Kotkin and Florida Team Up to Agree on Devolution

Two authors who usually tend to make very different cases in their writings joined together under a shared byline to make the case for devolution of powers from the federal and state level down to the local level. As Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin write in the article: "strange times make for strange bedfellows, and we have come to a pass where conservatives and progressives can work together to reinvigorate our federalist state."

The answer to the growing partisanship proffered by Kotkin and Florida "lies not in enforcing uniformity from left or right but in embracing and empowering our diversity of communities."

"It is time for American mayors and community leaders—from small towns, suburbs and midsized ‘burgs to great metropolitan capitals like New York City, LA, and Chicago to press for a similar devolution of power," write the duo. According to the argument of the article, that devolution must occur at the state and regional level, making more room for suburbs and medium-sized cities that might get overpowered by larger cities and urban centers.