Research

The Michigan Municipal League received a statewide honor recently for The Review magazine, which focuses on placemaking activities and programs of League member communities as well as other topics. The League received a Gold Certificate for its magazine in the 17th annual Diamond Award program in the magazine publishing category...

I've had numerous conversations with colleagues, friends, family and neighbors about my upcoming visit to Boston. The curious ones ask, what's your work event? When I tell them, proudly, the Harvard Innovations in American Government awards, the nearly inevitable response is some sort of wisecrack. "Innovation and government, that's an...

"As local municipalities, we should have the goal that every one of our residents succeeds," declared Tukwila City Councilmember D'Sean Quinn during the opening public lecture of CNU25. This year's 25th Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) in Seattle has included a strong theme on equity and inclusion, on ensuring...

I have the privilege this week of attending the Hometown Summit, a new national conference focused on sharing lessons and best practices from small and mid-sized cities. The organizers describe it as a "convening and celebration of leaders in small and mid-sized cities who have spearheaded some of the nation's...

Many of our communities are identified by what they make-my hometown of Chelsea is instantly identifiable as the home of Jiffy Mix-but for too many, that identity is past tense: the plant closed, and they don't make that anymore. The skills and passion for making something remain, though, and can...

Creating Vassar's Vision from Michigan Municipal League on Vimeo. Vassar is a unique place. The small city, with a population less than 2,700 people, had six new businesses open in just over a year. The one-block downtown now offers a variety of experiences with a historic movie theatre, coffee shop,...

On October 10, the Michigan League for Public Policy hosted a half-day forum, Race, Poverty & Policy: Creating an Equitable Michigan. We were blown away by many of the speakers and resources so we wanted to share a few with our members: What is racial justice? - Keynote speaker and...

Last week something pretty cool happened: 200 people attended a community visioning workshop in Vassar, MI. The city has a population of about 2,600, so a 7% turnout is a success worth celebrating. This visioning event was pretty unlike most organized through a traditional charrette. When I first sat down...

Spoiler alert: If you like to be surprised when you pick up the League's Review, maybe wait until you get the July issue to read this post-I'm going to be talking a bit about the projects from my article in that issue, because word count made me leave these notes...

For the past two years, several of us at the League have had the privilege of participating on the CNU24 Local Planning Committee with a passionate group of urbanists.  As the one clear voice for cities and villages of Michigan, the League is in a unique position to reach out...