Gorodetsky first moved to Novosibirsk in 1972, and spent ten years in the construction industry before being elected to leadership roles in local Communist Party organizations.

In the 1990s he spent a few years in business again, but in 1996 he was appointed first deputy mayor under Viktor Tolokonsky, who later became the Governor of Novosibirsk Oblast, and was responsible for economics, investment and industrial policy.

[1] He was elected mayor of Novosibirsk, Russia in 2000, and re-elected on March 28, 2004[1] with 58% of the vote in a run-off against Yakov London.

[3] Gorodetsky was also president of the Association of Siberian and Far-Eastern Cities, a member of the Board of the Congress of Municipalities of the Russian Federation from 2003 to 2014 and work with the Euro-Asia section of the worldwide United Cities and Local Governments organisation.

[4] In March 2014, Gorodetsky was appointed as acting governor of Novosibirsk Oblast to replace Vasily Yurchenko, who resigned.