Our office is located near the heart of downtown Lansing, and it's clear that the blues concerts on Washington Square have been drawing progressively larger crowds each week this summer – restaurants and stores that usually close at 3 p.m. are now packed on Thursdays.
This is what a vibrant city should look like every night:
Blues on the Square 2008, a series of free Thursday concerts, draws thousands of people to Washington Square, where performers take to the stage.
And the crowds are growing at the events intended to keep downtown Lansing alive after 5 p.m., according to organizers.
The June 26 show, featuring Ana Popovic, drew 3,000 music fans, compared to 2007's largest audience of 1,500, said Andrea Ragan, marketing manager for the Lansing Principal Shopping District.
"It's just been exponentially greater this year," Ragan said. "It grows with every performance and it grows with every year."
Bill Face, a Lansing resident, said he's gone to the concerts. He likes the music and enjoys the atmosphere. He said he tries a new restaurant every time.
"It's a good place to be in the summer," Face said. "It's really relaxed."
Nate Wantanabe, general manager of Brannigan Brothers on Washington Square, said about 500 people travel through his doors when the blues musicians are performing.
"It stays pretty busy," Wantanabe said.
For the kids, there is face-painting and balloon making on the patio of Decker's Coffee Co.
"It creates a tradition," owner Jessica Decker said. "The kids have a blast."
Decker sees about 400 more people on concert Thursdays than on average nights, she said.
There are three more concerts scheduled for the rest of the summer. Larry McCray, who drew the largest crowds last season, will play July 31.
"So far, it's been a spectacular success," said Randy Hannan, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero's deputy chief of staff. "We see people coming in from across the region. There's just a real energy downtown."
There are three shows left in the series:
• July 24: Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials
• July 31: Larry McCray
• Aug. 7: Deanna Bogart
Downtown Lansing has been experiencing something of a Renaissance in recent years, so here's hoping the blues can keep bringing people downtown and entice more retailers to keep their lights on past 5 p.m.
LSJ: Foreclosures affect communities. The LSJ ran a series of articles this weekend about how the foreclosure crisis is affecting our state (you can read another one on neighborhoods here). None of this is news, but it's a good reminder that people in our state need access to quality, affordable housing more than ever:
Looking to stabilize and transform one of Lansing's most troubled neighborhoods, volunteers and grant money have poured into the Baker-Donora neighborhood.
That work has had a profound effect - fixed-up front yards and porches, along with bringing in more homeowners.
But that work is coming up against a new obstacle. The area near Baker and Donora streets is peppered with abandoned houses in foreclosure, adding to the trouble the neighborhood has faced for years with absentee landlords and red-tagged homes.
"The major impact of foreclosures is that there is just about a one-year backlog on selling homes," said Lynne Martinez, executive director of the Greater Lansing Housing Coalition, one of a number of nonprofit groups working on housing issues in the neighborhood.
A key part of the coalition's work has been buying, rehabbing and selling houses to new homeowners. Five of six renovated houses the coalition owns are in Baker-Donora.
Until they sell, Martinez said, similar renovations are unlikely.
WXYZ: Granholm Signs New Laws to Revitalize Downtowns. Strong communities need a vibrant downtown area to help attract new residents and small business investment. Hopefully this new legislation will make it easier for Michigan communities to revitalize their downtown districts:
The new laws amend existing statutes to:
* allow local downtown development authorities (DDA) to operate retail business incubators
* allow DDA's to offer loan programs for improvements to existing buildings located in downtown districts
* reactivate the Commercial Redevelopment Act to allow new tax abatements for new or replacement facilities in redevelopment districts in cities or villages
* increase the potential number of applications of the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Act, an existing law designed to reinvigorate neighborhoods in distressed communities
* require the Natural Resources Trust Fund board to give additional consideration to trails that intersect downtowns when determining funding priorities and expand local governments' ability to exempt personal property to distressed parcels to encourage redevelopment of rundown parcels downtowns.
K-Zoo Gazette: Planner Bob Gibbs anticipates a retail rebirth in Michigan downtowns and neighborhoods. Hopefully the new laws passed last week can help:
Nationally recognized retail planner and consultant Bob Gibbs believes city centers and residential neighborhoods hold the keys to retail's future.
Gibbs, of Gibbs Planning Group in Birmingham, has worked on several Southeast Michigan projects, including in Birmingham, Northville, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc and Southfield. He is preparing to visit Harvard University as a speaker and program instructor for a three-day workshop at its Graduate School of Design.
Gibbs spoke with the Oakland (Mich.) Business Review on retail development in Michigan, the future of downtowns and the impact of gas prices.
Among other things, he said, "Neighborhoods generally are underserved for retail, especially in the suburbs, usually because of zoning. If the market is ready to go into neighborhoods, (retailers) will open really nice, walkable centers of 30,000 to 50,000 square feet, if they can get the zoning."
He said, "Most New Urban developers are building retail into their residential developments. The market's there. The only impediment is often zoning or NIMBYism. (the Not In My Backyard attitude)."
Jackson Cit-Pat: SmartZone designation could boost property values. Here's another exciting plan that could help revitalize Jackson:
Jackson County's proposed SmartZone in Blackman Township is 1,100 acres of mostly county-owned property and privately owned farmland cobbled together.
The area -- if it receives the SmartZone designation -- has the potential to help grow jobs and development in Jackson County, proponents say, but there are no immediate perks to owning a piece of the SmartZone pie. However, there could be benefits down the line, including increases in property value.
SmartZones allow local governments to capture taxes generated by new businesses and use the money to provide infrastructure -- such as roads, utilities and fiber optics. That infrastructure could help draw potential developers.
Say a company is considering the area and inquires about land options. Officials could point them towards several parcels in the SmartZone that are ready for development, said Blackman Township Supervisor Ray Snell.
``When things (the economy) turn around, we'll be ready,'' Snell said. ``We won't be caught flat-footed.''
Jackson County filed its SmartZone application last month. Officials should learn before November whether it has been approved.
Tim Atkins, 2008 board president of the Jackson Area Association of Realtors, said he believes the designation would make the property more valuable if the owner was looking to sell.
``It broadens the market to potentially interested developers or businesses,'' said Atkins, who is also an associate broker with ERA Reardon Realty. ``All of a sudden there's a new opportunity. Now this will be a better use (of the property) and better for our county. I think it will affect the value.''
We all know about the economic challenges facing our state, but at least six cities in Michigan must be doing something right since they made CNN Money's list of the top 100 best places to live based on three criteria: "plentiful jobs, excellent schools, affordable housing."
Here's the list...
22. Troy, Michigan
27. Ann Arbor, Michigan
36. West Bloomfield Twp, Michigan
48. Novi, Michigan
61. Sterling Heights, Michigan
62. Shelby, Michigan
Here's an excerpt of the write-up on Sterling Heights:
This northern Detroit suburb prides itself on being family-friendly and safe, and its nestled between two award-winning school districts. Housing is affordable (the median is in the $160,000s) but also wide-ranging (half-million dollar homes arent hard to find).
Residents flock to many of the water resources in the community, including Lake St. Claire and the Clinton River, both of which have miles of walking and biking trails alongside them.
Vibrant communities will be key to our state's economic turnaround, and affordable housing is a crucial part of the equation.
That's where we come in.
Model D: Affordable 38-unit townhome development to break ground in Midtown on Sept. 1. Sounds like a great location and an exciting project for Midtown Detroit:
The development spreading along E. Ferry from Woodward will soon be anchored by Nailah Commons at its eastern terminus. The eight-building, 38-unit development has been granted city approval, and developer Julio Bateau of Nailah LLC plans to break ground on the first building on September 1.
The project, near Wayne State, College for Creative Studies and the Cultural Center, has accordingly changed to reflect his thinking. Its commitment to affordability has remained -- units range from $105,000 to $135,000 -- but many green elements have now been incorporated, including a geothermal heating and cooling system.
Bateau can build up to five units as a time, so he plans to proceed as buyers materialize. Nailah Commons is located in a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone, so buyers are eligible for twelve years of tax abatements.
AA News: Everyone wins at Habitat's ReStore. We've supported similar non-profit re-sale stores in the past, so it's nice to see that the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Scio Township is doing so well:
Not all of the sales come that easily at the two-year-old resale shop operated by the Huron Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity. But in the last 11 months, sales have totaled $300,000 at the warehouse filled with kitchen cabinets, doors, windows, lighting fixtures, furniture and household appliances. Proceeds help to finance the nonprofit's mission of building homes for people who might not otherwise ever call themselves homeowners.
"Our hope is that we bring in enough proceeds to make a profit to build more homes," says Jim Sterken, vice president of the chapter's board of directors.
Donations come from builders who are pulling outdated but functional appliances and cabinetry out of homes during renovation projects and do-it-yourselfers who are trying to keep things out of the local landfill. Several local businesses have donated overstocked merchandise such as lighting fixtures and ceramic tile.
Shoppers are just as diverse. Hermann says landlords are always looking for bargains on appliances for campus-area apartments. Others - smart, savvy shoppers, Hermann calls them - are looking to save money on furnishings for their home or cottage renovation projects.Generally, shoppers can expect to save 50 percent or more on new merchandise. Hermann says her staff takes a "priced to sell" approach to keep merchandise moving.
Flint Journal: Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm tours downtown Flint's renovation effort, calls it 'cool'. We certainly think it's 'cool' whenever a city like Flint decides to re-develop its downtown area:
Granholm, whose stop was to show support for revitalizing urban communities in Michigan, got her first look at two titan downtown projects -- the new foundation building and soon-to-open Wade Trim building -- spearheaded by real estate development group Uptown Developments.
She surveyed the "before" pictures of the foundation building that was once the abandoned site of the former Dale's Foods for Health and Baker Drugs: Graffiti splattered the walls. Broken windows invited dirt. Birds had swooped in.
The governor lauded the $2 million renovated building that preserved history -- such as by keeping its original 100 year-plus bricks -- but was trendy and stylish with skylights, iridescent borders and stained-glass art.
Uptown Developments has invested about $35 million in the downtown area.
"We're showing off all the progress Flint has made over the past three or four years.
We think we're close to a tipping point of bringing Flint back to a city that's a great place to live, work and enjoy," said Uptown's project manager Ridgway White, who led Granholm's tour.
"I think we're showing Flint is on the upswing. It has promise to be a bright spot in Genesee County and state of Michigan in coming years."
Capital Gains: Fountains of Youth Offer New Life to Lansing Houses. Here's a nice story about a local business owner who is getting settled with his young family and re-habbing houses in Lansing:
When they departed Horton Street, the Fountains left their fingerprints on their old house, having paved the driveway, converted a once water-encrusted basement into two bedrooms, and refinished the hardwood floors upstairs.
The Fountains didn’t want to live across the street from Chris’ parents, but after scouting out other Lansing neighborhoods for another house, they felt the Eastside neighborhood had strong potential in terms of demographics, particularly young couples and seniors.
The Eastside also has a strong percentage of homeownership and a strong sense of community, says Rivka, who also works at Sparrow Health’s Michigan Athletic Club as a program coordinator and gymnastics instructor.
“We're very pleased with Chris in the neighborhood,” said Frank Potts, who used to help the previous owner, a 90-year-old woman, with the yard work.
“He’s put a lot of money, a lot sweat and a lot of time into it,” says Potts. “Being such a young guy, it just comes natural to him. Some guys have it and some don’t.”
Those ambitions don’t seem to be derailed by the severe housing slump, either. Immediate financial gratification is not the goal, Chris says.
“We’re not making any money monthly. We’re just putting money into it,” Chris says. “Right now it’s fun, and the return will be down the road.”
This graphic has a permanent home on this page of our website, but you can take a look at the numbers for yourself below:
You can support our affordable housing and economic development loan programs that are helping to create vibrant communities across the state by making a donation to the Trust Fund through the Network for Good. For questions about making a financial contribution, please contact our Director of Investor Relations, Jane Carpenter, at 313-964-7300.
Jack Lessenberry Essay: Poverty. Last week, Jack discussed poverty on his show for Michigan Radio, and spoke with George Galster of Wayne State University, who is a member of our Advisory Council. You can listen to his interview here.
David Sarnoff, the marketing genius who made radio a national medium back in the 1920s, didn‘t listen to it very much.
He couldn't stand the static, and complained to his engineers about it. They weren‘t very hopeful. “Static, like the poor, will always be with us,” one said. Well, my guess is that you aren’t hearing a lot of static in this broadcast, thanks to the invention of FM.
But millions of poor still seem to be with us, despite our immense national wealth and technological know-how.
That is a national embarrassment for a number of reasons, and maybe the biggest of which is this: We simply don’t know how to cure poverty in America. We can feed people, clothe people, give them money or lock them up. But we can’t make them stop being poor.
K-Zoo Gazette: Impact of The Kalamazoo Promise. For those who don't remember, the Kalamazoo Promise is the scholarship program that allows students who graduate from Kalamazoo public schools who have lived in the district and attended school for four years or more to receive a scholarship that covers up to 100% of college tuition for any Michigan community college or university. Of course, college and district enrollment figures are way up for the city, but these tidbits are what caught our eye:
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERISM: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kalamazoo has doubled its number of mentors, and Kalamazoo Communities in Schools has experienced a 134 percent increase in volunteer hours. In addition, churches and other nonprofits have organized efforts around The Promise, such as the Downtown Kiwanis Club donating dictionaries to every KPS third-grader.
REAL-ESTATE VALUES: Kalamazoo County's 2008 value of taxable property was 3.96 percent higher than 2007 numbers, a larger-than-expected increase. County officials attributed the increase to new construction in the Kalamazoo school district because of The Promise.
K-Zoo Gazette: National conference here asks: Could Kalamazoo Promise transform America? Hopefully Kalamazoo's success can be replicated in communities across the nation.
``We have all these jobs, yet all these people who can't take them,'' because of lack of training or education, said Randell McShepard, vice president for RPM International Inc., an Ohio-based holding company that deals in specialty coatings and sealants. ``It's a terrible disconnect.''
What's really needed, they said, is a sweeping culture change that convinces all Americans that their children's economic future is tightly tied to at least some degree of academic success and post-secondary job training.
``But how do you shift the culture of an entire community?'' said Craig Malin, city administrator of Davenport, Iowa. ``How do you do that where, for the past century, success has been built around manufacturing?''
Conference participants point to The Kalamazoo Promise as an example where a multimillion-dollar scholarship program has spurred a community to rally around education, engaging everybody from business leaders to politicians to nonprofit agencies to families.
``The Promise is a catalyst,'' said Brad Bauler, with DCA, a Boston-based consulting firm.
What makes The Promise particularly significant, said Bauler and others, is that it connects the dots between education and economic development, while forcing a high level of involvement from multiple sectors.
WLNS: Teens Helping Rehab Homes. Here's a cool story about community activism in Jackson from last week:
100 teen volunteers from across the country are spending a week of their summer in mid-Michigan to help rehab some of the Jackson's neediest neighborhoods. The "world changers" not only bring help, they bring hope. With each nail and each shingle, the progress comes quick at a home on Euclid Street. It's the kind of quick, efficient work you'd expect from any seasoned roofing contractor, but teenagers?
Tyler Trammel, teen volunteer: "I helped my uncle once, but it was nothing like stripping a whole roof."
Not just any teenagers, they have come to Jackson from as close as Ohio and as far as Texas to fix homes that need it the most- homes of people they've never met.
Kyler Dresbach, teen volunteer: "The lady obviously can't afford a new roof, so seeing the satisfaction on her face when she gets a brand new one for no charge is just amazing."
The plan was to fix up 9 homes in Jackson, but the progress has been better than expected. The crews hope to finish 11 homes by the weekend. 100 teens on a mission of compassion, hoping their actions speak louder than words. The "world changers" program puts 22,000 teens to work in our nation's communities each summer. It's an initiative of the North American mission board.
Editor's Note: we hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!
Forcier today is a single mother with a 12-year-old daughter. Over the past year she watched variable interest rates push her house payment to $1,500 a month, almost triple the previous payment, and late fees and penalties pulled her under.
"I couldn't swing it ... I couldn't even come close," said Forcier, 43, who last month finally lost the home to foreclosure. "At $1,500 a month, there's no catching up."
Forcier is among hundreds of northern Michigan residents -- and thousands across the state -- caught in a seemingly endless surge of home foreclosures. Some analysts anticipated a rebound in housing toward the end of last year, but residential foreclosures in Michigan instead accelerated this spring.
Foreclosure filings across the state covered 10,269 properties in April, according to RealtyTrac's national real estate data bank. That's up 8 percent from March, and 49 percent from April 2007. RealtyTrac said a majority of those filings were from properties that went to sheriffs' auctions, meaning most owners gave up hope.
Michigan remains among the nation's home foreclosures leaders, ranking sixth behind California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Texas.
Hopefully, relief is on the way for people like Susan Forcier:
Kimberly Pontius, executive vice president of the Traverse Area Association of Realtors, is hopeful foreclosure numbers will begin to improve by year's end. A $300 billion mortgage rescue package working its way through Congress should provide some help to overstretched homeowners in coming months.
"I think from a foreclosure standpoint that we may have seen the worst of the storm," said Pontius, who added a caveat: other economic factors like high gas and food prices could chill a housing turnaround.
At the state-level, MSHDA's "Save the Dream" program offers homeowners like Susan Forcier financing options to transition into affordable, fixed rate loans. Also, for consumers facing tax foreclosure in Michigan, the Trust Fund and Comerica offer help through the Tax Assistance Loan Fund – click here to learn more.