Research

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 like these trees. The offending trees. It’s nothing personal—they are...

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 are of course larger than what most of our communities...

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 the city whole again by knitting together gaps with new...

League staff have recently helped educate legislators on the need to reinstate Michigan's historic tax credit, which could have broad applications for multi-unit rental housing in historic buildings, upper story residential in downtown cores, adaptive reuse of underutilized buildings, and rehab of existing single-family housing. Accessible to both commercial rentals...

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...

Although there was lots of activity outside on a beautiful warm spring Sunday afternoon in Southwest Detroit, it was inside the Cristo Rey high school where some of the real excitement was taking place. Vernor Crossing is one of four Congress of New Urbanism (CNU) Legacy Charrettes - hands-on public...

"Money" and conversation were flowing at Farmington Hills City Hall as residents of both Farmington and Farmington Hills gathered for the unveiling of the preliminary design plans for the 10 Mile/Orchard Lake intersection. As they walked in the door, Nate Geinzer, assistant to the city manager, handed everyone $1,000 in...

Order book Cars are king in most Michigan suburbs. We have designed our suburbs for efficiency of process, where uses are separated and car-oriented, said Ellen Dunham-Jones, co-author of Retrofitting Suburbia, at the League's Suburban Summits in May. But in recent years, suburbs have been hit with a double-punch from...

Dead regional malls, huge vacancies in strip malls, and empty office buildings have been accumulating in American suburbs in recent years. Much of this change can be attributed to suburban demographic shifts. Particularly since 2000, many babyboomers are now empty-nesters, Gen X is a smaller generation that doesn't quite fill...

Placemaking is such a buzz word of 2014 - and that's a good thing! Placemaking awareness has been on the rise for the past few years, but themes, ideas, and policies are now more generally accepted and promoted. Placemaking is something people can relate to, want to talk about, and...