Harris Sokoloff and Michelle Charles were the moderators of the Citizen Voices forum held Jan. 27 at Mercy Hospital in West Philadelphia.

Fourteen citizens gathered in the pleasant community meeting room at the hospital in West Philadelphia, settling into comfortable gray chairs. The group, though small, was a microcosm of the city - evenly divided by race, with a mix of retired seniors, a few homemakers and several tuned-in students from Masterman High School

In one of the early breakout groups of four, Rachel Stern, 28 - a six-year city resident and the mother of a 5-month-old child already wondering if she can find a quality elementary school for the tot - looked ahead at the city's imagined revival in 2010 and knew that it had to include ''funding increased to match the per child investment in suburban school districts.''

Rosemary Mathews, who was in that same early idea-popping group, looked back to the years 2000 through 2009 and noted that the city's success was built on all children being given a chance to attend pre-school and/or Head Start at 3 years old.

There also was a decade-long expansion of agressive social programs to meet the treatment needs of addicted residents, and the mental health care of many others, according to Vicky Brown, who would become a panel member representing the whole group later.

Richard Levinson said that one-stop shopping programs to meet all the social needs of families, including extensive job training opportunties, were also part of the revival effort.

``In the neighborhoods, diversity was celebrated, and the ethnic and racial mix was a source of pride throughout the city,'' said the optimistic Sister Rose Martin.

Moderator Harris Sokoloff had to push and cajole a bit to get the non-panel members to challenge the panel's rosy picture of the achievements of 2010.

It was not terribly unlike the current challenge of getting voters and the media to press mayoral candidates about their perhaps pie-in-the-sky strategies for improving schools, reducing crime and expanding on the legacy that will be left by Mayor Edward Rendell. (And, of course, that's the idea, isn't it?)

Howard Williams warmed to the task of asking skeptical questions. He rattled off a barrage:

``How'd they get more housing for the homeless? How'd they reduce abandoned housing? How'd they deal with absentee landlords? How'd they get rid of guns and metal detectors?''

But the panelists, who included a couple of those precocious Masterman students, were ready to serve up strategies for success.

There was, they said, a big push early in the century to turn Philadelphia into a model tourist destination city, with new enticements from the Disney entertainment center on Market Street to the Constitution Center on the re-designed historic district near Independence Hall.

Betty Ann Amos, 66, a retired union president in the city public housing system, said the city had shucked its history of labor/managment unrest in favor of a broad and dependable ``Labor-Management Council,'' that worked in concert to resolve a broad range of problems.

That collective decision-making was also critical when communities came together across the city to ensure that neighborhood pockets of poverty and hunger were helped with food assistance and other resources. ``People didn't turn their back on their neighbors,'' she predicted.

And Justin O'Shana, a Masterman student, told doubters that the city crime rate had been driven down partly because the mayor and council had successfully pressed ahead with a court suit that resulted in a major financial settlement from gun manufacturers. Part of the deal dramatically reduced the number of handguns and assault weapons on the streets, and the settlement funds were used to expand foot patrols and other crime-fighting techniques.

The panel also placed notable emphasis on the reform inside the police department whereby police were encouraged by city leaders to stop spending so much time ``covering themselves'' and more time covering and protecting neighborhoods neighborhoods. ``There were more police and more active foot patrol neighborhood presence, and less of an us vs. them situation,'' said Ms. Brown.

This group had energy and answers.

The healthy and growing industries in the city had been successfully encouraged to offer broader financial support to the school system, according to Mia Roberts. Pennsylvania finally rejected the school voucher program pushed by a former governor, and focused on improving public schools based on a major expansion of the magnate school model of which Mr. O'Shana is a product, he said.

``The improved education system, success of the gun suit and expanded tourist base were all linked to solving crime and poverty in the city,'' said Mr. O'Shana.

Revival had arrived in what many citizens noted was a realization of that late 20th Century slogan: ``Philadelphia: The City That Loves You Back!''