The City of Scottville is lacking basic walking infrastructure throughout the city, making it difficult and dangerous for children to walk and bike to school. These same issues have made it difficult for residents to access important landmarks, such as a mushroom factory that is the largest employer in the area. Furthermore, the sidewalk issues,…[Read more]

Regional Tax Base sharing has arisen as one tool to address urban sprawl and the fiscal disparities created and exacerbated by the phenomenon. This Co-Learning Plan focuses on Resiliency Planning and Financial Resiliency. It will examine the history of Michigan’s shrinking urban cores, introduce regional tax base sharing, present two case s…[Read more]

This paper explores a demand-side approach to downtown development that looks at engaging the existing local community, residing in the City of Pontiac’s immediate and adjacent neighborhoods. This paper proposes the creation of Community Revitalization Districts to revitalize downtowns in distressed communities. Engaging with local n…[Read more]

This project focused on placemaking in the Village of Vicksburg in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The village features the iconic abandoned Mill at Vicksburg which is currently eager for revitalization. Students worked to make Vicksburg a destination by connecting the mill to the downtown area through a bike trail that starts at the Trailhead Historic…[Read more]

The City of Scottville is lacking basic walking infrastructure throughout the city, making it difficult and dangerous for children to walk and bike to school. These same issues have made it difficult for residents to access important landmarks, such as a mushroom factory that is the largest employer in the area. Furthermore, the sidewalk issues,…[Read more]

This project will allow the Kettunen Center of Tustin, Michigan to gain strategies for future success. The center is currently a conference and retreat center that is owned and operated by Michigan 4-H. Their primary goal is to bring new life to the center while engaging youth on a broader scale. In order to reach the center’s full potential, s…[Read more]

This initiative, led by a transdisciplinary design collaborative, studio[Ci] was now in the implementation phase. Studio[Ci] engages students in more diverse leadership roles, advances through generative design and digital fabrication, the HNZE prototype structure and canopy, and attracts additional partners and in-kind contributions. At the end…[Read more]

This Co-Learning Plan provided an overview of the Makerspace movement — an initiative that supports creative process and innovation through providing a workshop space where amateurs and professionals interested in electronics, robotics, software, wood or metal working or art could expand their skills, invent, and build new products in a…[Read more]

Access to free or low-cost training programs that teach people skills needed for jobs that offer sustainable wages is critical for both human and economic development in Detroit. Farr provided free training in welding, career development, and communication skills, and hired a co-instructor, Ralph Taylor, to assist with training in Women Who…[Read more]

Despite the heightened visibility on the inequities many people/groups are facing (notably wealth and entrepreneurship within Black and Hispanic communities), many economic development organizations (EDOs) have yet to develop a toolbox consisting of programs, collaborations, and policies to fully address these issues in order enhance prosperity…[Read more]

This project will shed new light on autonomous vehicles and the impacts that such a new form of mobility will present in many different ways. The research completed during this project will analyze sustainable design and urban planning techniques that are involved in the development of autonomous vehicles in Michigan. The information gathered will…[Read more]

Investment in public infrastructure, including the provision of essential services through capital-intensive networks, is critical to supporting economic development and, more so, the quality of places and lives. The sustainability of public utilities and other infrastructure systems depends on spending to an optimal compliant service level and…[Read more]

This applied research study will use the development of a reimagined consumer food cooperative, in coalition with a neighborhood community-based organization, to develop a circular food economy in mid-Michigan that improves the prospects for local food producers and improves the local food access and security. The innovation of this proposal is in…[Read more]

The Wayne County Land Bank Corporation was formed in 2006 through an agreement between the Wayne County Treasurer and the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority. The mission of the Land Bank is to return tax-foreclosed and abandoned properties to productive use, contribute tax revenue to Wayne County, and promote community rehabilitation across…[Read more]

This project is designed to hedge against further decline in our economy by creating the preconditions to help graduating high school seniors to create economic opportunities, innovate their way forward, connect with innovation and entrepreneurship resources and lead by example. Scope & Community Engagement Michigan Technological University’s…[Read more]

This project will develop an outline for youth entrepreneurship in the North Side of Flint, Michigan with the help of WOW Outreach of Flint. The report will further WOW Outreach’s goals of reducing violence through positive opportunities and increasing economic opportunities through the use of Flint’s Community Capitals Framework. Through this res…[Read more]

The United Way, in collaboration with other philanthropic institutions, has created a new measure known as ALICE, which stands for “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed”, and represents the growing number of households in our communities that are above the federal poverty limit but do not earn enough to cover all their monthly household nec…[Read more]

The project intends to increase the number of Michigan projects utilizing Community Capital. Community Capital refers specifically to financial capital that is locally sourced from both accredited and especially non-accredited investors. The goal is to expand projects using local investors to start, support, or expand a Michigan business. The…[Read more]

The proposed action plan includes four primary projects designed to infuse more community benefits into Detroit development practice:

– Advocating for Detroit to adopt an incentive zoning policy
– Encouraging Detroit to adopt stronger engagement and noticing requirements for developments
– Establishing equitable development standards for…[Read more]

The project creates a self-sustainable, resident-owned aquaponic system in the West Pulaski neighborhood of Flint that allows neighbors to work together to improve their well-being. The aquaponic will be used to grow foods that mitigate the effects of lead poisoning in people, especially children. The aquaponic system will be built into a house…[Read more]