In Point Breeze, Martin O'Malley makes his case to city dwellers.Phila

[elleng]

On Thursday night, John Longacre, owner of the American Sardine Bar in Point Breeze, took to the lectern and gave the clearest reason why the evening's guest of honor was in Philadelphia.

"As an urban dweller, he's our candidate," Longacre said before a crowd of about 100 people huddling from the rain underneath two outdoor tents. . .

"I am the only candidate in this race that can actually speak to the tremendous opportunity in our nation that exists in American cities," he said. "Imagine the good we could do for our nation if we actually had an agenda for American cities."

While O'Malley touted a yet to be announced campaign plan for Philadelphia and other U.S. cities, he offered some specifics of a federal agenda for America's urban locales: greater investment in mass transit; green jobs; and affordable workforce housing, or living accommodations that place workers in proximity to their jobs. (In an ironic twist, a cover of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was playing in the background.) Research from the Brookings Institution indicates a 10-percent drop in the number of jobs within typical commuting distance of Philly residents, while a report from the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania argues that many affordable houses are available for the city's lower-income workforce, but require significant repair work. . .

A President O'Malley, he told Philadelphia City Paper, would seek to compile "national measures on police discourtesy, police brutality, [and] police use of lethal force." (O'Malley has a penchant for positioning himself as a data wonk, and therefore a person who can govern dispassionately and objectively.)

http://citypaper.net/blogs/martin-omalley-philadelphia-2016-presidential-race/

[Koinos]

1. There is no other candidate who has executive experience in a large and difficult urban environment

Philadelphia has a lot in common with Baltimore.

I like the fact that O'Malley believes in the growing importance of cities. More and more people, including young people, want to move back into the city, avoid long commutes, have amenities they can walk to, and recover a sense of neighborhood and community.

[FSogol]

2. K & R. n/t