Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz returned last week from the New Cities Project, a conference with progressive mayors and urban experts from across the country, with new perspectives on issues affecting the city of Madison.

The small group gathered Feb. 10 through Feb. 12 in Racine, Wis., to discuss urban-planning topics, namely economic development and affordable housing.

Chief of Staff Janet Piraino, who attended the conference, said she feels it was a reinvention of the city itself.

“It was a real celebration of cities. In the past, cities have been looked at as a list of pathologies … it is the culture that cities bring [that was recognized],” Piraino said. “One thing [the mayor] was very impressed with is the idea that poor families can actually become financially stable more quickly in cities.”

Piraino said the conference brought to light new ways in which families can more easily purchase a home by utilizing the city transit system. Piraino said without the liability of a vehicle, banks are now more inclined to grant home loans.

The meeting also brought to light interesting perspectives on the benefits of streetcar transportation. Not only have streetcars proven to reduce pollution, but they also generate business development in other urban areas, according to Piraino.

“Streetcars encourage the kind of development that makes cities great,” she said.

The conference agenda placed particular emphasis on how to initiate a citywide progressive movement at time when federal officials are not taking action.

Cieslewicz predicts the current Republican-dominated federal government will not pass enough progressive legislation for cities, Piraino added.

Some of the other mayors took particular interest in Cieslewicz’s move to raise the city’s minimum wage and implement the Inclusionary Zoning Policy, which requires developers to build affordable homes in development proposals approved after Feb. 15, 2004.

“There are a lot of places where Madison is on the cutting edge,” George Twigg, spokesperson for Cieslewicz, said. “There are other mayors learning how we built political support to get those things done and how they’re working out.”

According to Twigg, due to the constructive discussion the laid-back conference allowed, the kickoff was a great success.

“I think it makes sense for cities who have common problems and shared values to communicate with each other and learn from each other,” Twigg said.

The conference series was shaped by Cieslewicz’s influence after he observed things were not quite right at an earlier Colorado mayors’ conference.

Ald. Austin King, District 8, said Cieslewicz did not appreciate large and impersonal conferences such as the United States Conference of Mayors in Colorado. Cieslewicz wanted concentrated discussion and freedom from “corporate schmoozing,” King added.

“It was a bunch of corporate types … calling their mundane ideas brilliant,” King said. “I commend Mayor Cieslewicz for taking the initiative to create this project.”

Piraino said the group agreed to meet again in Chicago June 9, where they will further discuss their urban progressive agenda.