Love this thought and totally agree that we're worse off with things in a stalemate where nothing budges. Our system as designed would not have been created as-is had annexation been off the table. Returning the power to the city on the other hand would seem fraught with a lot of bad outcomes that wouldn't produce a net positive for the region.

Texas cities still rely on a certain level of interlocal agreement akin to Virginia's setup to provide/exchange services but they still differ in major ways that put more goodwill into the interlocal pot like independent school districts.

I've always thought a certain change with schools could be another way to increase the interlocal chemistry here too but that could very well prove too toxically controversial by itself.

While I've definitely imagined Henrico and Richmond somehow finding their way to a consolidated city-county configuration as a remedy to our situation I've never considered the potential of returning some of the annexed city and how that may play in the public discourse. Even if it were left up to a specially drawn district and stay or go were put to a vote it may offer an agreeable path to a Richmond City of Henrico County transition.