March 9, 2020
I do not like these trees.
Down the street from the League’s Ann Arbor offices is this row of oak trees, 20 years old or so. They line the vacant lot, about a five-acre grassy space, at the edge of an office park. I do not…
Category Archives: Placemaking
8954
March 2, 2020
An Immersive Experience in German Sustainable Urban Development
American Council on Germany Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour 2019 Participants, Old Town Mannheim, Germany In early December 2019, I joined seven fellow Americans and eight Germans in touring Dusseldorf, Mannheim, and Heidelberg with the American Council on Germany’s Sustainable…
January 17, 2020
Prospecting in the Opportunity Zone gold rush
(This piece originally appeared in the Jan/Feb 2020 issue of The Review magazine.) Created by the federal Tax Cut and Jobs Act at the end of 2017, Opportunity Zones have all the features of a gold rush: things are moving…
November 8, 2019
Michigan is Leading the Way with the Next Phase of Crowdfunding: Community Capital Investment
The cover for the new crowdfunding report. You may already know about the Public Spaces, Community Places program, and can probably recognize a project in your city or nearby. From historic building rehab and splash pads to public art and…
October 15, 2019
Tapping MSHDA’s Neighborhood Enhancement Program for collective action
MSHDA has recently issued a call for proposals to their Neighborhood Enhancement Program, with local applications due December 1. Municipalities and 501(c)3 non-profits can apply for up to $30,000 or $50,000 (depending on size) in funding for local exterior home…
October 9, 2019
Scaling down Detroit’s riverfront
Thanks to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, this year's Convention attendees had the chance to be wowed by the transformation of Detroit's waterfront during two mobile workshops and a general session with Conservancy CEO Mark Wallace. While our largest city's efforts…
August 27, 2019
How Detroit Built a Better Preservation Playbook
Detroit is midstride in its great comeback, emerging like a phoenix in full burn. In a city which has suffered so much loss, not only are community leaders and private investors acting to salvage what remains, but they are making…
August 6, 2019
How broken municipal finance breaks local economic development
We've talked a lot about how our local communities are squeezed by Michigan's failed municipal finance system: that our primary revenue stream, property taxes, is designed to fall behind; that the state has plundered our second largest funding source, revenue…
June 13, 2019
Report Finds that Crowdfunding Works in Helping Revitalize Michigan Communities
The cover for the new crowdfunding report. The joke could start out like, "Some Boy Scouts, an artist, a curler, beer connoisseurs, and a soccer enthusiast walk into a bar with a dream to raise nearly $1.3 million." As ridiculous…
June 12, 2019
Crowdfunding in Michigan Goes Under National Spotlight This Week in Detroit
ComCap19 is happening this week in Detroit! There's a national conference happening in Detroit this week that will shine a brightlight on Michigan's highly successful crowding movement. About 300 investors, community leaders, entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders from across the country…