City gets $1 million from Bloomberg foundation

Philadelphia has won $1 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies to help the city better partner with entrepreneurs to solve social problems.

Philadelphia was one of five cities announced Wednesday as winners of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors challenge, a sort of civic throwdown aimed at encouraging cities to find innovative solutions to urban problems.

Mayor Nutter and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose philanthropy funds the contest, said Philadelphia's proposal would help the city harness good ideas generated by "social entrepreneurs" whose businesses focus on solutions that solve city problems.

Providence, R.I., won the largest prize, $5 million, for a project that aims to increase the verbal skills of children in low-income neighborhoods. The other winners were Chicago, Houston, and Santa Monica, Calif. - Miriam Hill