• Root Cause Analysis - Getting to the Heart of the Matter. Identify and understand the underlying drivers so that effective solutions produce meaningful results.
• Smart urban development:
• Broaden & Deepen the city’s tax bases so that tax revenues can grow without increasing tax rates.
• Incorporate resident’s feedback, needs and the character of neighborhoods to more easily find creative solutions.

There is no one size fits all. Many resources are available so that informed decisions can be made and tailored solutions can be developed to address our challenges.

What Works Cities (Bloomberg Philanthropies) – An initiative designed to accelerate cities’ use of data and evidence to improve people’s lives. Because World-class cities come in all shapes and sizes.

The Walk Score - measures the walkability of a neighborhood based on the services and amenities available within walking distance - approximately 0.5 mile radius from a given address. The City of Mount Vernon is consistently 10+ points behind others in Westchester.

• Insight: Mount Vernon’s services deficit negatively impacts property values. Let’s focus on bringing in services to raise the walk score to improve quality of life and property values.

Neighborhood ChoiceMaps: Smart development considers the needs and character of neighborhoods and looks to increase neighborhood choices, by increasing access to amenities as well as the quality of choices available to the residents.

CEOs for Cities - is a nonprofit organization that connects urban leaders, across sectors, across generations and across the country, who are interested in making timely, meaningful progress in their cities – with research, events and a national network of changemakers. Leaders use their research to benchmark progress, as well as use their frameworks to realize gains from incremental changes and more.

McKinsey & Company: Implementing a citizen-centric approach to delivering government.