Suburban Identity Crisis

" 'Today, when companies talk about locating to an area, they talk about a region, not a place,' said John Lewis, the study's author and a senior research associate with the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University... Even their attempts to define the [Northwest Region] showed the difficult task officials face in agreeing on a marketing plan... While municipalities occasionally band together to cooperate on a regional project, Lewis said, there is no effort to strive for a broader, more comprehensive vision. And although numerous regional organizations exist, their functions and interests often conflict, he said."