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Orfield gives pointers on region development © 2002. Northwest Indiana Times. Reprinted With Permission. |
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By ROBIN BIESEN MERRILLVILLE -- In the nearly 10 years he has been studying Northwest Indiana, Minnesota Sen. Myron Orfield has watched a migration of decline in the region -- from the central cities outward. Problems of poverty and declining household incomes long associated with the established urban centers have now become difficulties facing first-ring suburbs, such as Merrillville, Highland and Portage. Orfield came to the region Thursday at the invitation of the Northwest Indiana Forum to talk to civic, business and government leaders about regionalism and chronicle cases that show uniting economically works. "The outcomes are predictable in regions that do not work together," he said. "The fringe becomes more attractive and people to continue to migrate away from the center." As contrasting examples, Orfield pointed to Indianapolis and Milwaukee -- metropolitan regions alike in nearly every way except for the manner in which they approach economic development. In Indianapolis, the Marion County seat, city and county governments merged in key areas in an experiment known as Unigov. As a result, economic development and land use planning became a regional issue; a metropolitan council crafted a common economic strategy that resulted in a resurgence in the central city. At the same time Indianapolis was working to refashion itself, Orfield said Milwaukee was competing with its suburbs for economic investment. The results speak for themselves. Instead of Indianapolis' 22,000 distressed residents in the central city, Orfield said Milwaukee has 190,000 residents who live in distressed circumstances. "The places that are dominating the U.S. economy are regions that work together," he said. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orfield said lawmakers crafted a plan to share economic growth among all communities in the metro area in an initiative known as tax-base sharing. What tax-base sharing does is provide the benefits of increased taxable property values to all communities in the Minneapolis metro region. Eliminating competition between neighboring communities for economic development allowed the region to band together to attract large-scale new investment, such as the Mall of America in nearby Bloomington. It was a development lured with the promise of $50 million in highway improvements, far larger than anything Bloomington could have completed on its own. What lawmakers found was the entire region benefited under the tax-base sharing model. Instead of a difference of 12 to 1 between the wealthiest and poorest communities in the Minneapolis metro area, Orfield said the discrepancy is 4 to 1. "When a region grows against itself, everyone gets hurt," he said. Gary Mayor Scott King, a panelist at the forum, said regional reforms in Northwest Indiana are long overdue. As he recounted how both Highland and Schererville have been waging a war of words in recent months, hoping to lure a Krispy Kreme franchise to one of the neighboring communities, King said it was symbolic of Northwest Indiana's approach to economic development. "How many man hours have been invested duking it out for a doughnut chain," King said. "This isn't partisan politics. This is about figuring out economics. We need to speak with one voice. Instead of talking about black and white, we need to talk about green and what is going to happen -- not in six years, but in six months, because of the continuing decline in steel." Highland Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin, who also served as a panelist at the forum, said it is vital the region unite to attract new industry. He acknowledged there was tremendous job growth in the suburbs during the 1990s boom, but questioned the kind of jobs that were created. "I think that we need to start thinking about the quality of the jobs and I think, given a choice between the minimum wage job that is five minutes away or the $25-per-hour job that is 20 minutes away, most people would choose the latter," Griffin said. "With the added benefit of tax-base sharing, everyone would get the benefit of the job plus the added benefit of the additional tax base, whether it is in our community or not." King said it is urgent that Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties unite around regionalism and advocated that leaders from the three counties meet to craft a regional initiative that could be presented to state lawmakers early next year. Northwest Indiana Forum President Thomas McDermott said the region has no time to waste. "Time is of the essence," McDermott said. "This is about change and about our future." Robin Biesen can be reached at biesen@nwitimes.com or (219) 462-5151, Ext. 349. << Back to Press Clippings |
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