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...

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 Urban Development Study Tour. We met with US diplomatic representatives,...

(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 very quickly, everybody is excited, and nobody actually knows if...

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 recreation fields, this program has dramatically improved public spaces across...

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 improvements or public space improvements. In mentioning that funding opportunity,...

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...

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 sharing, to the tune of $8.6 billion and counting to...

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 as it's sounds, it's no joke. And two types of...

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 will descend on Detroit this week for the annual conference...