Actually, the merger of Brooklyn and Manhattan was just one step in a long process in which dozens of independent municipalities were consolidated into the five buroughs. Many believe the real reason was to dilute the voting strength of minorities, which were becoming majorities in the central parts of the city. Bring in all the white people that were living in the smaller adjacent jurisdictions helped keep whites in the voting majority for a few years longer. Of course, the subsequent ethnic development and immigration trends of the region has made all that effort futile.
On the other hand, to me it makes sense for a metropolitan region to have a consolidated government. The way it works now in most cities is that wealthier people and businesses flee from the center cities, taking with them their incomes and tax dollars. It causes a major breakdown in the cooperative cycle that is necessary for a social construct like a city. Make no mistake, no matter where you draw jurisdictional lines, a metropolitan region really is an organic thing and the people who live there depend upon each other, whether they like to recognise it or not.
Here’s a relevent tidbit… About Interstate 35 (the interstate of twins)
It starts in Duluth (sister port of Superior) and heads south. Saint Paul and Minneapolis split the freeway down the middle. Far north of the cities, Interstate 35 becomes 35E (for St. Paul) and 35W (for Minneapolis). They recombine south of the cities and head down past the pair of Kansas Cities (MO and KS) until Texas where they once again split into 35E (for Dallas) and 35W (for Fort Worth) before recombining again. Then it’s a run for the border where the highway ends at Laredo with a sister Nuevo Laredo across the Rio Grande. I guess you could say this highway tells…
A Tale of Two Cities.
From Minneapolis/St. Paul there also runs the Avenue of the Saints, which goes through Iowa and into Missouri, connecting it to another pair mentioned in this thread, St. Lois and East St. Louis.
It’s being gradually made into all 4-lane roads, which will make my trips to Minneapolis a lot faster.
From Minneapolis/St. Paul there also runs the Avenue of the Saints, which goes through Iowa and into Missouri, connecting it to another pair mentioned in this thread, St. Lois and East St. Louis.
It’s being gradually made into all 4-lane roads, which will make my trips to Minneapolis a lot faster.