Inter-municipal Relations amid Decline: Case Studies of US Legacy City-Regions

• In Event: Does Financial Sharing Result in Mutual Caring? Fiscal Policy in City-Regions

Abstract

The context of extreme population loss and economic decline alters the nature of inter-municipal relations within metro regions. Legacy Cities, which have experienced such loss over an extended period, are common in the United States, clustered mainly in the Rust Belt. In these cities and the regions that surround them, prolonged decline produces zero-sum games among elected municipal leaders who must vie for a share of the shrunken tax base to satisfy their constituencies and manage often outsized and/or defunct infrastructure. This results in heightened interlocal competition and unsustainable sprawl as exurban communities leverage their greenspace for development. Meanwhile, the need for collaboration among neighboring local governments to solve problems and improve regional-scale conditions remains, and is in fact often stronger in these Legacy City-regions, since many are located in the Northeast and Midwest where local government fragmentation levels are high. Still, interlocal collaboration and regionalism occur regularly in these regions – though to varying degrees and in varying forms. This paper examines patterns of inter-local collaboration and regionalism in seven U.S. legacy city-regions: Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis. Comparative case study, supported by elite interviews and document review, is used to explore variation in interlocal relations within the shared context of sustained urban decline. Key explanatory variables studied across the sample include racial demographics, state politics and institutions, and regional municipal fragmentation levels. Initial findings suggest that these factors shape municipal leaders’ understandings of the region and its challenges, attitudes toward the region’s principal city, and the degree of focus on localized preferences and initiatives. The results have implications for economic and environmental sustainability, as well as interjurisdictional social equity, in Legacy City-regions.

Author

• Meghan E Rubado, Cleveland State University