This weekend, New York Times reporter Ezra Klein published an op-ed video identifying one of the significant problems Democrats face nationwide—their reputation for being unable to effectively govern the parts of the country where they have control, the “blue states.”
Interestingly Paris, Tokyo, and London(Tokyo and London especially) have almost a community board on steroids type of system where what in NYC are considered community board are instead known as Arrondisements, Special Wards, and Boroughs(London) all of which have real and significant direct power. In Tokyo and London Special Wards and Boroughs actually provide many public services(not policing however) like garbage collection and some public works. Now one flip side of this is from my knowledge of London and the UK the boroughs and councils in London actually have the statutory obligation to meet housing targets in addition to having the statutory to provide planning and zoning(unlike NYC where zoning powers officially reside at the City Council) NOT what is formally called the Greater London Authority(akin to the 5 boroughs of NYC).
Tokyo is even more complex where you have the 32 so called "Special Wards" which are quasi municipalities under Japanese law and make up what most people consider Tokyo proper but then have these other suburban and in same cases rural areas to the west which are there own independent municipalities but under the auspices of Tokyo Metropolitan Govt for the Japanese equivalent of county level services. It would be as if NYC existed in it's present City-County former under NYS state law in the 5 boroughs but also provided the same county level services that Nassau and Suffolk County provide on Long Island.
Interestingly Paris, Tokyo, and London(Tokyo and London especially) have almost a community board on steroids type of system where what in NYC are considered community board are instead known as Arrondisements, Special Wards, and Boroughs(London) all of which have real and significant direct power. In Tokyo and London Special Wards and Boroughs actually provide many public services(not policing however) like garbage collection and some public works. Now one flip side of this is from my knowledge of London and the UK the boroughs and councils in London actually have the statutory obligation to meet housing targets in addition to having the statutory to provide planning and zoning(unlike NYC where zoning powers officially reside at the City Council) NOT what is formally called the Greater London Authority(akin to the 5 boroughs of NYC).
Tokyo is even more complex where you have the 32 so called "Special Wards" which are quasi municipalities under Japanese law and make up what most people consider Tokyo proper but then have these other suburban and in same cases rural areas to the west which are there own independent municipalities but under the auspices of Tokyo Metropolitan Govt for the Japanese equivalent of county level services. It would be as if NYC existed in it's present City-County former under NYS state law in the 5 boroughs but also provided the same county level services that Nassau and Suffolk County provide on Long Island.