Local Government and Community Development

First Impressions Program - This community improvement program, which emerged over ten years ago, represents a compilation of ideas, experiences and thoughts of two people who focused on improving the communities of Grant County Wisconsin. Since that time, it has been used by hundreds of communities as a tool for assessing the perceptions of visitors. Volunteers from two somewhat similar communities (size, location, county seat, etc.) agree to do unannounced exchange visits and then report on their findings. Participants became "secret shoppers" for the day to discover what they can about their sister city.

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Read the Oshkosh & LaCrosse First Impressions Reports (2007)

• Oshkosh First Impressions Report (pdf, 1.5MB, 33 pages)
• LaCrosse First Impressions Report (pdf, 700KB, 32 pages)

Read the Omro & Wautoma First Impressions Reports (2004)

• Omro First Impressions Report
• Wautoma First Impressions Report

Shared Services Links - Links to resources from our Local Government Center on shared services, best practices for mergers or intergovernmental cooperation, and a survey of the level of privatization of government services.

• Alternatives for the delivery of government services, April 2001, 19 pages
• Merger of City-Village Services: Best Practices, 2003 , 68 pages
• Local public services in Wisconsin: Alternatives for municipalities with a focus on privatization, June 2001, 20 pages
• Intergovermental Cooperation: a strategy for limited resources, pdf of powerpoint slides.
  

Government Links

• Wisconsin Legislature
• League of Wisconsin Municipalities
• Wisconsin Counties Association
• Wisconsin Towns Association
• Alliance of Cities

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