Rhode Island's Small Size Should Be an Asset, Not an Excuse

Rhode Islanders have heard the jokes about our size for so long that we sometimes forget to ask what that size actually enables. A state where the capital, the ocean and the countryside are all within a half-hour drive of nearly every resident has an opportunity that Texas or California simply do not: the ability to coordinate policy across an entire population at a scale most countries would envy.

We don't always use it. Municipal boundaries in Rhode Island can feel more consequential than they should, with 39 separate governments sometimes competing over the same modest tax base rather than pooling resources on shared problems like water infrastructure or regional transit.

"Our smallness is not a limitation. It is a coordination advantage we have been slow to use."

The next decade of housing and infrastructure decisions will test whether Rhode Island treats its scale as a genuine asset or continues to let old rivalries between neighboring towns get in the way of solutions that would benefit nearly everyone. I hope it's the former. We have less excuse than almost any other state not to get this right.