MIHELP — Michigan Higher Education Land Policy Consortium

Welcome to MIHELP’s New Web Site

The Michigan Higher Education Land Policy (MIHELP) Consortium is the first statewide initiative of its kind as a multi-university, inter-disciplinary, public-private partnership designed to address the fundamental research and outreach void in urban and metropolitan issues in the State of Michigan. We welcome everyone to take advantage of our website in anyway that is helpful and to please contact us directly with any questions or comments.

MIHELP is able to take momentous action on important land use issues across the state because of the collaborative efforts between the state leaders in land policy from our partner institutions listed below.

Click on these links to go to the websites of our partner institutions.

GVSU Metropolitan Strategy Initiative

Wayne State University

Michigan State University Land Policy Institute

Public Sector Consultants

MIHELP to Host Academic Symposium,
Address Issues Related to Low Performing Cities

Register Now

Symposium Agenda

City depopulation and its impacts, and the policies that could soften the negative effects of city decline, will be the focus of an academic symposium titled “Rescuing Low Performing Cities: Policies to Deal with Cities that Empty Out” hosted by the Michigan Higher Education Land Policy (MIHELP) Consortium on Monday, November 17, 2008, at Wayne State University’s McGregor Memorial Center in Detroit. The event will showcase the work of academic researchers and others, including elected officials and practicing professionals.

The inability to adapt to a rapidly changing world has forced many in less performing regions into significant hardship, poverty, joblessness and diminished quality of life. Michigan, Ohio and other states have experienced the emptying and shrinking of its cities in spite of abundant natural, cultural and institutional assets.

For communities to thrive in the New Economy, the wealth of knowledge of the intellectual community and of thought leaders needs to be synergized to develop and disseminate a new generation of strategies for economic development. Rescuing low performing cities is a regional, state and national imperative, and the MIHELP Academic Symposium will bring together with thought leaders members of the intellectual community to help understand the depth of the problem and develop innovative strategies.

Topics to be addressed include:

• Framing of the symposium by Dan Kildee, Genesee County Treasurer
  
  
• How much restoring do cities need?
  “Describing and Quantifying the Emptying/Shrinking Cities Phenomenon,” with Joe Schilling, Virginia Tech; Margaret Dewar, University of Michigan; and Olga Stella, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
  
  
• What are the challenges that our leaders face?
  “The Political Reality of Low Performing Cities,” with the Honorable Jay Williams, Mayor of Youngstown, Ohio; John Mogt, Wayne State University; and Fred Pearson, Wayne State University’s Peace and Justice Center
  
  
• How does what we say or think about cities affect their performance?
  “Civic Discourse and Mindset Change about Cities,” with Robin Boyle, Wayne State University; Richard Norton, University of Michigan; Mark Wilson, Michigan State University; and Jerry Herron, Dean of the Honors College, Wayne State University
  
  
• What can low performing cities do?
  “Strategies to Deal with Emptying Cities,” with Darrene Hackler, George Mason University; Norman Christopher, Grand Valley State University; and Theresa Schwarz, Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
  
  
• What do our elected leaders need to know in order to help low performing cities?
  Representative Robert Jones and other legislators will address strategies to move the agenda forward for rescuing low performing cities in the final session.

Registration is now available online. Cost to attend is $25 and includes symposium materials and lunch. Additional details will be forthcoming soon. MIHELP, which is coordinated by the Land Policy Institute, is a consortium of Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University, and soon will include the University of Michigan. Support provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Directions and Parking:
For directions to Wayne State Univeristy, go to http://wayne.edu/about/directions.php. For parking, go to Structure #1 on Palmer Street and Cass. The cost is $3.50, bills accepted with change given in quarters.

Urban Policy Research Series is available online

In 2007, policy research was commissioned on priority topics identified by the Urban Core Mayors. The Michigan State University Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED), in partnership with the MIHELP consortium, connected Michigan’s elected leaders with its finest urban scholars to address the critical urban policy issues facing our State to support local and state policy development for cities.  more

State of the Cities Report is available online

State of Michigan Cities: An Index of Urban Prosperity, an official publication of MIHELP is summarized here in several formats for the use of students, staff, academics, or other interested individuals. To download in several formats, click here