There are some really great things happening in Michigan’s
communities today, despite their uphill financial struggles. Their
power to make positive things happen comes from a synergy that is
unique to the cooperative spirit that occurs when groups of people work
together to improve the places that they call home. If you have some
spare time this summer, try venturing outside of your usual haunts to
check out what makes the communities around you distinctive and often
wonderful places.
Have you been to Brighton lately? Or ever? If you go you will find a
downtown art exhibit that features almost 30 outdoor sculptures
sprinkled throughout the business district and along the public park
shore. Some are the products of local artists while others are from
nationally renowned sculptors. The whole event is the brainchild of
Kate Lawrence, who as Mayor of Brighton attended a League sponsored
event in Southwest Michigan in the city of Dowagiac and came away so
impressed with their public art program that she immediately went home
and formed the Mayor’s Commission on Art in Public Places. Once local
artist John Sauve came on as volunteer curator the idea took off in the
community.
Another example of being surprised by what a community offers
occurred a few years back when the League was hosting an event at the
Renaissance Center for 700 local elected officials from across
Michigan. Rather than keep them holed up in meeting rooms all day, we
decided to put them on busses and show them around the city to see all
of the positive change taking place. They got tours of the prominent
spots like the DIA and the stadiums, but it was the unexpected
discoveries that created the lasting impressions (and changed
impressions too). We showed them some new loft developments in Midtown,
took them through the Inn on Ferry Street and showed off some hugely
successful brownfield projects that sprouted new, high-tech commercial
development and created hundreds of new jobs.
There are a number of other examples that I could use of communities
that have crafted unique cut-outs for themselves in the region. Often
times you just need to move past some outdated labels and find out for
yourself what a community has to offer—just like those small town
mayors who found progress in the big city or the art aficionados who
have added a town in Livingston County to their list of places to
visit.