Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, takes a broad look at the current economic crisis in his latest book. Florida starts The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity by examining past economic crises, and how the country emerged stronger from them. These crises, or resets as Florida labels them, are valleys in the country’s economic performance when obsolete and dysfunctional systems are replaced by “the seeds of innovation and invention, of creativity and entrepreneurship”.

According to the Department of Transportation, up to $100 million of the $810 million allocation for the Milwaukee to Madison connection could be spent on the high speed rail project by early 2011. These funds will be used to finalize the design and to get construction and upgrading of tracks underway.

It’s time for a clear brand for high-speed rail in the Midwest. The discussion surrounding the Milwaukee to Madison high-speed rail grant has made the need for a coherent brand clear with people confused if the new train will be a stand-alone route, somehow connected to the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line, similar to the Amtrak Empire Builder, or a competitor to the existing Amtrak Hiawatha line.

The residents of Waukesha County will love the Madison to Milwaukee high-speed rail line once it’s up and running, and not for any reason that readily jumps out at you. Certainly residents of Waukesha County will likely use the train to get to Madison, but that’s not a big sell to the residents. Taking a train from Brookfield or Oconomowoc to the Madison Airport just isn’t all that appealing because of the distance. What is appealing though? First-class comfort from Milwaukee’s western suburbs to the heart of Chicago.