Quote:
Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc
Does it ever piss you off though, to think of how much greater Atlanta could have been were it not swamped in the middle of 10,000 tiny, squabbling county and municipal entities who all hate each other and Atlanta, and work against each other and Atlanta? I don't even particularly care for Atlanta that much, but to think about what could have been with some decent regional planning irritates the hell out of me. A lot of places in the South could have been better, and better places offering more opportunity to more people of every race, with easier annexation and better cooperation between cities, their counties, their states, and all their municipal neighbors.
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This is a pretty common complaint that I hear about cities all over the country. I've definitely heard the argument for consolidation of smaller municipalities in greater Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh...even somewhat in the SE portion of LA County. In theory, I support the merging of smaller burgs, as it can reduce waste, streamline services, etc. But it's not always the no-brainer you might think, and a large reason why actually relates to what has been praised in this thread (and what makes your post seem a bit tone deaf tbh).
It's not always the case, but often when you consolidate municipalities, or go with a unigov approach, where the County and City essentially become one, you can really dilute minority political power and influence. When the idea has been floated in Cincinnati, it's not just rejected by the small city mayors/boosters, whose opposition is obvious, but also by prominent black organizations in the City. Cincinnati city (~300,000) is about 45% black, but Hamilton County (~820,000) is only about 25% black. City Council is normally well represented by African Americans, and there have been several black mayors.
Hamilton County's political leadership has traditionally skewed white and republican-- although this is changing, as the County Commission has been in Democratic control for a few years, and as of the 2020 election 2 of the 3 commissioners are black. But the overall sentiment remains, which is that the smaller city allows for the elevation of black voices and political opportunity that would not exist if it was merged with the county.
Now, I know the demographics of Atlanta and Cincinnati are not similar, and the balkanization of the political landscape could have nothing to do with race. It just struck me as odd to see the praise of Atlanta's black mayors and leadership, and rightfully citing that as a point of pride for black Americans, followed by your post that critiques the very thing that might have contributed to the creation of that power structure.