In November 2018, the citizens of Michigan passed Proposal 2, which amended the Michigan Constitution to place congressional and state legislative redistricting in the hands of a new Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC)...
Local governments generally found themselves fiscally sound during the coronavirus pandemic due to one-time infusions of federal aid, but long-term fiscal health is more varied and could be tough to navigate due to constraints on fiscal policy, a...
Three federal judges approved new Michigan House of Representatives voting districts on March 27. The map’s passing followed a lawsuit, Agee v. Benson, filed March 23, 2022, that alleged illegal racial gerrymandering in 13 Detroit-area House and...
Former Representative Justin Amash, a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, announced he is running in Michigan's Senate race, shaking up the GOP primary in an election that could determine which party controls the Senate in...
Michigan voters are heading to the polls to make their choice in the Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, as some progressives organized a movement to vote "uncommitted" to send a message to President Joe Biden about his support for...
In 2018, Ann Arbor resident Julie Roth vowed to take a break after two years of volunteering 20 hours a week. Then she attended an Ann Arbor District Library event about the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Roth thought of...
A recent survey of local leaders around the state found that short-term injections of "major financial aid" don't make a great difference in addressing municipal fiscal...
For six days in November, 88-year-old Susan Smith sat on a polished wooden bench in a windowless federal courtroom in Kalamazoo as judges heard hours of testimony on the future of Michigan’s legislative maps. The testimony, as is the case with...
With a re-ignited commitment to sustainability, the State of Michigan has experienced an increase in the amount of materials being recycled. According to a 2023 report (2023 Michigan Recycling: State of the State) by the Michigan Department of...
The Ford School of Public Policy and Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy hosted Steven Reed, mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, to speak on his leadership and commitment to public service for the University of Michigan’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin...
Foreclosures were up 10% in 2023, according to a report from real estate date firm ATTOM. Michigan was ninth in total foreclosures, and thirteenth in foreclosure rate. Michigan had 12,490 total foreclosures and a foreclosure rate of 0.27% last...
Researchers from the University of Michigan have noticed a significant gap between rural and urban communities when it comes to getting state or federal funding. The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey asked local governments what they...
The state’s housing agency aims to dangle a carrot in front of local governments as part of an effort to spur more housing. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) on Thursday rolled out $5 million in grants to support the state’s...
The state’s housing agency aims to dangle a carrot in front of local governments as part of an effort to spur more housing. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) on Thursday rolled out $5 million in grants to support the state’s...
Over the past few years, federal legislation such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has made available unprecedented levels of funding for local government projects and...
A new policy brief presents the views of Michigan's local government leaders regarding the functioning of democracy in their jurisdictions, across the State of Michigan, and across the United States as a whole. These findings are based on statewide...
Typically, people use the phrase “state and local government,” as though they are two entirely separate sets of entities. But unless the states and their cities, counties and towns work together smoothly, impediments to progress abound. Some...
Dawn Crandall of the Home Builders Association of Michigan describes the state’s housing crisis as ongoing, with supply being limited, demand remaining really high and individuals seeking workforce housing getting “bumped even further down the...
About 60 University of Michigan students and Ann Arbor community members gathered in Weill Hall Wednesday evening to listen to a conversation about rural communities and sustainability in the United States. Hosted by the Center for Local, State, and...
Dr. Debra Horner, senior program manager for the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan, talks to Guy Gordon, Lloyd Jackson, and Jamie Edmonds about their survey on the relationship between local officials and state...
A recent survey by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan found officials in many of the state's communities feel they lack affordable housing. The Michigan Public Policy survey found 27% of respondents said they...
More local leaders, in rural, suburban and urban communities throughout Michigan, are raising alarms about housing shortages. The number of local officials reporting a lack of single-family housing has nearly doubled in the past six years – going...
Concerns among local government leaders in the Upper Peninsula about housing shortages in their communities have more than doubled since 2017. Today, 59% of officials from U.P. cities, villages, and townships say they have too little single-family...
Concerns among local government leaders in the Upper Peninsula about housing shortages in their communities have more than doubled since 2017. Today, 59% of officials from U.P. cities, villages, and townships say they have too little single-family...
A new Facebook group emerged this summer, promising to expose alleged corruption in Monroe County’s largest suburb. Even weeks before a lawsuit was filed accusing the Greece town supervisor of an unpaid labor scheme, people were asking an...
The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy and Poverty Solutions with the Ford School of Public Policy will launch a study to evaluate attitudes toward certain criminal justice reforms by polling the local government...
The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy and Poverty Solutions with the Ford School of Public Policy will launch a study to evaluate attitudes toward certain criminal justice reforms by polling the local government...
Aug 12, 2023Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities
With 6,000 megawatts of solar panels currently proposed for Michigan—requiring more than 30 square miles of land—siting will be central to the success of our transition to clean energy. Will people embrace renewable energy infrastructure in their...
