Placemaking MML

February 11, 2015

MSU Institute on Civility

The MSU Center for Community and Economic Development is hosting their annual Contemporary Issues Institute on the topic of civility: Cultivating a Civil Society in an Era of Incivility. Event participants will have the opportunity to learn from and discuss…

February 9, 2015

Rethinking City Governance Australian-Style

At MLGMA's Winter Institute in January, keynote speaker Peter Smith energetically and enthusiastically shared his experiences of using placemaking to transform the city of Adelaide, South Australia from ho-hum to a world-class destination. About five years ago, Smith, CEO of…

January 8, 2015

Explore Open Data

About 80% of citizens are concerned with the accountability and openness of government. To help address this issue, open data has been quietly growing popularity for the past few years (also see open data mentioned in the League's Year in…

January 7, 2015

Placemaking Happy Hour & Panel Discussion

Placemaker and CEO of Adelaide, Australia Peter Smith is coming to Michigan to speak at the Michigan Local Government Managers Association Winter Institute at the end of the month. Because he's traveling so far, we figured we better take advantage…

January 2, 2015

Great places in Grand Rapids’ urban neighborhoods

Great neighborhoods dedicate only the bare minimum amount of space to parking. Visiting family in Grand Rapids' Heritage Hill neighborhood over the holidays is always a great opportunity to dive into another city's urban form. Â (Or at least that's…

December 11, 2014

Year in Review: The Best Placemaking Reports of 2014

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…

December 5, 2014

Small Businesses Support Michigan Communities & Local Economies

Small Business Saturday is growing momentum. This year, 88 million people across the country shopped locally on November 29, which is up nearly 15% from last year. The impact? $14.3 billion - not bad for some small businesses! And according…

December 5, 2014

Two Michigan Cities Receive Grants to Implement PlacePlans

Allegan and Cadillac were among the five cities that recently received Core Communities grants for public infrastructure and site improvements from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The Core Communities fund is designed to spur private development in urban communities and…

November 25, 2014

Final 2014 PlacePlans Reflects the Needs of the Local Communities

All year, the League and its partners - Michigan State University and Michigan State Housing Development Authority - have been working with community leaders and residents in eight cities throughout Michigan. The goal was to help communities design and implement…

November 25, 2014

West Michigan Attracts Talent during Holiday Season

A community's aesthetics and outdoor amenities have a large impact on talent attraction and retention. Michigan has higher learning institutions that attract students from around the world. College towns' population surges during the school year, but communities struggle to keep…