ABSTRACT
The terms cooperation, coordination, and collaboration are similar in that they all mean working together. It is hard to imagine a metropolitan region where regional decision making occurs without a strong and visible connection to the geopolitical communities (local governments) that all regions in the United States are divided into. This chapter presents three observations. The first broadly covers what is considered to be the encouraging signs in building a framework for regional decision making. The second, and perhaps easier to write, covers the discouraging signs that continue to act as weights on the process. The third summarizes recommendations for steps that important institutions and actors need to take to develop more effective means of true regional governance. The chapter suggests that it is time for the federal government to again leapfrog the states and work with local governments, but this time to foster actual metropolitan governance, not merely regional planning and urban services.
