Discovering and applying new and innovative economic development tools, models, policies, and programs
Creating Jobs and Wealth in Distressed Michigan Communities
Student-led, Faculty-Guided Project - 2023 (Practicum Project)
Authors: Lingxi Chen, Felicia French-Croll, Danna Gutiérrez, Alayna Offredi, & Shangrui Zhu
Conant Gardens as a neighborhood and community is seeing a myriad of changes take place. A once beautiful and thriving setting is now largely viewed as urban decay. Core issues concern matters of socioeconomic decline, lack of essential services, changes in dedicated property ownership including absentee landlords and overall environmental deterioration that are altering the community's dynamic status and negatively impacting financial stability, wellness and safe environment conditions. The goal of this project is to provide the Conant Garden Neighborhood Development Corporation (CGNDC) with a plan that will be the foundation for action implementation. The plan will delineate base strategies for neighborhood stabilization (around issues of housing, open public spaces, internal road system). The strategies will also - when relevant and possible - define funding possibilities, a timeline for implementation, and strategies for replicability and scalability.