Either they're in big trouble and the economy is going the wrong way and there is a strong surge of anxiety about being left behind in the new economy. Or, they're chasing some enormously intriguing opportunity, and they've gotten the message that if they're not all working together authentically, they have no hope. Those are the two bookends of the reality, and I think most people are still in between, still pretending that nothing's changed. Local government that manages to get elected with some contemplation of its foreign policy. Sounds jarring, because it is.
Most local governments run on very narrow local platforms.
I guess I would argue the Twin Cities, in Minnesota, which does have some formal structure, has some history of being able to act together as a whole region. The Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., regions in the last three or four years have been learning to do this and, through a very good council of governments there as a kind of a catalyst, have been beginning to make some decisions on an actual regional basis, which is kind of new. It's still very hard for them, but they are showing significant promise. They want to hold on to the economic prosperity, but they can see how easily they could loose the whole game. Silicon Valley, obviously, everybody points to, I think largely because you think of that as a place where people gather in little rooms in polo shirts and decide whether this is the week to buy Japan.