Amid the angst, are there good ideas?

The crescendo of stories about belt-tightening cities, which I noted a few weeks ago, continues.

The New York Times weighed in again on Friday and then Times columnist Paul Krugman sounded apochryphal yesterday. Check out the reader comments, including one from Steve in Las Vegas, who says

"I don't care if every street light stays off, I don't care if public employee rolls get cut in half, I don't care if unemployment goes to 15 percent. Not a penny more in higher taxes. . . My Conservative brothers and I will vote this nation into austerity one way or another."

If that sentiment is very widely held, then the angst city leaders have been feeling the past couple of years is only a beginning. But perhaps there's a way to have more of a conversation than Steve appears to be seeking.

A lot of the reporting on this topic this summer has been about austerity -- streetlights going dark, police departments getting cut, streets not getting repaired. Where are the tales of good ideas? Of collaborations, perhaps, that save money but also give better service? Or of choices to cut X in order to add service to Y? Of revenue-raising ideas that residents find palatable?

Not to put a gloss on real pain, but are there imaginative ideas that some have tried and others should learn from?

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