WHY THE RAHM STORY MATTERS:
What’s happening in Chicago is an earthquake that points to the escalating crisis of governability for blue cities across the United States. There are at least six dimensions to this crisis.
First, the Windy City’s economic strength over the last generation was facilitated, in part, by a sharp decline in violent crime. Experts differ as to why crime fell, but aggressive policing probably played a role, just as it did in cities across the United States. Yet that aggressive policing also led to more confrontations between cops and civilians, and contributed to the development of a culture and ethos on the force that made civilian deaths more likely. It’s unclear how far Chicago (or any other American city) can go in dismantling the structure of aggressive law enforcement without seeing a resurgence of the crime levels that once ravaged urban communities across the country and sparked an intense political backlash.
Second, the police problem is partly an offshoot of an even wider and more intractable problem: the consequences of public sector unions and life tenure for city employees. There is a harsh conflict of interest between the city’s employees and the city’s voters. . . .
It’s getting harder and harder, then, for American cities, even successful ones like Chicago and New York, to manage their affairs well. These are the fault lines beneath the surface of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, and they aren’t going away. To the contrary, they are likely to produce more frequent and more destructive quakes over time.
The increasing fragility of blue cities and states is the biggest problem the Democratic coalition faces. Those who hope that demographic change will create a “permanent Democratic majority” need to think about arithmetic as well as demography. The numbers don’t add up for blue cities. The governing model doesn’t produce the revenue that can sustain it long-term. Making cities work—enabling them to provide necessary services at sustainable cost levels while achieving economic development that rebuilds the urban middle class—is the biggest challenge the Democratic Party faces. As Mayor Emanuel is learning, that is a daunting task.
Indeed.
Related: The Larger Meaning Of Rahm Emanuel’s Woes. “I would add that some Democrats have understood the problem for a while. Their solution is the ‘regionalism’ manifested in, among other things, President Obama’s ‘affirmatively furthering fair housing’ initiative.”
Plus, good advice from the comments: “If you are thinking of moving to a state or city, check the U-Haul rates to and from. It’s an education.”