His city has seen $1 billion worth of new investment projects that were focused mainly Downtown and in the waterfront district. Amicone expects $3 billion worth of new development in the next five to seven years. On tap for Yonkers is Forest City Ratner's $600-million mixed-use project that will be developed on the 80 acres of the former Lockheed Martin complex into a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project called Ridge Hill Village Center.

Taking a bird's eye view of your community is very important, said New Rochelle Mayor Tim Idoni. The city has seen more than $1.2 billion in new development since he took office in 1992.

Idoni explained that the multimillion dollar upgrade to his city's transportation infrastructure was the key to smart growth. "It's a holistic approach that takes a lot time." Simone Development will break ground next summer on a $175-million plan in New Rochelle that will create a 34-story residential luxury condominium building, with 425 condominium units, 44,000 sf of retail, 2,500 sf of office space and a 859-space municipal parking garage.

However, in recreating their cities, like Manhattan, one of the biggest challenges will be in creating affordable housing, the mayors agreed. "Unless the federal government, state and county get together, there's no way to build affordable housing, not with the price of land here," Delfino said.

"Westchester is extremely expensive now," Amicone said. "But we've got to create a housing market for everyone to live here."