Welcome to Better Communities Better Michigan – the Podcast!

The Michigan Municipal League is the one clear voice for Michigan communities, working in Lansing and throughout the state for the unique and vibrant places where people want to live. From state policy to cutting edge local initiatives, we’ll discuss issues that impact us all, and identify key strategies to promote highly adaptable, economically competitive communities that are ready to face the challenges of the 21^st century and beyond.

October 30, 2013 podcast:

Lean Urbanism: The New Local Face of New Urbanism

There’s a fundamental shift going on in the way communities approach urban planning: Lean Urbanism. But what is it, and why should local governments learn to embrace it?

Listen in as the League’s Summer Minnick talks to Andres Duany, co-founder of the Congress of New Urbanism, and League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin, as they explain why the future of urban planning is moving on into this lighter, quicker, and cheaper approach to development and entrepreneurship.

“When new urbanism became the dominant paradigm, we became the bureaucrats in Washington-and we lost the agility that we need to deal with the limits of the 21^st century,” said Duany.

Lean Urbanism is all about innovation and “getting City Hall out from under bureaucratic ties” to streamline the processes that hinder socioeconomic development, said Gilmartin.