Leaving East English Village with sadness and affection

[Detroitnerd]

I get the Armageddon picture. But I don't understand what you are propsing as the regionalization solution? Regionalize policing? Regionalize the schools? Regionalize recreation departments? or Regionalize water?

It's a good question. When does regionalism begin to have meaningful, positive effects for the whole region? Our ostensible regional organization, SEMCOG, is basically a group that predicts our inevitable Armageddon as the member governments implement the policies that create it. That's clearly not good enough.

It comes down to everybody in the region sharing some stake in a region that works together. Some modest measures propose tax-sharing of NEW revenues in the region, so as not to loot any municipality's existing revenues but to share some of the revenues of the growth that is created for the good of the region.

Some cities will undoubtedly be looking at combining cash-strapped police, fire and schools, as our ability to pay for 100-odd departments and boards gets thinner and thinner. We are already seeing some of this.

As for combining actual governments to create a Greater Detroit, that would be a very tough sell. It would require changes to the state constitution. It would require majority votes in any cities that were to be combined with each other. It would have to be decisive, involving scores of governments, much like New York's reincorporation in the 1890s. It would have to include communities both rich and troubled in order to really work.

The ultimate goal would be to take this troubled region that has too long been exploited by the dividers, the real estate interests, the developers, and to turn it into a place that has a working central city, desirable suburban environments and some sort of greenbelt, whether it be recreational land or working farms. It could take 100 years, but it could happen. Eventually.

Anyway, as noted above, there are lots of other smaller steps we could take before considering something this drastic.

Do you think Detroiters want to regionalize any more than novi does/

I don't think enough people in metro Detroit understand that ALL OF OUR DESTINIES ARE TIED TOGETHER. We cannot build walls or move away and think that, simply because our immediate problems are solved, the region is healthy and viable.