The Road to Progress
How previous City to City trips affected Boston.
CITY Atlanta YEAR 1997
FOCUS Major projects, race relations
RESULT In a meeting with Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and other officials, Boston officials, including Mayor Tom Menino, learned about the community effort and collective civic resolve it took to win the bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics, create the site, and host the Games. Thinking big, Boston leaders eventually landed the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Also, the nearly full integration of African-Americans into the Atlanta power structure was a lesson to the Bostonians and led to an initiative to encourage minority professionals and executives to stay in the city.
CITY Seattle YEAR 1998
FOCUS Nurturing future civic and business leaders
RESULT Sherry Penney, former chancellor of UMass-Boston, says that Seattle's civic leadership - which created paths for young people to grow into higher-level positions - was a model for the Emerging Leaders Program founded by her and headquartered at UMass-Boston. That program has given special training to dozens of young executives in the city.
CITY Barcelona YEAR 2000
FOCUS Urban planning
RESULT Milton Benjamin, president and CEO of the Initiative for a New Economy, an organization that brings together large companies and minority-owned businesses, says Barcelona, which, like Atlanta, hosted an Olympics, helped give Boston "an orientation toward the water." That perspective influenced the development of the waterfront, Rose Kennedy Greenway, and Fan Pier. Another lesson: Barcelona officials demonstrated a shared vision for the entire city, rather than policies aimed at placating separate neighborhoods. Discussion among travelers of a "one Boston" theme led to frank exchanges about divisive issues in the city. Although the mayor did not go on the trip, those talks played a role in his decision to walk away from a deal with the South Boston Betterment Trust, an agreement that would have given the neighborhood a disproportionate share of mitigation money raised through development of the waterfront there.
CITY Chicago YEAR 2002
FOCUS Public education, the civic role of the arts
RESULT City to City travelers, including then Boston School Superintendent Thomas Payzant, were impressed with the streamlined leadership of the Chicago school system, despite its vast size. By contrast, Payzant says, getting the players together in Boston on some issues requires renting an auditorium. Also, plans for the founding of a children's vocal ensemble, already simmering after one of City to City's midwinter retreats, were realized after the travelers saw the Chicago Children's Choir. The Boston Children's Chorus has grown to encompass nine groups. 