Two forums groups met at the Jan. 19 forum at St. Martin's Church. Most participants were from Chesnut Hill and Mount Airy. This report covers one of the groups, which was moderated by Richard Gross.

"Race relations are excellent -- I just don't know how we accomplished it, " said Elaine Fein Calvin, one of 18 Citizen Voices grappling with a vision of Philadelphia as the best-rated city in 2010.

In small-group brainstorming, the group imagined a city where the schools not only taught children well, but also served as seven-day community centers. Transit was truly affordable, businesses were knocking down the doors to set up shop, and the region's rich cultural assets were secured by a regional cultural tax.

Declaring it was so, though, was easier than mapping a realistic route to these civic achievements. Four Citizen Voices named to the "Oprah" panel reported that the schools were rejuvenated when half the school board seats were switched to elected posts. The seemingly hardest nut -- labor-management relations -- was resolved when federal mediators were called in to run a "negotiation by objective" training, said panelist Shelly Brick.

Thanks to higher standards for students and teachers, the public schools became hot properties, making school choice/voucher plans a moot point. As other Voices groups before them, the St. Martin's panel asserted that student achievement grew when kids realized they had a place in the job market awaiting them.

Old factory sites housed new businesses that offered those jobs - sites that were attractive, said panelist Charles McPhedran, due to their accessibility.

And the crime rate in both the inner-city and elsewhere plummeted as the Police Department improved recruiting, and utilized the latest data-tracking methods. City residents played their part, too, by developing community networks that linked neighbor to neighbor, the cop on the beat, and school leaders. In fact, town watches were disbanded, as unnecessary.

The park system was a gem the city polished further, and it became an even greater asset, along with the city's cultural life. So stable was the arts climate with the regional cultural fund in place, said panelist Nancy Goldenberg, that Philadelphia actually lured New York City artists, costume makers, and set design.

Those citizens whose role was to question the panel were skeptical how the political attitudes of the U.S. Congress, Harrisburg and the suburbs were changed to increase school, cultural and transit funding. They asked many questions about how the city worked to attract small businesses, and jobs that paid a living wage rather than minimum wage.