Detroit Politics

I was surprised on a recent trip into the heart of Dixie. Tuscaloosa, Alabama is very much alive and buzzing with prosperity. The home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide is not unlike Ann Arbor, Michigan, home to the University of Michigan Wolverines.

According to Wikipedia, Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. It is the state's seventh largest city with a population of 114,024 as of the 2000 Census. The city's economy is centered on high-technology, with several companies drawn to the area by the university's research and development money and by its graduates. The university shapes Ann Arbor's economy significantly as it employs about 30,000 workers, including about 7,500 in the medical center.

Tuscaloosa is a city in west central Alabama in the southern United States. Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the seat of Tuscaloosa County^[2] and the fifth-largest city in Alabama with a population of 83,052, (2006 U.S. Census Bureau Estimate). Tuscaloosa is also the center of industry, commerce, healthcare, and education for the region commonly known as West Alabama. Tuscaloosa attracted international attention when Mercedes-Benz announced it would build its first automotive assembly plant in North America in Tuscaloosa County. Nevertheless, the University remains the dominant economic and cultural engine in the city.

That’s Where the Similarities End

Tuscaloosa’s 83,000 residents occupy a land mass that is spread out over 67.7 square miles. By contrast, Ann Arbor squeezes 114,000 residents into 27.7 square miles. It is one third the size of Tuscaloosa.

Anyone who has ever attended a University of Michigan football game knows the importance of leaving home early to avoid the inevitable bumper-to-bumper traffic that accompanies every home game. Tuscaloosa can more than hold it’s own when it comes to Crimson Tide home games, but it goes Ann Arbor one further. Tuscaloosa has bumper-to-bumper traffic every evening at rush hour…roughly between 3:30pm and 4:30pm.

Ann Arbor has rush hour traffic too, but Tuscaloosa, occupies 3 times the area as Ann Arbor, with 30,000 less residents.

It’s an Impressive Feat

Even more impressive, is the lock-step attitude of the residents of the metropolitan Tuscaloosa area. Everyone seems to be on the same page. It’s hard not to visualize the entire state of Alabama still reeling from the lingering images of separate drinking fountains for whites and blacks, high-pressure water hoses plastering non-violent protesters and that whole 60’s scene epitomizing the struggle for equality for blacks.

However, as I golfed, as a walk-on, at the recently built University of Alabama golf facility (try that at the University of Michigan as a non-alumnus or guest) more than one fellow golfer told me, “This is not the same Alabama of old”.

Mercedes-Benz began construction of its M Class plant in 1997. They don’t have unions. Everyone works towards the same goal - without exception. In little more than ten short years, this attitude seems to have permeated the entire population. The result is spectacular.

Now, I am not so naïve as to suggest Mercedes has solved the entire areas problems. They have issues dealing with crime and punishment, infrastructure and the like. Ironically, because they are now part of the “Union”, Alabama too, is starting to feel the effects of our tanking economy. However, Mercedes-Benz and other non-union shops have had a major impact on lowering stress in the area.

Unlike the antagonistic, distrustful relationship displayed between union and management, white against black, and city versus suburb that exists here in Southeastern Michigan, the majority of Northwest Alabama appear to be working together for the common good. To be sure, there are some corners of discontent surrounding the Obama election. Nevertheless, there is an easygoing almost happy feeling amongst the residents.

Their region, despite some issues is prospering and tension is low. It’s not a stretch to see why John McCain won Alabama. Like my plumber tells me – If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

But Alas

Things here in Michigan are broken…from the business model at the big three, to race relations, to taxes and assessments.

Seems even the weather in Michigan is contentious.

We can hold on to our precious $3 per hour wage advantage on our southern counterparts in the auto industry. We can hold on to our prejudice, distrust and distain of those who do not embrace our own misplaced values.

We can roll the dice and hope the bailout will work.

On the other hand, we can unite for the common good. Try something different. It doesn’t have to be us versus them. Our true ultimatum seems to be - we learn from our neighbors in the south or we can take a lesson from the dinosaurs.