Those who find success often do so by focusing on their strengths, and that formula seems to be paying off for the Chippewa Valley. We’ve long fostered our musical and artistic talent, but recent re-investments are paying some impressive dividends for our cityscapes, our residents, and our civic coffers. Unfortunately, wasting that tax money is also something we’re apparently good at. (Wouldn’t we be bad at that? How do double negatives in reader polls work?) Regardless, our third-place winner is what all those arts boosters have been promising: build it (“it” being arts and creative infrastructure) and they (“they” being additional job opportunities) will come. –Eric Rasmussen