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Madwaukee -- closer than you thinkBy Ben Fischer
Regionalism, or the theory that nearby cities have to work together to encourage private-sector growth, is the unquestioned driver of development efforts nationwide. It's taken hold in Wisconsin for sure -- in the last 18 months, civic boosters have formed the Collaboration Council in Dane County, the New North in the state's northeastern quadrant and the Milwaukee7 to the east. Those new efforts cover more than half the state's population. But before all of these newer efforts took hold, there was already talk of a different collaboration: an emerging "I-94 corridor" linking the economies of Madison and the Milwaukee metropolitan area. As early as 2000, when the UW System sponsored the first of four Wisconsin Economic Summits, attendants eagerly eyed what might come from a true joint effort between the state's two largest cities. "...The days of Madison getting ahead by competing with Milwaukee are pretty much over," says Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. "Not only in the U.S., but globally. And how can we do that globally? By taking advantage of resources that are within easy reach." As goes the theory, both Madison and Milwaukee have certain characteristics that make them appealing to workers and companies: Madison hosts a world-class research university and an executive-friendly quality of life, while Milwaukee sports a vibrant financial sector and a large workforce. But at the same time, both cities have shortcomings that keep them from being the total package. And they're culturally and socially farther apart than the literal 78 miles of highway. Fortunately, in the eyes of Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and others, the strengths and weaknesses align ideally -- and along with the proximity to Chicago -- create the complete urban experience. "They complement each other well," said Cieslewicz, who grew up in West Allis. The believers' ranks go beyond the usual boosters who have a financial or electoral incentive to say such things about the Badger State. Richard Florida, author of "The Rise of the Creative Class," has singled out the upper Midwest as a region ripe for economic success, thanks to the cultural flair of Chicago, Minneapolis and Madison. People moving here Early statistics show signs of validating his premise. Since 2000, Wisconsin was the only state in the Midwest to post a net population gain due to domestic migration -- that is, more Americans moved in than moved out, numbers that defy decades of steady southerly and westerly migration. That encouraging news, courtesy of the U.S. Census, didn't surprise Phil Lewis, a retired UW-Madison professor who's spent 55 years helping Illinois and Wisconsin plan their land-use strategies. He's coined the term "Circle City," which refers to the urban/rural landscape bookended by the Twin Cities and Chicago, rapidly being filled in by new suburban growth and smaller, vibrant urban outposts in Wisconsin. Today, it's home to about 17 million people. The long-term development potential for the region is obvious, Lewis says: Wisconsin sits at the center of three of the world's great natural resources: fresh water in the Great Lakes, northern timber forests and the agricultural gold mine of the American Midwest. "Development comes to those life support systems, but most people aren't looking at it that way," Lewis says. Parochialism When politicians and economic-growth specialists talk about it, they say the prospect of Madison-Milwaukee cooperation is revolutionary and not an easy thing to accomplish. And it's true, many have only recently awakened to the idea. Critics can still point to examples of parochial interests keeping the cities apart, including the university's decision to locate a new research park on Madison's far West Side. More recently, Milwaukee leaders insisted that a planned technology incubator be located on the UW-Milwaukee campus, even as supporters proposed an in-between Waukesha location. Today, leaders of the new Collaboration Council in Dane County emphasize small victories. Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Alexander says an early goal is simply to get communities to think more regionally. "We want to do things on the micro level but think more on a macro level," she says. But perhaps lost in the talk is a simple truth about the blurring of lines between Madison and the Milwaukee metro area, says Mark Bugher, executive director of Madison's University Research Park, a high-tech corporate park: It's already happening. The transformation of Waukesha from a suburb to an independent commerce center has shrunk the literal distance between the two regions, spurred on by the rapid growth of major employers like GE Healthcare, he said. Also, the emerging field of biotechnology has forced the limited resources of the region to come together, Bugher said. "I think it's fair to say, regardless of how we feel about Madison and Milwaukee working together, it's going to happen and the market's going to make it happen," says Bugher. Law firms and financial services providers historically located in one city or the other have rapidly grown their satellite presence, observers say. And companies recruiting high-profile new talents today promote access to both cities as side perk of becoming a Cheesehead. For whatever reason, government data clearly indicate a greater percentage of residents are more mobile, either shopping, playing or working on a regular basis in cities they don't live in. For example, residents of Dane, Jefferson, Waukesha and Milwaukee counties are 19 percent more likely to work outside their home county than in 1990. Traffic flow statewide increases about 1.7 percent yearly, said Bruce Aunet, a traffic planner with the state Department of Transportation. But a counter just east of Johnson Creek in Jefferson County has recorded 5.9 percent average annual growth since 1995, and another counter in western Waukesha County has posted a 3 percent yearly clip in that time. Traveling man As part of the senior management team for AT&T's Wisconsin operations, vice president Jim Maurer keeps offices in both downtown Milwaukee and downtown Madison. He divides his time about 60/40, favoring Madison. Two years ago, he and his wife decided to split the difference, building a home in Lake Mills. Echoing a familiar refrain for those in similar business circumstances, Maurer said driving all the way from downtown to downtown daily wore on him. But cutting it halfway? Not a problem at all. "I used to live in Madison, and I loved Madison," he says. "And I would have loved living in Milwaukee. But we found Lake Mills, it was convenient; it's not quite halfway in between. It's nice to go either way." If regionalism is truly winning out, and commerce in Madison will increasingly rely on commerce in the other, circumstances like Maurer's figure to become more common. So what does that mean for the land in between? Will the two cities literally grow together, with a solid line of bedroom communities and development following the interstate all the way across? Anecdotally, regular travelers say that appears to be the likely scenario. They universally note the steady outward march of the Milwaukee suburbs' western edge over time and presume it will continue. But official projections only confirm conventional wisdom to a point. While the area between Madison and Waukesha will almost certainly continue to grow faster than the surrounding region, infrastructure planners are not counting on a widely suburbanized Jefferson County anytime soon. That's not to say pockets of development won't continue to sprout and grow. The excitement of the real estate industry over Jefferson County and the last remaining undeveloped square miles of western Waukesha is tangible. One advertisement for a new stable of Johnson Creek condominiums boasts of its easy commuting access to both cities. Matt Maroney, executive director of the Metropolitan Builders Association, says Jefferson County "is a very attractive place for people to live." For one, while Jefferson Coun-ty's population growth rate is expected to stay constant while Wisconsin's statewide rate falls off, it's still a sparsely populated, largely agrarian place. Even with a relatively robust 0.71 percent annual growth rate, state projects Jefferson to not hit 100,000 residents until sometime in the 2030s. Not like Waukesha County Besides, even if growth rates speed up, the county has a strong public policy against unfavorable suburbanization, said Bruce Haukom, director of planning and zoning for Jefferson. "That was really the impetus of the whole planning effort when we began in December 1994 -- we didn't want to look like Waukesha County," he said. The county largely forbids mass residential development on existing farmland, and directs what building there is to places with existing public services. So while the individual cities like Fort Atkinson and Johnson Creek (the two fastest growing locales) are free to dictate their own development terms, the growth will be relatively contained, he said. Given those mitigating factors, the literal vision of two cities merging together seems unlikely, Haukom says. But he acknowledges that political consensus regarding growth can change overnight. Lewis, the godfather of Dane County's E-way, an environmentally protected corridor that features trails for jogging, hiking or biking, says it is possible for governments to control which vision comes true. Lest anyone forget, Lewis emphasizes, it's no longer a question of whether the two cities will merge, it's a question of how. "Actually, if you draw a line from the northeast corner of Illinois to Rockford, and then to Madison, and then up to Green Bay -- if you flew over that at night, you'd be amazed at all the lights in places you thought were undeveloped," he says. "And it's happening much more quickly than most people realize." The way to go, according to Lewis, Cieslewicz and other managed growth proponents, is funneling development into dense urban projects close to major transportation hubs. If that's accomplished, then the more conceptual, and less literal, version of a Madison-Milwaukee merger is likely to emerge. But what exactly does that mean? For Cieslewicz, it means light rail. The UW System For Tom Hefty, former executive director of the Waukesha County Economic Development Association, it rests heavily in the UW System -- and changes that should be made therein. He argued in favor of the state legislature's move in 2005 to merge the Milwaukee and Waukesha UW campuses -- a move that was vetoed by Gov. Jim Doyle. While acknowledging the wholesale changes to the university won't come overnight, he said more streamlining is critical to fostering the "corridor." "The connection of higher education in the corridor is one of the most important parts of the regional discussion," he says. University campuses are where employers look for talent, where ideas make the critical jump from research to profits, and where talent willingly comes to the region, he said. And today, too much of the various campus' operations isn't integrated -- change that, and the markets will become closer together, he says. Also, he pointed to university research showing that since UW-Whitewater began offering selected master's degree courses at UW-Waukesha, 63 Dane County residents have taken them in Waukesha. To repeat: That's Dane County residents pursuing an MBA through Whitewater, traveling to Waukesha to actually sit in the class. Hefty, a lawyer of counsel to the Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren law firm, said reworking the university structures isn't an end-game solution -- it's just an example of how leaders are way behind the people when it comes to regionalism. "The public is already making the moves," he says. "It's the policy makers who are lagging." bfischer@madison.com What do you think? Add your comment to the forummadison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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