City Shrink, part two

Something to watch for:

"Battered by record foreclosures and falling tax revenue, cities are laying off workers, raising fees and closing libraries and recreation centers," says today's USAToday.

A fall survey found that 79 percent of cities expect their finances to worsen in 2009 and that city finance officers expect revenue to decrease 4.3 percent this year.

At least we're not alone.

So what are other cities doing?

Philly is closing 11 of its 54 libraries, and 200 of its 23,000 employees will be laid off come the new year.

In Atlanta, they're cutting 4,600 employees' salaries, including the mayor's, by 10 percent.

In Seattle, they're trying to increase parking fee revenue and decrease spending on social programs.

What will we do? I guess we'll see. But popular targets from last year include libraries and community centers.