Now in its 5th year, the National League of Cities’ annual State of the Cities report provides an in-depth analysis of mayoral speeches. The analysis pinpoints specific tactics and policies, as well as broader policy directions, and finds that:

• Economic development is the most prevalent major policy issue across mayoral speeches (58%) and has been for the past 5 years.
• Infrastructure, budgets and housing rise in importance this year, overtaking public safety. Mayors offered more detailed infrastructure plans this year, while presenting a narrower scope of discussion on public safety.
• Economic development, infrastructure, budgets, housing and public safety are consistently the top issues for the 5th year in a row.

https://www.nlc.org/resource/state-of-the-cities-2018