government. Sitting mayors shared insight on their specific infrastructure needs and spending priorities, from roads and transit to water treatment and bike lanes, and reacted to police reforms proposed by the White House. They also shed light on the difficult choices they must often make, to promote affordable housing or improve the fiscal health of their city. A significant portion of the Survey is devoted to mayoral leadership, including areas of mayoral control and constituent approval, as well as constraints they confront under increasingly politicized and polarized state legislatures.Cit

Cities in American federalism: evidence on state-local government conflict from a survey of mayors

Previous scholarship on American federalism has largely focused on the national government's increasingly conflictual relationship with the states. While some studies have explored the rise of mandates at the state level, there has been comparatively less attention on state–local relationships. Using a new survey of mayors, we explore variations in local government attitudes towards their state governments. We find some evidence that, regardless of partisanship, mayors in more conservative states are unhappy about state funding and—especially—regulations. More strikingly, we also uncover a partisan mismatch in which Democratic mayors provide especially negative ratings of their state’s funding and—even more strongly—regulations. These findings have important implications for state–local relations as cities continue to become more Democratic and Republicans increasingly dominate state-level contests

2017 Menino Survey of Mayors Final Report

Report on research findings.The 2017 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the fourth scientifically rigorous and nationally representative survey of American mayors released by the Boston University Initiatives on Cities. The Menino Survey, based on interviews with 115 sitting mayors conducted in 2017, provides insight into mayoral priorities, policy views and relationships with their key partners, including other levels of government. Researchers spoke with mayors about a range of topics including affordable housing, climate change, city-to-city networks, and data-driven decision-making

As the Trump administration retreats on climate change, US cities are moving forward

This article was originally published in "The Conversation" on February 20, 2018. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/as-the-trump-administration-retreats-on-climate-change-us-cities-are-moving-forward-91612https://theconversation.com/as-the-trump-administration-retreats-on-climate-change-us-cities-are-moving-forward-91612Published versio

2016 Menino Survey of Mayors Final Report

Report on research findings.The 2016 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the third scientifically rigorous and nationally representative survey of American mayors released by the Boston University Initiatives on Cities. The Menino Survey, based on interviews with 102 sitting mayors conducted in 2016, provides insight into mayoral priorities, policy views and relationships with their key partners, including other levels of government. This year's research was largely focused on Mayors' "people priorities" on subjects like poverty, immigration, inclusion, and city image. Mayors also discussed the impact of the 2016 presidential election on their cities and their hopes for the Trump administration.Cit

2019 Menino Survey of Mayors

The 2019 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the sixth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 119 sitting mayors from 38 states. The 2019 Survey explores mayoral views on issues ranging from infrastructure and transportation priorities — including mobility and public safety — to the changing nature of work. The 2019 Survey also provides the first in-depth examination of mayors’ reactions to and expectations for the Opportunity Zones program, a significant new federal initiative to stimulate urban development. The 2019 Survey continues with the support of Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundation.Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundatio

Mayoral views on racism and discrimination

"Mayoral Views on Racism and Discrimination" details a snapshot of the current state of discrimination and equity as seen by America’s mayors. It also provides examples and strategies for how mayors across the country are addressing these issues.This report, which draws on data from the 2017 Menino Survey of Mayors, explores how mayors of medium-sized and large cities understand race, discrimination and equity in their communities and on a national level. The report cites three key findings: 1) Mayors believe that the four groups most discriminated against in their cities and across the country are immigrants, transgender individuals, black people and Muslims. In relation to these group and others, mayors perceive far more discrimination in the country as a whole than in their own communities. 2) Mayors believe that access to public services is significantly better for white people than for people of color, except for subsidized housing. More than half of all mayors report that white people have better access to jobs, educational opportunities, housing and healthcare, and are treated better by police and the courts. 3) While mayors see disparities in access to services, they overwhelmingly believe that the quality of services is largely equal across different groups of people, except for educational services, which they think is worse for people of color. The report also highlights several successful initiatives that cities, including Anaheim, Boston, Louisville and New Orleans, have undertaken in combating discrimination.The Rockefeller Foundatio