Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-10-06

government It has complete authority to
tax, build and control public facilities which
affect the entire region. It has made sweep
ing progress In transportation, water supply
and public construction programs Of all
kinds. Significantly, Toronto's Metro" was
brought into existence by the Canadian
Parliament It was not established by local
choice as would be the case in any United
States area.
The nearest approach to Metro" In this
country is a federation voted this year by
Miami, Fla, and its surrounding commune
ties in Dade County. It's regional govern
ment win have unified control over drainage,
slum clearance, traffic and a number Of
other activities. But local governmental
units retain autonomy in many other fields.
Few experts hold extensive hope for an
other of the possibilities nsolidation-as
a general pattern. Complete surrender Of
autonomy to a single government is a step
few Jurisdictions would be willing to take.
Many have turned to annexation to bolster
tax revenues. but that is a very limited form
Of consolidation.
Metros all over the country are showing
strong interest in another Of the alterna-
tives-the single-purpoSe authority. 1t can
get a job done with little disturbance to
existing governments. A deficiency, how
ever, is that it deals with only one phase
of the metro problem. Critics point out
that an authority's tendency, in fact, is to
ignore other problems when they conflict
with its own economic well-being. bridge
authority, for example, owes primary all
legiance to its bondholders; its concern Is
with tolls, not the traf1c congestion q fine
new bridge may cause on the streets and
highways beyond it.
AS for the Federal Government, there
are several signs Of activity on the metro
front. None of them, however, separately
or together. really scratches the surface Of
the problem.
No Single Solution
The various routes to regional action
which we have discussed represent by no
means all the possibilities And it is doubt
full that any one of these possibilities could
provide q whole answer to the metro prob
lem. The only real hope for the future.
most experts feel. is that individual metro
areas viii develop new types and combina-
tions Of political arrangements to handle
their unique situations.
What the experts are most afraid Of Is
that the metros will fail to make the neces-
sary decisions while there is still time. The
more a growing metro struggles with its
problems on a piecemeal basis, the harder
1t becomes to straighten out the tangle
through unified action.
We have necessarily dwelt here on the
problems produced by the growth Of the
metro pattern. 1t is easy to leave such q
discussion with the impression that metros
are bad things, and that one happy solution
would be their dissolution. This however,
would be a false impression.
In the first place, metros are not going
away-they are the new pattern Of Ameri-
can life. In the second place, close students
Of this problem are by no means certain
they would abolish metros If they could. In
deed one reason for their eagernesS to solve
the metro problem is the vista that would
open up If it were solved. II metros can
bring order to themselves, they may offer
their residents advantages never known be-
fore-eficient community services: stability
of local government variety Of employ
ment, education and cultural activity; ease
of travel and communication choice Of
housing; facilities for recreation.
Whether that day Of realization comes,
or whether the metros degenerate into
seething messes Of conflict and trouble, de-
ponds on thes decisions made and actiona
taken in each area.