The nation's recuperation from the Great Recession remains sluggish, with high unemployment and a weak housing market continuing to squelch hopes that a full economic recovery will soon be at hand. The intensity and nature of the recession's lingering effects vary considerably across the country, however. Some metro areas, like Austin and Washington, D.C., have fared relatively well during the downturn, buoyed by strong health and education sectors, and an outsized share of jobs in government. Metros like Tampa and Phoenix are hurting, but these pains are related largely to job losses from the housing and real estate bust. Countless innovations aimed at re-tooling Great Lakes' older industrial metros are already underway, aided by growing alliances among private, nonprofit, government, and philanthropic leaders. But they aren't enough. These communities, battered by years of economic decline, need a new set of strategies to help them surmount their problems, leverage their strengths, and take innovative ideas, policies, and programs to scale. This recommendations put forth in this report are rooted in this reality, and the economic context in which Great Lakes metros are uniquely embedded. First, this report discusses the trends and forces that built and shaped older industrial metro areas in the region, and provides a candid assessment of the strengths and weaknesses such forces have wrought. It then describes what the shift to the next economy will mean for the nation, and the tremendous opportunities that it will present for the region to regain and reassert its economic leadership. Finally, it provides a roadmap to guide public and private sectors leaders through a successful the transition to the next economy, one framed around three primary goals: (1) Investing in the assets that matter: innovation, human capital, and infrastructure; (2) Devising new public-private institutions that are market-oriented and performance-driven; and (3) Reimaging metros' form and governance structures to set the right conditions for economic growth. (Contains 3 tables and 90 endnotes.)