Quote Originally Posted by SWMAP View Post
Did NYC need "regional thinking" to conquer crime problems? I am mystified about what regional thinking can contribute to solving Detroit's crime crisis?
New York City's regional identity crisis was essentially solved in the 1890s, when the five counties, comprising Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, were fused into one supercity, the City of Greater New York, which we now know as New York City. New York City has a pretty good track record of working together, of having some of the best urban, suburban and rural environments all within one city.

New York's crisis was at its worst in the 1970s and 1980s. It then began a long period where it poured money into upgrading its subways, uniting its many police forces, and upgrading parks and infrastructure. Did taxpayers out in rural parts of Staten Island complain about all this spending? But can metro Detroit's 100-odd governments undertake any such investment? While they're all carefully sitting on their dwindling tax bases? No.

So there ya go. New York was able to pull it together as a supercity and a region that respects it and recover. As for metro Detroit ...