The first time Alicia Andrews commuted from Wilkinsburg to her current job, the reality of our fractured local government hit home.

"I drove to Turtle Creek on my first day, and went through seven different municipalities, and I was like, wow!" said the 26-year-old associate director of the Human Services Center Corp.

Today, she'll be among the presenters when Leadership Pittsburgh unveils the results of a nine-month study on government consolidation. They'll outline the benefits and provide a blueprint for progress at 1:30 p.m. at Point Park University's ballroom, Downtown, and release a report by month's end.

"I really think [consolidation] would be a good, viable option for the City of Pittsburgh, and for other, smaller municipalities," said Ms. Andrews, summing up the consensus of the 48 members of the nonprofit group's current class of emerging leaders. Those interviewed said the region should start with baby steps toward that goal, and can only succeed with strong leadership and public input.

Each year, the 23-year-old training organization focuses a class of up-and-comers on a single issue.

Consolidation plays a "critical role ... in the future of our region," said Leadership Pittsburgh President Aradhna M. Dhanda. "These are smart, intelligent professionals who have a stake in this issue. Who better" to study it.

The class started by studying 10 cities that had, to varying degrees, consolidated with their counties or neighbors. They found increased efficiency, lower taxes and greater prestige were the results.

"We did not identify a single community where you couldn't say, hey, the workforce benefited," said Jim Fawcett, 42, a vice president at Highmark Inc. who lives in Pine.

Then they interviewed local leaders on how consolidation could work here.

"There is a very strong underlying push that they would like to follow through with [consolidation]," said Jill Sandilla, 41, a senior vice president at Fifth Third Bank from Pine.

That sentiment comes with caveats. African Americans want to ensure it doesn't dilute the political power of minorities, said Ms. Andrews.

Labor leaders need assurances that it won't result in privatization, layoffs, or erosion of pay and benefits, said Mr. Fawcett.

Suburbanites want proof that they won't be taxed to bail out the city. Any effort to merge them away would require reassurance that they will "not lose their identities," said Bruce Russell, 55, dean of Slippery Rock University's College of Business, Information and Social Sciences.

Consolidation took different forms in the cases they studied, from erasing all municipal boundaries to limited sharing of some responsibilities. There were a few common threads that ran through them all.

First, a respected leader, usually from politics or business, has to take up the cause.

"I think we have, honestly, the right two guys to get it done" in Mayor Bob O'Connor and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, said Mr. Fawcett, noting that they meet more often than past city and county leaders and have expressed interest in government consolidation.

Second, every interest group must be brought to the table and given input, "so people don't feel like they're being dictated to," said Susan Lephart, 50, of Hampton, the executive director of the Aircast Foundation.

Third, it takes time -- sometimes decades.

The city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have merged a few offices, notably their emergency dispatching. Though the city has backed off of a full-scale merger of purchasing departments, the city and county are doing more bulk buying with the Port Authority, Pittsburgh Public Schools, and other agencies.

The city and county intend to merge some public works functions, like their sign-making shops, said city Chief of Staff B.J. Leber. Telephone systems, workers' compensation and insurance plans, and computer systems may follow, she said.

Could a total meltdown of the city into the county be on the horizon? "Our view is that you've got to get the city's finances righted before you can seriously talk about that," said James Roberts, co-leader of the state-appointed Act 47 recovery team that oversees city finances.

The idea could gain momentum today, as 48 rising stars in business, academia and the nonprofit sectors fan out with municipal mergers on their minds. "If you get out there and explain it to people the right way," said Ms. Sandilla, "it will work."