Open Thread: Should the President Do More to Help Cities?

President Barack Obama won election to a second term last week due in large part to the support he received from voters in the nation’s cities.

Obama dominated with younger and minority voters that tend to live in cities.

Rep. Paul Ryan, who was the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, told a Wisconsin television station he feels the president won because of support in urban areas.

"Well, he got turnout. The president should get credit for achieving record-breaking turnout numbers from urban areas for the most part, and that did win the election for him," Ryan told WISC-TV.

Despite the president's popularity in places such as Baltimore, cities have acutely felt the sting of the recession and sluggish recovery.

In September, Baltimore's unemployment rate remained at more than 10 percent, the highest in the state, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Municipalities are also still struggling with budget deficits, often cutting programs while trying to pay for services, in large part because they depend of property taxes for revenue, and the housing market is still recovering from the 2008 free fall. In the last budget Baltimore had to close a $48 million hole.

The White House Office of Urban Affairs, which was created by an executive order, is supposed to address issues for the nation’s urban areas and lists its guiding principles as: “To maximize economic productivity and opportunity in a 21st Century economy, federal policy must reflect the new metropolitan reality—that strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, which in turn, are essential for a strong America.”

Do you think the president could do more to help urban areas such as Baltimore? What do you think should be done? Tell us in the comments.