The president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors said a rising tide of foreclosures threatens to "break the back of our national economy."

Douglas Palmer of Trenton, N.J., is attending a conference Tuesday in Detroit, where city leaders from across the country will talk about the nation's housing crisis.

"Not that long ago economists said housing was the backbone of our economy," said Palmer. "Today the foreclosure crisis has the potential to break the back of our economy, as well as the backs of millions of American families, if we don’t do something soon. We must not let the economic numbers mask the face of this tragedy –- the families who are struggling to pay their mortgages and stay in their homes."

The one-day forum will include discussions on how to keep foreclosed properties from dragging down the quality of life in neighborhoods.

Palmer said people also need to be more educated about loans so they don't get themselves in over their heads financially.

The group is releasing a report that said the crisis is draining billions of dollars in economic activity from major metropolitan areas.

The total gross domestic product growth loss equals $166 billion, with the combined economic loss of the top 10 metro areas exceeding $45 billion.

Growth will be cut by more than a third in 65 metro areas and by more than a quarter in 143 metro areas. The largest metro, New York, loses over $10 billion in 2008 economic output as a result of the mortgage crisis, followed by Los Angeles ($8.3 billion), Dallas ($4.0 billion), Washington ($4.0 billion), and Chicago ($3.9 billion).

"We’ve all seen the headlines and read about how Wall Street is being impacted, but at the local level, Mayors are on the frontlines everyday and our constituents are looking to us for solutions," Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said. "The foreclosure crisis is no longer just about mortgages, entire neighborhoods are being negatively affected on several levels. This issue is now the number one economic challenge of many major American cities."