Political Districts

In my last post I mentioned a few things about "community." An article on cnn.com brought to light an issue that I have thought about before. The US is the only country that I know of that gives political districts a number designation. Be it a congressional, state house or senate district, all have impersonal numbers. I've lived in the same home for the past seven plus years and to tell you the truth, I have no idea what district I'm in relative to any level of government. I'd have to look that information up online!

I grew up in Canada where, like most countries that I know of, such districts are named after the communities within their boundaries. For years I lived in Hamilton, Ontario. Three of the districts, or "ridings" as they are called, were Hamilton East, Hamilton West, and Hamilton Mountain. Although boundaries of these districts are sometimes subject to change, as may well be the name, that name always ties to the community. You know what part of the country the district is in when you hear its name.

Numbered districts are anonymous and confusing. The CNN story bears this out. People gave the government incorrect information regarding the spending of stimulus dollars because They didn't know what district they lived in. Wouldn't naming districts make more sense and foster more of a sense of community than numbers? They sure would for me.

Check out the story! http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/19/stimulus.district.errors/index.html