This paper is part of a larger research carried by its author on the big scenarios of the contemporary city. It is thus part of a larger effort to understand what the contemporary city is, who its main social agents are and what its main characteristics, problems and potentialities are. This paper presents the results of a specific investigation on the use and potentialities of mayoral inaugural speeches as a tool to understand cities and their contexts. It is based on a previous understanding that these documents are rich in information, both explicit and implicit ones. As a case study three North American cities are taken as examples: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Main source of information are: a theoretical review by means of an exploratory investigation and contemporary mayoral speeches available in the internet. Conclusions are limited to the volume of documents selected but indicate the validity to enlarge temporal and geographic scopes. Despite political intentions and hidden interests, speeches confirm to be potential sources of information to understand specific cities, and, what is considered more important, to describe aspects of contemporary urban life in similar socio and economic circumstances. Selection of other cities, of circumscribed geographies, as well as the increase of sources analyzed may reiterate conclusions presented in this paper and lead to other global or regional urban scenarios.