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Cities Matter

Cities Matter is a campaign designed to raise awareness of city services and their direct contribution to Minnesota’s quality of life; to help citizens understand how truly important cities are in their daily lives. The campaign was launched at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair.

The Cities Matter website is www.citiesmatter.org. The site invites Minnesotans to consider the variety of city services they use every day. The League is excited about this effort to highlight the great services cities provide to citizens. Together we will work to see that residents make the connection between city services and the quality of life we all cherish.
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Cities Matter activity available for events in your city
At the 2009 Minnesota State Fair, we invited visitors to be a "city bean counter.” Each person was given a six-bean budget, but had to make tough decisions in spending it on eight services that most Minnesota cities provide. Many who tried the activity felt it was difficult to choose between clean water and senior services, or libraries and fire protection. The display is available for use at events in your city. Contact Jason Little, LMC, at (651) 215-4030 or jlittle@lmc.org to reserve it for your upcoming event.

See a video of fairgoers talking about taking the six-bean budget challenge
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Coloring book about city clerk shows kids what cities do
“Molly Meets the City Clerk” (pdf) is the first in a series of coloring books developed as part of the Cities Matter effort to helps kids understand what cities do. You could host a coloring contest, hand them out at events and forums, or just have them around at city hall for a children’s activity.

Find more coloring pages and read about resources for teachers and kids on the Cities Matter website ___________________________________________________________________________

Help promote the campaign!
One of the easiest ways you can help promote the Cities Matter campaign is by posting a link or banner ad on your city website.

Read more and access Cities Matter banner ads

www.citiesmatter.org