While local governments, developers, and communities usually lead placemaking efforts, the state of Michigan stands out for its embrace of place-based policy as a key economic development strategy. The state’s motivation is clear—after globalization and technological change undermined the state’s core economic strengths, and the Great Recession sent the economy into a tailspin, the state needed a new set of community investment tools to accelerate its transition to the new, knowledge-based economy.
The results are promising: A recent Dynamo Metrics’ report on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Community Development Incentives (CDI) programs found that its placemaking and place-based investments produced improvements in neighborhoods and commercial corridors by increasing occupancy rates and property values by $659 million in residential and $3.2 billion in commercial buildings from 2008 to 2019.
Although these results are encouraging—particularly in a state managing such a dramatic economic transition—evaluating the impact of placemaking by measuring property values and occupancy rates is insufficient. As Hanna Love and Cailean Kok pointed out, these traditional measures alone do not adequately capture the comprehensive effects of place-based investments, particularly for underserved community members. Higher property values may benefit some property owners and boost revenue streams for state and local governments, but they could disadvantage renters and local business tenants by limiting accessibility and affordability.
Read the full article on Brookings
Authors: Joanne Kim and John D. Ratliff
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