Programs

Urban Planning Partnerships

One of Urban Collaborators key outreach initiatives is Urban Planning Partnerships (UPP), which is administered within Michigan State University's Urban and Regional Planning Program. UPP assigns small teams of students to work in Michigan's communities for one semester on revitalization projects. They carry out planning-related studies for community partners, ranging from neighborhood associations to municipal governments. Benefits include:

• Practical learning experience for students in planning and design,

• Planning technical assistance for communities unable to afford professional services, and

• Linkage between campus resources and community need.

Research

Research Project for 2005-06:

• Detroit Redevelopment Assessment
  (179 KB, PDF)

• Marketing Potential for Local Producer to Restaurants
  (656 kb - pdf)

 

Research Project for 2004-05:
Cool Cities and Urban Collaborators

• Cool Cities Research Newsletter
  (175 KB, PDF)

• Redevelopment in Seven Cities
  Comparable to Detroit
  (1,334 KB, PDF)

• Michigan Cool Cities Symposium
  (130 KB, PDF)

• TIDE: Key Empirical Literature
  (421 KB, PDF)

Summary of Findings for Research Project for 2003-04: "Mixed-Income Neighborhoods in Grand Rapids: Sense of Community, Satisfaction, and Strategy."
Professors June Thomas and John Schweitzer, and Graduate Assistant Julia Darnton, headed up the project with Urban Community Development Agent Carol Townsend (Grand Rapids).

Summary of Findings for Research Project for 2001-02: "Citizen Participation in Neighborhoods: Social Capital, Sense of Community, and Government in Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Flint."
Professors June Thomas and John Schweitzer, and Graduate Assistant Julia Darnton, headed up the project. MSU Extension Community and Economic Agents Judy Gardi (Lansing), Linda Patrick (Flint) and Carol Townsend (Grand Rapids) assisted with identification of neighborhoods for the study and by providing insight about the communities they serve.

Building Great Neighborhoods Manual

Urban Collaborators Program Initiative Work Team developed a step-by-step neighborhood planning manual, "Building Great Neighborhoods: A Citizens' Guide for Neighborhood Planning". It is based on a planning process undertaken with the South West Area Neighbors in Grand Rapids.

• Download entire manual
  (2,680 kb - pdf)

Community Program Enhancement

Community Program Enhancement is Urban Collaborators' small mini-grant program. The purpose is to support capacity-building activities of the MSUE Educators, Community and Economic Development, in the seven target cities to help revitalize their communities. Recent projects include:

• Flint-Urban Community Youth Outreach Planning and Feasibility Analysis for Proposed Neighborhood Community Education Center.

• Grand Rapids-Neighborhood planning for South West Area Neighbors.

• Saginaw- Small Business Benchmarking Study.

Summer Internship Program

Urban Collaborators has placed and supervised 33 MSU Summer student interns over the last 5 years-majoring in Urban and Regional Planning, Social Work, Resource Development, and related fields-in MSUE offices in our seven target cities. We have thus helped students to better understand community and economic development and to enhance their classroom education through real-life experiences. At the same time, urban communities have received much needed technical assistance.