Can White House Office of Urban Affairs help our metro regions?

Will the new White House Office of Urban Affairs, with its focus on assisting entire metropolitan regions, live up to its grand expectations?

Writer Neal Peirce says in Citiwire that this new strategy to rebuild the economy makes perfect sense -- the top 100 metro regions alone account for 92 percent of air passenger boardings, two-thirds of major research universities, 75 percent of workers with graduate degrees, and 78 percent of all patents.

Currently, collaboration between cities, metros, and the federal government is stifled by a morass of bureaucratic red tape, terms and conditions that makes navigation of the hundreds of federal programs difficult for even the savviest of cities.

Peirce believes that it's imperative for the new White House office to consult with metro leaders on much-needed reforms, and to encourage federal departments to work together.

And, ultimately, it will require Congress to clear some of the roadblocks to this collaboration, he says.

Read the full article here.