<\/p>\n
A substantial majority of people in the Chicago \u201cmegacity\u201d \u2013 the region stretching from the Milwaukee area, across metropolitan Chicago, and into northwest Indiana \u2013 want to see their political leaders make a priority of action that benefits the region as a whole, and not just actions focused on the needs of their own area.<\/p>\n
But what does that mean when you get into details? How does that translate into reality?<\/p>\n
That main finding of broad support for regional cooperation and those two questions shaped a groundbreaking conference at Marquette Law School on Tuesday. \u201cPublic Attitudes in the Chicago Megacity: Who are we and what are the possibilities?\u201d focused on the results of what is believed to be the first extensive poll of residents of the sections of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana that are part of the \u201cmegacity.\u201d \u00a0The conference was sponsored by the Law School and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.<\/p>\n
Describing the broad conclusions, Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll and the Law School\u2019s professor of law and public policy, said, \u201cWhat we see is a substantial majority, over 70% in Illinois and Indiana, and 61% in Wisconsin, who say they would rather see cooperation among the governors and the elected officials,\u201d than for political leaders to focus only on their own states\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n
Translating that into specific policy areas, Franklin said, the poll found strong support for regional approaches to licensing of professionals in many occupations and to planning of transportation work. But there was less support for placing regional concerns about local concerns when it comes to efforts to attract businesses or promote tourism.<\/p>\n
The conference was a follow-up to a 2012 conference at the Law School that focused on a report from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD study said the Chicago region was one of the world\u2019s major economic centers, but growth was slower than in many other regions in the world. The report advocated focusing on regional approaches to improving transportation, education, and economic development focused on \u201cgreen\u201d industries such as water.<\/p>\n
At Tuesday\u2019s conference, Franklin described the new poll results in a conversation with Mike Gousha, the Law School\u2019s distinguished fellow in law and public policy. A detailed report by Franklin on the poll results was also released Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Franklin said one important finding was that sentiment on a large number of questions didn\u2019t vary much overall from one state to another in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might have thought that Illinois and Indiana and Wisconsin would differ from one another on things that really matter, like the Packers versus Bears,\u201d Franklin said at the conference.<\/p>\n
\u201dOf course, there are things that we are deeply divided on between our states. But what you will see throughout this report and throughout this presentation today is how modest those differences really are.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201dIt\u2019s less state-versus-state (when it comes to) dramatic differences. What it really is is the differences within all of the states.\u201d Divisions over issues and whether to work on them regionally fall along lines that have definite partisan and economic components.<\/p>\n
\u201dThose political divisions are the things that make regional cooperation harder, but it\u2019s not because Illinois and Wisconsin differ dramatically from each other,\u201d Franklin said. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s that, within our states, we differ among ourselves on what we think the best courses of policy are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Franklin\u2019s report described poll findings related to transportation, education, and other concerns. People gave opinions on how they chose the field of work they were in, how they were trained, how willing they were to consider entrepreneurial or career risks, their satisfaction with their neighborhoods, and other matters.<\/p>\n
Franklin focused on findings that showed regional differences in people\u2019s highest level of schooling, including the percentage of adults who have only a high school diploma or did not graduate high school. That figure was 50% in Indiana, 40% in Wisconsin, and 39% in Illinois.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to results that showed that about a quarter of adults in Illinois and Indiana and a third in Wisconsin had received technical training beyond high school. That suggested that, when it comes to career development, technical training plays a bigger role than many people think.<\/p>\n
Two panel discussions, one involving leaders in the private and non-profit sector and one involving mayors of three cities in the \u201cmegacity,\u201d followed Franklin\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n
Karen Freeman-Wilson, mayor of Gary, Indiana, expressed skepticism about the level of support of regional cooperation shown in poll results.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought people were being a little aspirational in their answers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is wholly inconsistent with what I have experienced as mayor.\u201d For example, she said, both among residents of Gary and other parts of northwestern Indiana, she said that she had found resistance to thinking about what was good for the region, rather than just for an individual community, when it came to improving passenger rail services. Freeman-Wilson said she heard from many people who said things such as, \u201cWhy are you making decisions that don\u2019t directly benefit Gary citizens?\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she saw differences in the poll results between what people said on broader questions and what they said when asked about specific issues, such as recruiting businesses.<\/p>\n
John Dickert, mayor of Racine, has been a strong advocate for regional work on economic development and transportation. He said if progress is going to be made in regional cooperation, mayors will play a pivotal role. Why mayors?<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the reality is that nobody else is doing it. Washington definitely is not doing it, and our state level governments, we can\u2019t even get three governors who are in the same aisle (politically) to agree,\u201d Dickert said. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to have to do it as mayors, because we\u2019re really in essence the only people who are getting anything done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dickert stressed the importance of working together as a region. He said, \u201cI will tell you this. \u00a0If we don\u2019t start building regionally and if we don\u2019t listen to the OECD, and if we don\u2019t listen to logic, which is if you create a transportation system that is efficient and effective, you save money, cut taxes, and allow for opportunity, if we don\u2019t start doing things like that, there is one thing I can guarantee and I don\u2019t even have to be a mind reader. This region will fail. We will fail the world, we will fail our people, and, here\u2019s my point, we will fail our children, and as a mayor I refuse to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He asked, \u201cAre people really willing to go to the wall on things that are bigger than them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Barrett, mayor of Milwaukee, said he wasn\u2019t surprised and he wasn\u2019t really bothered by the fact that people often put the interests of their own communities first when issues are important.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re rooting for their home team first and foremost, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that,\u201d Barrett said. He said it\u2019s human nature to feel that, if it\u2019s not hurting me, it\u2019s OK to go ahead with something such as regional planning. He said regional leaders should find areas where they can work together, given that fact, and he pointed to efforts to build economically on the availability of water as a subject with major potential.<\/p>\n
The other panel discussion included Ellen Alberding, president of the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation; Todd Battle, president of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance; Michelle Nettles, chief human resources officer for MillerCoors; and Carmel Ruffolo, Wisconsin operational chair for the Alliance for Regional Development and associate vice president for research and innovation at Marquette University.<\/p>\n
Video of the conference may be found by clicking here<\/a>. Professor Charles Franklin\u2019s full report on results of the poll may be found by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A substantial majority of people in the Chicago \u201cmegacity\u201d \u2013 the region stretching from the Milwaukee area, across metropolitan Chicago, and into northwest Indiana \u2013 want to see their political leaders make a priority of action that benefits the region as a whole, and not just actions focused on the needs of their own 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