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It is no ordinary time to lead a city. Budgets are in flux. Divisions are deepening. Political violence and misinformation are growing concerns. And as President Trump aggressively pursues his agenda, national politics are becoming an inescapable reality in city halls.

The New York Times sat down last month with 16 mayors at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Tampa, Fla. We asked them many of the same questions. Their answers revealed deep, bipartisan uncertainty over federal funding and concerns about rising incivility. Mayors of some of the nation’s largest cities, including New York and Los Angeles, did not attend.

Some Republican mayors spoke hopefully about this new Trump era. Many others, especially Democrats, who hold the majority of big-city mayoral jobs, voiced alarm about how the administration’s policies were playing out.

Here’s what we heard.

Across party lines, this one issue was a persistent concern.

Americans have been telling their mayors that they are worried about everyday costs and struggling to afford a place to live.

With home prices rising and supply limited, several mayors said they were trying to build more units and meet demand. It was a challenge playing out in nearly every city, with young professionals struggling to buy their first houses and growing homeless populations straining city services.

Mayors told us what else was keeping them up at night.

They described spending significant time outside the office worrying about local and national problems. As the mayor of Noblesville, Ind., put it: “My job is not nine to five. I’m mayor regardless of where I am.”

Some described the fear of receiving a phone call with news of another shooting. Others spoke about wanting to fix endemic issues like homelessness and drug addiction.

Governing a city feels different under President Trump, most mayors said.

With the Trump administration seeking to rapidly overhaul parts of the federal government, mayors from both parties described uncertainty over the fate of federal grants and other programs that Republicans in Washington have targeted.

Many Democrats said they had strong relationships with former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s staff members and had not yet built those same connections with Mr. Trump’s team. Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago, whose city has been singled out for criticism by Mr. Trump, said that “the very basic fundamental rights of our democracy are under siege.”

Some Republicans described optimism about working with the new president, and not all of them had seen major changes. Mayor D.C. Reeves of Pensacola, Fla., said that “it’s probably too early to say that there’s a distinct difference.” Mayor Acquanetta Warren of Fontana, Calif., said it was “not at all” different. “We work with anyone,” she said.

We also asked whether mayors had changed their routines because of political violence.

Several mayors said they had taken additional steps to ensure their safety since the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in June and other recent attacks. But political violence, many of them noted, was not new. Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson, a Democrat, pointed to the attempted assassination of Representative Gabby Giffords in her city in 2011.

And Mayor Indya Kincannon of Knoxville, a Democrat, said she had been inside a local church with her young daughters when a gunman opened fire in 2008, killing two people, in an attack linked to hatred of liberals and gay people. She remembered escaping with her daughters. “I picked them up and left as soon as the gunman was tackled,” she said.

Mayor Todd Gloria (D)

San Diego

“It’s a tough time for individuals in public workplace, and once we see the tragedy that simply occurred in Minnesota, you all the time need to surprise, you realize, am I subsequent?”

Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

“No. However what I can say is with the political violence that has been promulgating, there’s no place for it.”

Mayor Alyia Gaskins (D)

Alexandria, Va.

“I’ve. I’d say in gentle of latest violence, I’m rather more conscious of my environment and likewise these of my household.”

Mayor Kathy Sheehan (D)

Albany, N.Y.

“For these of us who’re elected officers, it’s an uneasy time.”

Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

“As a former police chief and spending 40 years in regulation enforcement, I’m keenly conscious of the truth that there’s all the time a possible for a risk of violence in opposition to you, nevertheless it doesn’t imply that we’re all the time continuously conscious of that risk. However I’ve develop into rather more alert as of late by way of my environment.”

Mayor Quentin Hart (D)

Waterloo, Iowa

“One of many issues that we’ve completed instantly was to take extra precautions inside Metropolis Corridor.”

Mayor Brett Smiley (D)

Windfall, R.I.

“I haven’t made modifications to how I work together with my group, however I’ll admit that my stress and anxiousness degree is up somewhat bit larger.”

Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

“Nothing everlasting but, however I’m actually watching it.”

Immigration enforcement is creating fear in many cities, too.

Mayors from both parties called on the federal government to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

“You couldn’t talk to a mayor who doesn’t want immigration reform,” said Mayor Kathy Sheehan of Albany, a Democrat. “We want Washington to fix this.”

But as the Trump administration works to increase deportations and remove legal status for some immigrants, mayors said that some in their cities were living in constant fear of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Mayors also pointed to local programs that could be national models.

Mayor Chris Jensen (R)

Noblesville, Ind.

“I had a neighborhood therapist method me and ask, ‘Hey, would you go on Fb and do a stay remedy session to speak about what it’s wish to be a pacesetter throughout Covid?’ After all, my preliminary reply was, ‘Completely not, I don’t need to go share my feelings with my group.’”

“However I ended up relenting and doing it. It was among the best issues I ever did. It was actually an hourlong remedy session speaking about my emotions, about being a pacesetter throughout such an unsure time. That challenge has morphed into, now, a month-to-month program referred to as ‘Psychological Well being Monday.’”

He added: “We have now now comforted a group and a metropolis and proven that it’s OK to not be OK.”

Mayor Acquanetta Warren (R)

Fontana, Calif.

“Proper now, the largest problem in our metropolis is homelessness. That’s what our public is seeking to see us resolve, so we’re on steroids doing that. We simply purchased a resort final yr, which permits us to place individuals off the road in an atmosphere the place they’ll get main help to remodel their lives.”

Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

“We’ve planted greater than 150,000 bushes within the final six years. We created a warmth tree map the place we check out the areas of our metropolis which have much less cover. As a result of bushes are a nature-based answer to warmth and local weather.”

Mayor Todd Gloria (D)

San Diego

“Final yr, regardless of excessive rates of interest and excessive inflation, we permitted about 8,800 new properties in my metropolis, greater than double what we’ve been doing traditionally. The reforms that we’re putting in to make it doable to construct extra properties for much less and to construct them quicker is working.”

We wanted to know what policy change under Trump was having the biggest impact, too.

We spoke to the mayors before Congress passed Mr. Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill. They told us they had spent months bracing for severe cuts to federal funding for local programs, though many of their worst-case fears had not materialized at that point.

Some described the pausing of grants while the Trump administration re-evaluated previously approved projects, leaving cities in limbo. In places where the local economy is highly dependent on international trade, mayors voiced concern about the uncertainty around tariffs.

And mayors told us what they had learned about the United States in the last year.

Both Republicans and Democrats said the depth of the country’s political divisions had become even more clear in recent months. Some Democrats said they were still processing Mr. Trump’s return to power and what it means for the country’s future.

We also asked some lighter questions, like which TV or streaming show they liked best.

Mayors also revealed their favorite after-work beverages.

Many mayors were eager to plug local craft breweries. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann of Columbia gave a shout-out to the Kentucky distillery that he cofounded. Others preferred a particular soft drink.

We asked them to brag about their cities’ signature dishes, too.

They boasted about a Friday night fish fry in Milwaukee, fish tacos in San Diego and Mexican food in Fresno and Fontana. Knoxville’s mayor suggested “meat and three,” the local term for meat and three side dishes, while Pensacola’s mayor highlighted his city’s seafood.

Two mayors shared different theories on hot dogs. And two Midwestern mayors boasted about their pork tenderloins.

Their bookshelves are also as varied as their cities.

When asked about the best book they had read recently, mayors shared a range of fiction and nonfiction titles.

Mayor Alyia Gaskins of Alexandria said much of her reading time was spent with her young children, who enjoy “Little Blue Truck” and “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site.” The mayors of Fontana, Knoxville and San Diego all praised “Abundance” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.

Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

“One Blood” by John M. Perkins

Mayor Kathy Sheehan (D)

Albany, N.Y.

“A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles

Mayor Donna Deegan (D)

Jacksonville, Fla.

“The Knowledge Sample” by Richard Rohr

Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

“A Land Remembered” by Patrick D. Smith. “It’s a novel, nevertheless it’s form of on the historical past of Florida.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

“Locking Up Our Personal” by James Forman Jr. “I like to recommend that individuals throughout America check out it, notably at a time wherein the carceral state is one thing that’s being enacted, particularly by this federal authorities.”

Mayor Daniel Rickenmann (R)

Columbia, S.C.

“Rockets’ Crimson Glare” by William Webster and Dick Lochte

Mayor Quentin Hart (D)

Waterloo, Iowa

“The 1619 Challenge” by Nikole Hannah-Jones, who’s from Waterloo. Additionally “Anesa, No Skola Immediately” by Anesa Kajtazovic, a kids’s ebook about rising up in the course of the Bosnian Conflict.

Mayor Chris Jensen (R)

Noblesville, Ind.

“The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson. “It’s all about huge prayers, huge daring concepts.”

Mayor Brett Smiley (D)

Windfall, R.I.

“A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. “In all probability the saddest ebook I’ve ever learn, nevertheless it was actually, actually, very well written and great.”

Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

“The Teenage Mind” by Dr. Frances E. Jensen. “That basically has helped me perceive my youngsters and why they do the issues they do.”

Mayor Mattie Parker (R)

Fort Price

“On Management” by Tony Blair. “It’s extremely thought frightening as a pacesetter. I in all probability ought to have learn it initially of my administration, however I’ve discovered fairly a bit.”

Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D)

Milwaukee

“I’m studying it proper now: ‘A Promised Land’ by Barack Obama. I’m somewhat behind as a result of I’m mayor and I’ve bought three youngsters, however I’m making up for it now.”

Finally, we wanted to know what gave mayors hope for the United States.

Across party lines, mayors spoke about frightening political divisions, seemingly intractable problems and serious fears about the future. But most also voiced optimism about the country, drawing hope from America’s history and especially from the people they meet in their own cities.