In her State of the City Address, Mayor Kate Gallego said the city’s strategic efforts to invest in the bioscience and semiconductor industries are yielding significant economic gains for the region, highlighting how Phoenix is creating more economic opportunities and improving the lives of those living in Arizona. Now in her eighth year as Mayor, she pointed to Phoenix joining Seattle, San Jose, and San Francisco as the top four U.S. cities for per capita GDP growth rates from 2022 to 2024, and ranking fourth for attracting new corporate headquarters.
Mayor Janet Cowell delivered her first State of the City Address, highlighting Raleigh’s momentum, resilience, and her administration’s focus on building a more inclusive and livable city for all. Her priorities include housing, public safety, transportation, and quality of life. The Mayor noted that since taking office, the City Council has approved developments totaling over 3,000 new housing units, including five projects with affordable housing components. To support residents experiencing homelessness, the city’s “Bring Our Neighbors Home” program is giving funds to former homeless individuals living in encampments for two years to help them get on their feet and find stable housing. So far, the program has housed 47 families, and Raleigh has allocated an additional $800,000 dedicated to prevention and stabilization efforts.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam delivered his State of the City Address, highlighting Hartford’s resilience, progress, and his administration’s commitment to building safer, stronger communities while enhancing affordability and expanding opportunities for young people. His priorities include public safety, infrastructure, housing, and education.
Scranton Mayor Paige G. Cognetti delivered her State of the City Address, focused on her administration’s progress, including an ongoing commitment to public safety, upgrading infrastructure, improving government transparency and fairness, and enhancing residents’ quality of life. Mayor Cognetti provided an overview of Scranton’s major initiatives and achievements since 2020, beginning with its financial status. The city shed its label as a financially distressed municipality in 2022 and increased its credit rating through Standard & Poor’s three levels in 2023 and 2024 to its current BBB+ rating. The improved credit rating created $2.2 million in savings through bond refinancing, further stabilizing Scranton’s finances.
Mayor Michelle Wu delivered her State of the City Address, emphasizing Boston’s resilience, progress, and her administration’s commitment to making the city more affordable and inclusive for all residents. Her priorities include infrastructure, public safety, health care, small businesses, housing, sustainability, education, and the arts.
Mayor Larry Agran delivered his State of the City Address reflecting on Irvine’s legacy and his vision to make the community the safest, smartest, greenest, healthiest, and kindest city in America. Mayor Agran highlighted the city’s strong financial health, balanced budget, and significant reserves that will allow for public investments. Public safety remains a top priority, with enhanced traffic enforcement, stronger e-bike regulations, enhanced school security, and improved disaster preparedness. He also spoke about the transition of county-run libraries to the city this summer and announced plans for two new libraries.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz delivered his State of the City Address focused on Toledo’s progress, his vision for the city in 2040, and the steps needed to achieve it. He highlighted significant reductions in crime, economic development successes, critical infrastructure investments, and the need for increased housing development to expand the city’s population.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson delivered his State of the City Address, centered on a “Stronger Milwaukee.” He highlighted the community’s progress and his administration’s ongoing efforts with public safety, education, housing, economic development, and infrastructure. Mayor Johnson reported a significant decrease in crime rates, noting that violent and property crimes have declined over the past three years. Specifically, in 2024, homicides and non-fatal shootings dropped by more than 20% compared to the previous year.
In his State of the City Address, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor underscored the city’s continued progress and laid out his administration’s priorities for the coming year. He highlighted progress in affordable housing, economic and workforce development, neighborhood revitalization, infrastructure, education, and public safety.
In his State of the City Address, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. outlined his vision for Little Rock, focusing on "getting back to the basics." His key priorities include neighborhood revitalization, economic growth, public safety, infrastructure improvements, housing, financial empowerment, and streamlining city services.
In his State of the City Address, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens highlighted the city’s progress and outlined his Administration’s priorities for the coming year. He emphasized key investments in public safety, economic development, infrastructure, housing, and youth engagement. Public safety remains a top priority, with the mayor reporting a 26% decrease in homicides since 2022. He emphasized the importance of law enforcement partnerships, community engagement, and youth intervention programs in ensuring sustained progress. A key initiative in this effort is the newly opened Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which aims to enhance officer training, emergency response preparedness, and overall public safety operations.
In his State of the City Address, Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams celebrated the city’s resilience and outlined his administration’s vision for the future, emphasizing safety, economic opportunity, housing, and education. Mayor Williams highlighted Durham’s progress in public safety through the HEART program, which has served over 25,000 residents in crisis and has been recognized as a national model. The mayor acknowledged ongoing challenges, particularly in protecting the city’s youth. To address this, he launched the Bull City Future Fund, a public-private initiative to raise $1 million to support youth-serving organizations. This fund is already halfway to its goal and actively invests in programs providing mentorship and resources to at-risk youth.
In her first State of the City Address, Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker highlighted the city’s progress and outlined her administration’s priorities under the theme “Forging New Footprints Together.” She emphasized key initiatives in public safety, neighborhood investment, housing, economic development, and quality-of-life improvements.
