Whiton House Publications
While not necessarily a fan of writing assignments in college, Oakleigh discovered both the power and joy of the pen early in her career. She is author of several book chapters including Janesville, A Case Study in the Annual Proceedings of Wealth and Wellbeing of Nations, Beloit College, and the Role for Patient Advocacy in Desmoid Tumors, published by Springer.
She was editor of Hardwiring Excellence by Quint Studer, with 1.5 million copies sold and creative content leader for Studer Group’s workbooks and videos. In 2012 she released under Whiton House, the Patient Experience Puzzle, a simple step by step guide, for healthcare leaders to construct a sustainable strategy for excellence. Her latest writings focus on community development and resiliency.
A Strategy Map to Placemaking: Janesville Wisconsin, A Case Study
This paper was based on remarks given by Oakleigh at the 16th Annual Miller Upton Forum at Beloit College in 2024.
A Note From Oakleigh
The history of Janesville, Wisconsin, offers more than a record of civic change; it provides a practical strategy map for how communities can make deliberate choices about place, prosperity, and shared well-being.
The idea grew from a 2024 invitation from Dr. Laura Grube, Elbert H. Neese Professor of Economics at Beloit College, to participate in Wealth and Well-Being of Nations: A Forum in Honor of Miller Upton, the college’s sixth president. Each year, the Forum invites a scholar to share work related to the advancement of society; that year’s scholar, David Audretsch, offered a compelling framework for examining the growth of places.
My role was to share Janesville, Wisconsin’s recent path of revitalization following the closure of the General Motors plant, including my involvement in efforts such as downtown redevelopment. I accepted the invitation because the chance to showcase my adopted hometown was welcome, but it also opened a broader opportunity to look beyond the last twenty years and consider how generations of Janesville citizens responded to regional, national, and international forces while working to create a better place.
I have always viewed history not as a rearview mirror, but as a guide for navigating what comes next. Today, Janesville, like many communities across the country, faces critical decisions amid limited financial resources, changing technology, and complex social challenges. We are at an inflection point on the long arc of history, where choices made now will have lasting consequences for the future.
A Strategy Map to Placemaking: Janesville, Wisconsin, A Case Study is an invitation to recognize that communities are not simply subject to the invisible hand of the market. We have choices, our actions matter, and every place we call home asks us to help define, shape, and improve it. That is how communities create lasting wealth and well-being.
As you read, I invite you to consider the history of your own community, what it reveals about past choices, and what responsibility it places on us now. I welcome your thoughts on how we can make wiser civic decisions, sustain meaningful investment, and create a better place for the future.
