http://www.thecenterformichigan.net/west-michigan-outshines-chicago/ Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:31:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.thecenterformichigan.net/west-michigan-outshines-chicago/comment-page-1/#comment-1201 Dan Johnson-Weinberg Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:27:47 +0000 http://www.thecenterformichigan.net/blog/?p=1158#comment-1201 I'd suggest trying to link up Western Michigan with Chicago through much better intercity trail service rather than bashing the regional capital of the Midwest. Our economic fates are tied together, and the light, tongue-in-cheek attacks on Chicago perpetuate the false thinking that somehow Western Michigan's prosperity can occur outside of the region's prosperity. We should be working together, and I'd suggest the best way to do that would be with 8 or 10 daily trains between Grand Rapids and Chicago with a trip of 90 minutes (easily accomplished through modern technology now being built in Spain and running all over Europe). Check out www.MidwestHSR.org for some more or read Richard Longworth's book on the Midwestern economy "Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism." I’d suggest trying to link up Western Michigan with Chicago through much better intercity trail service rather than bashing the regional capital of the Midwest. Our economic fates are tied together, and the light, tongue-in-cheek attacks on Chicago perpetuate the false thinking that somehow Western Michigan’s prosperity can occur outside of the region’s prosperity. We should be working together, and I’d suggest the best way to do that would be with 8 or 10 daily trains between Grand Rapids and Chicago with a trip of 90 minutes (easily accomplished through modern technology now being built in Spain and running all over Europe). Check out http://www.MidwestHSR.org for some more or read Richard Longworth’s book on the Midwestern economy “Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism.”

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