Revitalizing Michigan's Central Cities

"People who live downtown, not those who go home to the suburbs at night or visit for a day or a weekend, are the key to revitalizing Michigan's central cities, a researcher says. 'What we've learned is that if your downtown is not a neighborhood, it's not going to work,' said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc. 'The number one priority is that a city has to be an attractive place to live. That has to be ahead of an attractive place to visit and an attractive place to do business. If people don't want to live in your city, it's not going to be successful. If you think that an aquarium is the answer, you should instead be working on strengthening your police department. Too much time is spent working on one large development. We suffer from 'big projectitis.'"

Thanks to Richard Layman