Report identifies 10 critical imperatives facing U.S. cities.

• Position: News & Numbers

The 10 Critical Imperatives Facing America's Cities, a recent report from the National League of Cities, identifies and proposes innovative strategies to address these challenges and improve the nation's communities. The priorities, which are based on guidance from city leaders across the nation, include taking action to address challenges such as the shrinking middle class, climate change, a deteriorating transportation infrastructure, and a lack of trust in government.

The report identifies these 10 critical imperatives facing cities of all sizes:

* Fragile Fiscal Health. Among the solutions: Cities require new tools in their revenue-generating toolboxes, such as laws allowing them to collect taxes already owed to them from remote online purchases.

* A Deteriorating Transportation Infrastructure. Cities need new ways to pay for roads and explore new modes of transportation such as water ferries, light rail, bus rapid transit, and bicycle pathways.

* A Shrinking Middle Class. Cities should develop strategies to connect eligible residents with state and federal work support and public benefits, expand opportunities to save and build financial assets, and help hard-to-employ residents overcome barriers to work.

* Inadequate Access to Higher Education. Higher education brings better-paying jobs, growing tax revenues, enhanced public safety, and a better quality of life. Among the solutions: Cities can partner with K-12 schools and other community stakeholders to ensure more students graduate and go on to obtain higher college degrees.

* The Need for Affordable Housing. Foreclosures and vacant houses have destabilized neighborhoods across the country, resulting in increased crime, blight, shrinking local tax bases, and more demand for social services. To stabilize neighborhoods, cities can help to provide mediation between lenders and borrowers, prevent vacant property deterioration, and rehabilitate properties for resale or rental.

* A...