By Sharif Durhams of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Dec. 3, 2008

Some residents of Milwaukee's Riverwest and east side neighborhoods are considering giving up the greenback.

Participants would exchange U.S. dollars for a more local currency.

The move would encourage residents to support locally owned businesses, under the assumption national brands won't take what to them would amount to Monopoly money.

"This promotes local economic strength and community self-reliance," wrote one of the organizers, Sura Faraj, in a recent entry on her blog. "Other benefits include more community involvement and pride, patronage of local businesses (those that participate), and ultimately the reduction of traffic emissions."

Organizers in the Milwaukee area met Wednesday at Martin Luther King Library, 310 W. Locust St., to discuss the currency.

Since they're just taking first steps in trying to organize printing their own dollars, they didn't want to talk about details to the news media. But if they pull it off, they would be following in the footsteps of other neighborhoods, including the Madison Hours Cooperative for neighborhoods in the state capital.