The Grand Traverse region has its act together. More than 15,000 people have weighed in on the kind of place they want northern Michigan to be in coming decades. They expect their region to have a vibrant central city, quaint and bustling villages, and they expect to hold on to the agricultural heritage, natural resources and open spaces that makes the region such a special place. Check out the new "Grand Vision" report for a great working model of how regions and their citizens can communicate, collaborate, and anticipate the future.

A couple hundred miles to the south, in Metro Detroit's inner ring suburbs, the Suburbs Alliance has pulled together dozens of separate small cities in a regional initiative called Redevelopment Ready Communities.

The deal to remake Cobo Hall — a plan five years in the making — also is a prime example of numerous regional interests setting aside old positions and coming together for the good of the whole. We can only hope the Detroit City Council sets aside its paranoia and parochialism before its too late to save the Detroit International Auto Show and the downtown hotels which depend on show traffic. Detroit News business columnist Dan Howes explains…

Look, folks: This is about more than a council roll call, or the renovation of Cobo, or keeping the already-shrinking auto show from atrophying further, or signaling that Detroit leaders understand the need for regional solutions to some of the city's more pressing problems.

The failure of the Cobo deal, yet another of Detroit's "they're-stealing-our-jewels" moments, is a symbol of the region's dysfunction and the city's intellectually bankrupt leadership. It also shows deep-seated denial of the permanent downshift in economic reality that is happening before our eyes.

Why would a city, facing a $300 million-and-growing budget deficit, block a well-constructed bid to off-load some of its crushing financial responsibilities when its hotels, restaurants and tax receipts would continue to reap the benefits of shows at a refurbished Cobo?