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A Differentiated View of Regionalism
November 16, 2008
Posted by: Carol
Increasing calls for regionalism by Brookings and others seems smart on its face. But the experience with regionalism in a lot of parts of the country does not exactly produce the outcome advocates of regionalism are seeking. I was reminded of this last week when I traveled to New Haven to speak to 1000 Friends of Connecticut. According to insiders there, regionalism is very much in play. But the problem is that Connecticut's cities are being left out of the conversation. Regionalism there is serving to strengthen the political alliances of suburban communities to the detriment of the state's cities.
I've seen similar problems in my hometown of Memphis. Just look at the region's MPO. The City of Memphis gets one vote, despite the fact that its population is much larger -- much larger -- in comparison to others who also have a single vote. So where is the fairness in that? And is it any wonder that we keep building new roads to serve ever sprawling development instead of repairing existing roads to serve more compact development.
Obviously, many forms of regionalism make sense. Many challenges and opportunities can only be addressed with regional cooperation. Water, air quality and regional rail are obvious targets for regional solutions.
At minimum, those who promote regionalism should draft a set of principles and outcomes that regionalism is supposed to promote. Just as all infrastructure will not necessarily lead us to a next generation economy, all regionalism will not necessarily lead us to a next generation America.
Dave Reid, November 17, 2008
The regional planning organization is SE Wisconsin is similar to the MPO you describe where Milwaukee gets as much pull as a rural county despite having more residents and paying more to support the organization. And what happens they plan generally for the burbs. generally
Link: http://urbanmilwaukee.com