By Jeff Sherman OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer Published Nov 29, 2011 at 3:03 PM

A post by Richard Florida last week on theatlanticcities.com highlights "The Geography of Stuck," and shows a "distinctive 'stuck belt'" across the middle of the country running from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, down through West Virginia and into the Sun Belt states of Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana."

Personally, I don't feel stuck in Wisconsin, as I choose to live in Milwaukee and will always call it home. Yet many complain about "Smallwaukee" and the challenges that come with too many long-timers running the show.

Sure, there can be downsides to large numbers of homegrown residents in an area but it's a virtual world and easy, especially in Milwaukee/Chicago, to work with anyone and anywhere.

I haven't done the formal research but I believe in the Midwest and Milwaukee's retention abilities. If you were born here, you usually stay here. Or if you do move away, you usually move back. There's a quality of life in the upper Midwest and the greater Milwaukee area that's hard to match.

I've met Richard Florida several times, and admire him and his work. He's good at packaging his message and I'm sure this "stuck" theme will have some legs. But, Richard, I'm not stuck here, I'm here by choice.

Jeff Sherman OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer

A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.

He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.

Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.  He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.  

He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.

He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.