So I’m sitting in a boring meeting the other day and I realized something for the first time. Kind of like a light bulb went off. Some of you may read this and say, “Yeah, well duh”, but hear me out. Let me start by setting the stage

I work for a smallish town in South Georgia (75,000). The County to the north of us exploded in the 1990’s and there was a huge white flight from my town to this County. Not only residences fled, but business did as well. Part of this was due to lower taxes, but a large reason was the political climate in the City. The City Commission was in disarray and there was very little unity. With all that going on, businesses followed the residences. The thing is, the southern portion of this County butts up against our northern city limits. Most of the growth took place from the border to 5 to 10 miles into the County. The people may have left the City, but they still worked in it.

The City fought to keep people and businesses here, but the deathblow happened when Wal-Mart picked up and moved about a half a mile. They moved from the City into the County. Not only that, but the road they moved to serves as the dividing line between the two municipalities. Even worse than that was that the centerline of the road was the border, half the road in the City and half in the County.

In order for Wal-Mart to build, the road had to be widened to accommodate all the soon to be added traffic. The County went to the City and asked that they upgrade their half of the road and the County would upgrade their half. Needless to say, the City was in no mood to work with the County. After all, almost a million dollars in tax revenue was leaving the City forever. So the City ignored the County. They refused to plan with them or to look at what the development would do to the City. It got so bad that the Georgia DOT had to step in to widen the road. The road got widened and Wal-Mart built a brand new Super Store.

Things were going great until all the added traffic started. The widened road worked like a champ, but the one feeder road, a road in the City across a limited access road (i.e. “interstate”, even though it is not an interstate), was congested. This road T-ed into the widened road. The City failed to take into account the new development and what a Wal-Mart would do to the undeveloped property there. All of the adjacent land near the Wal-Mart became prime development land. Things started to go up all over the place. Almost all of the traffic that comes from the City to shop at Wal-Mart comes through this little road. The traffic became terrible. It still is and it is getting worse as Target looks like they will relocate to the County and there are plans for a few other Big Box stores at the intersection in question.

The City is now left with a mess. It is the main access point for the entire City. Even though the “evil” Wal-Mart is located in the “evil” County, the citizens of the City suffer because the City took their ball and went home. Now we are left contemplating a new bridge across the limited access road. The expense of which will surely be borne by the City.

Why did the City “take their ball and go home”? Simple, at the time, it was not in the City’s interest to help the County. Looking back, it seems so obvious, but at the time it made sense to walk away.

In the meeting the other day, we were talking with an organization about regional planning. I am a big proponent for regional planning. Things like storm water (my area) and traffic do not stop at the County line. So regional planning and partnerships are required to make sure that development is not hampered and that the citizens are not left with a mess to clean up.

But…

After the meeting my boss took me aside and basically said that was all fine and dandy, but that we still had to look after the best interests of the City. Yes, but to the exclusion of proper planning?

That is what happened with the Wal-Mart deal 10 years ago. The City saw no need in helping the County “steal” a good taxpayer. They were probably right in that, but they failed to look at the impact on their citizens. They were going to be the ones heading across the line to shop there. They do not care/know that Wal-Mart is in the next County. They just want to shop there. So, when they see traffic problems and congestion, they blame the City.

It dawned on me that this is the reason why very little gets done in government or between other nations.

Follow me here:

On the local level, the City will only look after/care about what is in the best interest of the City. Even if there is great need/benefit to building that road to the next County, they will not build it because they see it as helping the County.

On the regional level, the counties that make of SOWEGA (South West Georgia), tend to be agricultural areas dominated by my city and a few others. They have like minds and can form partnerships to protect their interests at the State and Federal level. But what if it is in the best interest of the State to build a road through somewhere other than SOWEGA? The regional partnership will fight it because while it may be in the best interest of the State, it is not in the best interest of the region.

On the State level, the State may work with the surrounding states for economic development, but can you imagine my State telling North Caroline, no go ahead, you guys can have that new Honda plant. After all, your unemployment is worse that ours. No way. We may work to bring businesses to the area, but we will work even harder to make sure they come to our particular state, even if it makes better economic sense to build it elsewhere. We are currently in the midst of a water war between Georgia, Florida and Alabama concerning the Chattahoochee River and how much of the water Georgia gets to use. It may be in the best interest of the environment and the people of Florida to limit the amount of water that Georgia takes, but Georgia is going to fight it tooth and nail.

On the Federal level, you have various state level regions vying for power. It may be in the best interest of the Federal government to close a few military bases in the South, but the southern delegation is going to scream bloody murder until the Feds back off.

On the Nation State level, you have the European Union fighting with the U.S. You have NAFTA and CAFTA and the like. There are tariff wars and different views on labor laws and the environment. Take the UN (please). Yes all the nations of the world are there under the supposed goal of a world wide government, but the reality is that each nation will only go as far as what is in their interests. The U.S. may see that x, y or z may be best for a region or situation, but if it conflicts with what is in our interests, you can bet the farm we will not support it. It may seem like the U.S. likes to get its way but the simple fact of our power is the main reason. To keep our power, we have a vast array of interests. Other countries see this and are jealous. So they use the UN and other organizations to try to ding the U.S. You can’t blame them; we do the same when it is in our interests. We may despise the UN, but if we can advance our agenda, we will use it.

So, this is the way of the world. You can break it down even further. The family unit, the extended family unit, ethnicity, religion, you name it. We will come together as long as it advances some of our interests, but the moment it threatens us, we pull back and fight it.

You are left with Ledo Road and Nottingham Way and traffic congestion so bad that millions will be spent to add another bridge.

Why? I guess it is human nature.