Bay Area leaders consider merging region
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of business and political leaders gathered in San Jose to consider the advantages of merging the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley into a single region, sharing everything from city dumps to water treatment plants as communities sprawl across borders.
Leaders attending the State of the Valley conference Friday noted that Bay Area residents, businesses and local governments face the same challenges, from gridlock and earthquakes to steep housing prices and climate change.
They said the region, which amounts to the world's 13th-largest economy, should continue to boom if they coordinate their planning and consider merging transit systems, police and fire services and even city governments.
Technology forecaster Paul Saffo told conference participants that sharing everything from landfills to police helicopters could make the entire area more efficient, save money and help businesses remain competitive.
"Powerful regions are the new basic unit of governments in the 21st century," said Saffo, pointing to Singapore and Hong Kong. "City states are the powerful nexus of power, commerce, culture and identity."
Stretching from the rolling vineyards in north Sonoma County to the sprawling estates of southern Santa Clara County, the Bay Area has 6.9 million residents living in 101 cities, centered in the tech-rich Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
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