Development expert says Midwest is resistant to change

The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - A leading expert on large-scale regional-development strategies said Thursday that Northwest Indiana is poised for transformation because of its proximity to Chicago, one of three major markets in the country.

"This region is being remade as we sit here," Michael Gallis said. "We have multiple assets and can create a beautiful region that's economically strong."

Gallis, who formed the strategic planning and design firm Gallis & Associates in 1988, spoke to an audience at Michigan City High School Auditorium. His presentation was co-sponsored by Greater La Porte and Michigan City economic development corporations and the Northwest Indiana Forum.

Gallis centered his talk on the need for communities to plan where they are going and how to get there to compete in the 21st century. He said planning within county lines tends to be political rather than economic and is a restricted view of development.

"Markets are defined by population density, transportation networks and levels of income," Gallis said. He referred several times to the need for "long-range recognizance," meaning a detailed study of conditions in a broader geographic area.

From his experience working with groups across the country, Gallis has seen three basic attitudes toward economic development. One is to grow the existing economy, another is to attract growing industries and the third is to bring in business startups and technology-based industry.

"The Midwest attitude is how can we hang on to what already exists," Gallis said. He explains this resistance to change as a byproduct of several centuries of a stable economy from farming and manufacturing. Changing market conditions can be traumatic for those invested in the status quo.

"The real issue," he said, "is how do we adapt to change and embrace the future as full of optimism instead of fraught with threats?"

Gallis said twice as many freight and passenger systems will be needed to meet demand within 20 years, and three times as many during the next 50 years. He regards rail transportation as the best way to get trucks off the roads, since one rail line can haul hundreds of trucks.

Gallis said intermodal rail yards are more efficient and less polluting than transporting goods by truck or air.

"I hope we do more with rail networks in this country," he said.

Gallis was critical of a U.S. transportation system formed more than 300 years ago as a collection of separate, fragmented pieces that are both publicly and privately owned. He said transportation systems tend to react to problems, rather than acting strategically.

Since 1990, a new economy and geography have created "factory earth," a continuous global production unit made up of three large global trading blocs: North America, Europe and Asia. Looking at the NAFTA nations as one economic unit gives a different perspective on major market hubs and transportation lines that serve them.

"There's enormous growth in trade in North America with no strategy on how to deal with it," Gallis said. "Multiple initiatives are going on absent a national plan."