Metropolitan Areas and the Federal Government

Archive Report

Rapid Growth of Metropolitan Areas

For Nearly Four Decades two population forces, working blindly but powerfully, have been raising havoc with traditional elements of the American political system. These forces—the familiar “flight to the suburbs” operating within a larger pattern of continuing concentration—have left behind an accumulation of unmet needs which spill in a jumble across artificial and inelastic political boundaries.

New York's Metropolitan Regional Council, composed of the top elected officials of 21 counties and 20 cities in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, is considering a plan to ask Congress and the three state legislatures for permanent legal status. Such an agency, especially if given operational as well as planning authority, would inject a new and potentially startling element into the federal system. Some ...

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