Maricopa County question, is it unified? (Phoenix, Mesa: live, cost of, light rail)

[Champ le monstre du lac]

One unusual factor with Phoenix and the valley is the vast majority of the metropolitan area is in just one large county. Is Maricopa County unified or has there ever been a discussion of a breakaway county? Perhaps a split between the East Valley and Phoenix/West Valley. This isn't to suggest a fragmentation of Maricopa County, just more or less getting a feel for the structure of one dominant county in a major metropolitan area and how that jives with the people that live there.

[phx1205]

Huh? What good would come from splitting into 2 counties?

[Finger Laker]

I don't think it matters all that much .... there are individual cities in the county and within phoenix there are distinct planning zone

I really don't see any benefit to having multiple counties in the metro

[observer53]

The idea has come up, to have a separate county in the East Valley, but it's not an idea that has much traction.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Was just wondering since most metro areas have multiple counties, Phoenix is different in that respect. King County in Seattle's metro area has had discussion of splitting as the eastern side county's towns and cities wanted to break away from Seattle. I just wondered what the feeling was in the valley, I guess not much and that's fine.

[KurtAZ]

What would be the benefit?

[observer53]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

What would be the benefit?

Good question. People were talking about long drives to conduct business with county agencies, but a lot of the departments have satellite offices next to the Mesa Superior Court building. The cost of duplicating ALL the services in a new county, to me, would nowhere near justify any benefit.

[Ponderosa]

The county does not provide all that much in services and much of what there is is done online these days or there are satellite offices. Cities also have a considerable amount of autonomy. I think that dampens any secession sentiment.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by observer53

Good question. People were talking about long drives to conduct business with county agencies, but a lot of the departments have satellite offices next to the Mesa Superior Court building. The cost of duplicating ALL the services in a new county, to me, would nowhere near justify any benefit.

True...I wouldn't see any need for a split and it really wouldn't be worth the time/money/effort. I would most likely vote against it unless there was a compelling argument why we would need it.

[new2colo]

OP: I know the exact issue you're referring to. I lived in Atlanta for a little while and was floored by how fragmented local and regional government is there. Any time there is a chance to break away from an existing town/city and form a new town or city to further the fragmentation, voters there jump on it. Here, not so much. There's no serious talk of splitting Maricopa County up because of infighting or anything like that. Cities and towns here seem to get along very well and work well on a regional level. The Maricopa Association of Governments, which serves as the regional transportation planning organization for metropolitan Phoenix, is good place to see how stable relationships are. All towns/cities work together for regional progress on nearly all issues. Without it, our regional freeway system would not exist and light rail would likely not be expanding as quickly as it is.