More than a year and a half after sliding to victory in the closest mayoral election in Philadelphia history, John Street is still struggling to fill the shoes of his predecessor.
During his eight years as mayor, Ed Rendell, the 1965 Penn alumnus nicknamed "America's Mayor" by former vice president Al Gore, brought Philadelphia back from the verge of bankruptcy and restored its national reputation.
But Street, a 19-year City Council veteran with a notorious temper, has yet to gain the same kind of approval.
Although he had the endorsement of the popular Rendell, Street, a Democrat, edged out his Republican opponent Sam Katz by one percentage point, despite Philadelphia's strong Democratic history.
And while Street inherited a much stronger city than Rendell did eight years earlier, the new mayor still has many unresolved issues to face.
Philadelphia public schools have a $216 million deficit, and there has been talk of a private or state takeover by the end of October. More than half of Philadelphia students score in the bottom quartile on state reading and math tests.
With a recent fare hike, the $2 SEPTA fare now ties San Diego for the highest mass transit rate in the nation.
And while two new stadiums are being constructed -- the new Eagle's stadium is to open in 2003 and the Phillies' in 2004 -- to replace aging Veterans Stadium, the city suffered a huge embarrassment this summer as the field's faulty artificial turf forced the cancellation of the Eagle's preseason opener.
To make matters even worse, this summer, Pennsylvania Rep. John Perzel (D-Phila.) successfully moved for most of the seats on the Philadelphia Parking Authority to be transferred to the control of the governor, charging that Street had not devoted enough of the city's budget to education.
Despite such problems and criticisms, Street has begun many ambitious projects to continue improving Philadelphia's national image. Last year, the mayor's program successfully removed 40,000 abandoned cars from Philadelphia's streets, and Street himself even climbed into a tow truck.
Over the summer, $10 million was allocated for the purpose of cleaning up empty lots.
The new Eagles and Phillies stadiums will replace the much criticized Vet with state-of-the-art facilities. The Phillies new stadium has even been designed by HOK Sports -- the same firm the designed Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the model for new stadiums across the country.
But perhaps the most ambitious project the mayor has undertaken is his Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, which seeks to destroy 12,000 abandoned buildings, reorganize municipal government, clean empty lots and plan for future development.
However, the project is still in its infancy, and its funding is still uncertain. Furthermore, Street's combative style has made the resolution of some issues with City Council difficult.
Before Street became Philadelphia's leader, Rendell had inherited an ailing city from W. Wilson Goode in 1992. Rendell set out on an ambitious campaign of slashing budgets, dealing with the city's labor unions and pouring money into the local infrastructure.
By the end of his term in 1999, the outgoing mayor had become one of the strongest democratic figures in the country, chairing the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 presidential campaign and laying the foundation for his likely gubernatorial bid in 2002.
