Welcome...
The 38-member Wisconsin Alliance of Cities advocates for urban property taxpayers, wise land use and sustainable communities across Wisconsin.
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Our members consist mostly of older, traditional cities and "inner-ring" suburbs with moderate property values. Our members tend to be regional economic magnets that attract people to jobs, so our daytime populations are typically inflated by commuters who use our streets, fill up our parking ramps and impose other costs on Alliance members. |
The Alliance works closely with the city managers and mayors of member cities to advance legislation favorable to the families living in our communities. Since the economic and cultural life of Wisconsin is centered in our member cities, what is good for our members is good for the state as a whole.
The Alliance seeks to promote a sustainable urban environment by supporting results-oriented legislation that invests in and enhances local economies and infrastructure. Urban and rural Wisconsin have the same goals: maintaining a quality environment both in the city and in the country. Unmanaged suburban and exurban development harms both.
During a typical two-year legislative session, we lobby more than than 100 legislative issues. The last time we counted, we had reported to the State Ethics Board that we were active on 152 bills, budget items and other issues before the 2001 Legislature. To see our report, look here.
| Our tax-exempt educational and research arm, Wisconsin Sustainable Cities Inc., in February, 2002, published Wisconsin Metropatterns, a look at social, economic and physical growth in seven metropolitan areas of Wisconsin, along with tax policies that contribute to or detract from responsible growth. |
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Myron Orfield and Tom Luce of Metropolitan Area Research Corp., Minneapolis, conducted the study.
"People move to, and stay in, cities and their suburbs because they offer economic opportunity and unprecedented access to cultural activities, education and recreation," they wrote.
"But the way these regions are growing — individual units of government competing intensely with each other for economic resources and high-income residents — ends up hurting all parts of metropolitan areas," they added.
The Wisconsin Metropatterns study was unveiled at a conference at Marquette University on Feb. 8, 2002. For a brief summary of the study's findings, look here.
To see our Urban Policy Statement, Sustainable Cities for the 21st Century, click here.
