Regionalism is a crock

I hate to say it, but in my opinion, regionalism is a crock... at least in its current form.

It's been a while, but I remember going to some event for Heart of the Triad a while ago at the Grandover Resort (and it wasn't about this). What was interesting at the time was there was all this talk about how we as the "Triad" was just as large as any of the bigger cities such as Raleigh and Charlotte, and we could definitely compete on a whole instead of separately.

Great talking points.

Less great action points.

I remember then thinking... hey, Dell is coming, this is their chance to quit their bickering and everyone benefits from a non-competition bid for Dell. Boy, that was a mistake. Like half-starved people eying the last biscuit, the three cities collided in trying to provide a manufacturering spot for the new Dell facility alongside the incentives package. I still believe that Winston-Salem, who won out the bid, lost on a whole. Dell was the true winner from all the insistent bickering.

It sounds so ridiculous that you almost have to laugh out loud. Almost.

What's interesting is that with all the big talk, no one will get off their high horse and actually do what they say. For example, if there's a business that comes to the region, perhaps High Point gets all of the manufacturing, Winston-Salem gets all of the big retail bids, and Greensboro gets the tech. Or something like that. At least it's an idea. In the end, the law of averages says that everyone will get their fair share, and the region will grow as a whole.

Unfortunately, we would rather waste more money and resources, in trying filling our own city coffers in the short-term, than think about the long-term benefits. Typical syndrome of eat now, don't worry about that heart attack that's coming. You see this often in senior management type positions where they bicker about their huge salaries when the company

When the cities can actually work together in economic deals without being at each others throats with bidding, then I'll believe that we've actually evolved into regionalism. But in its current state, regionalism is a crock.. definitely.