I thought the sky had fallen onto Milwaukee, what with the sick days ordinance passing along with a county referendum recommending a sales tax increase.
Business were said to be moving out in droves, with Milwaukee turning into Detroit, or worse.
But lookee here: a national rating has the metro area, with Milwaukee at its center, moving ahead of Austin and Chicago and Portland as a place to do business.
How could this be? Ahead of Austin and Portland, two places certainly cool and hip and trendy, and Chicago, where Boeing chose to park its new headquarters, and where Michigan Avenue is one of the greatest downtown streets in the world?
Milwaukee's business leaders, often imitating their alligator-tear shedding Big Brothers and Sisters over in Madison at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce red brick bunker on E. Washington Avenue, are too often the city and state's worst ambassadors.
They whine and complain about life and business here, when, in fact, things are hardly as bad as they propagandize, and, in fact, are often pleasant and productive.
Could we get a little honesty from the private sector about the state of our city and state?
I spent time in the nation's capital this fall, and if you work there, here's a fact of life: the traffic for customers is ridiculous.
By comparison, we have rush minutes, not hours, and the general state of infrastructure here puts Washington, DC's streets to shame.
I maneuvered around potholes that probably needed permits from the EPA to get safely filled, and what it costs you to park a car in downtown DC for an hour you can park a car for all day in Milwaukee.
Don't get me wrong. I love DC. I was born there and it's a special city.
But Milwaukee and Wisconsin are home for me now, and I'd love to hear our business leaders stop selling us so short.
Sir
ReplyDeleteJust check the U/C rate now vs the U/C rate in 6 months after the new tax from the county and State (we know they are coming) go into effect.
With all that's going on in the economy, I would not jump to any conclusions about links between unemployment and taxes (or sick days). What will you say when unemployment drops, which it will eventually? Unemployment is largely cyclical and has little or nothing to do with local taxes.
ReplyDeleteI'm certain any improvement in the local economy is inevitably due to Walker's policy of no County tax levy increases ;)
ReplyDeleteTo JPK:
ReplyDeleteNo doubt.
I must be blind! Of course more folks are moving INTO Milwaukee then out.
ReplyDeleteThe massive areas of empty store fronts are not really there. The high U/C rate in the inner city due to lack of business foolish to move there is not real!!