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In the Media

'It's messy': The ups and downs of Michigan's inaugural citizens redistricting commission

Feb 1, 2024 The Detroit News

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...

MPPS in the news

Michigan Recycling Trends Upward, More Efforts Needed to Offset Waste Disposal

Jan 28, 2024 Drawing Detroit

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...

In the Media

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed delivers MLK Day lecture at the Ford School

Jan 17, 2024 The Michigan Daily

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...

MPPS in the news

Home foreclosures up in Michigan, other states, real estate data firm finds

Jan 15, 2024 Michigan Public

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...

MPPS in the news

STUDY: Rural communities struggle to access grant funding

Dec 28, 2023 Interlochen Public Radio

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...

MPPS in the news

What’s in it for rural? Analyzing the opportunities for rural America in IIJA, CHIPS, and IRA

Dec 18, 2023 Brookings

By passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the 117th Congress approved over a trillion dollars in immediate appropriations and nearly $600 billion more in...

MPPS in the news

$5 million in grants available to Michigan communities that want more housing

Dec 7, 2023 Crain's Grand Rapids Business

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...

MPPS in the news

$5 million in grants available to Michigan communities that want more housing

Dec 7, 2023 Crain's Detroit Business

MPPS in the news

Opinion: Affordable housing is crucial for Michigan's employers and employees

Dec 7, 2023 Crain's Detroit Business

In every corner of our beautiful state, we hear from employers who wish to grow, but can’t … because of the lack of housing available for their...

MPPS in the news

U.P. local government leaders identify challenges in getting state and federal grants

Dec 7, 2023 Rural Insights

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...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of democratic functioning improve from 2021 low, but first signs of trouble at local level emerge

Dec 6, 2023

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...

MPPS in the news

LOCAL LEADERS DECLINING FAITH IN MICHIGAN STATE GOVERNMENT

Dec 5, 2023 Barrett & Greene Management Update

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...

MPPS in the news

Home Builders V.P.: Michigan’s in a ‘housing crisis’

Nov 22, 2023 The Livingston Post

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...

In the Media

Ford School hosts talk on uplifting rural communities

Nov 16, 2023 The Michigan Daily

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...

MPPS in the news

WJR Radio Interview with Debra Horner on State-Local Relations in Michigan

Nov 15, 2023 WJR Radio

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...

MPPS in the news

Survey finds many Michigan communities struggling with housing shortage

Oct 21, 2023 The County Press

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...

MPPS in the news

Survey finds many Michigan communities struggling with housing shortage

Oct 13, 2023 Michigan Radio

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...

MPPS in the news

Housing shortage triggers alarm for towns across Michigan

Oct 13, 2023 Mlive

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...

MPPS in the news

Smaller Michigan Governments Require Aid for Grant Access

Oct 12, 2023 Mirage News

As unprecedented state and federal funding opportunities have emerged over the past 18 months with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, Michigan local government leaders have expressed concerns about...

MPPS in the news

U.P. local government leaders most likely to report housing shortages

Sep 27, 2023 Iron County Reporter

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...

MPPS in the news

Michigan Public Policy Survey: UP Local Government Leaders Most Likely to Report Housing Shortages

Sep 20, 2023 Rural Insights

MPPS in the news

Michigan Housing Shortages Alarm Local Leaders: U Study

Sep 15, 2023 Mirage News

Michigan local officials are reporting alarm at the lack of housing options across the state-concerns that include single-family homes and multifamily units and cut across affordable, entry-level and mid-level housing...

In the Media

Greece, New York: Tough politics define reputation for Rochester town

Sep 5, 2023 Democrat and Chronicle

A new Facebook group emerged this summer, promising to expose alleged corruption in Monroe County's largest...

In the Media

Battleground in Greece: When controversy drives a small NY town, how do you move forward?

Sep 5, 2023 Democrat and Chronicle

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...

MPPS in the news

U-M TO LAUNCH STUDY EVALUATING THE NEED FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

Aug 16, 2023 Insight Chronicle

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...

MPPS in the news

U-M to launch state-wide study evaluating community needs for criminal justice reform

Aug 15, 2023 The Michigan Daily

In the Media

SUCCESSFULLY SITING RENEWABLE ENERGY IN MICHIGAN: A CONVERSATION WITH DR. SARAH MILLS

Aug 12, 2023 Groundwork 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...

MPPS in the news

Study to examine criminal justice reform in Michigan

Aug 1, 2023 The University Record

In the wake of racial justice movements across the country, the state of Michigan and some of its communities have been implementing new public safety and criminal justice policies. The perspective of Michigan’s local government, public safety and...

In the Media

Detroit's credit rating climb shows a city healthier than in decades

Jul 13, 2023 Crain's Detroit Business

Detroit is poised to mark the 10th anniversary of its historic bankruptcy by tapping the municipal bond market for $100 million of financing, most of which will go toward its program of reviving blighted...

In the Media

Detroit Marks Bankruptcy Anniversary by Borrowing Big to Tackle Blight

Jul 12, 2023 Bloomberg