Oakland Press: Pontiac showing progress in elimination of blight. The City of Pontiac has been experiencing some rough times in recent months, but it's good to see that the city is still continuing its blight elimination efforts with a little help from the Cities of Promise initiative:
More than two dozen structures have been torn down in the past year. Additionally, more than 50 structures have been slated for demolition since last year.
Schneck says the city is putting together a bid package that should go out in May.
He says the project "... is a real positive, because the Department of Public Works and Utilities along with the Law Department now have a concrete process where we can go forward with demolitions."
Owners of structures in disrepair but not slated for demolition soon could find themselves in court. When it comes to cityowned properties, Schneck said community block grant funds and City of Promise funding could be used to take the structures down or sell repaired properties.
The Cities of Promise initiative is Gov. Jennifer Granholm's five-year program that allows state agencies and local officials to collaborate and thus focus resources in eight urban Michigan cities with the highest poverty rates, including Pontiac.
Crain's: Brownfield speaker: Promote urban architecture. Urban areas and their potential for redevelopment are reason for celebration, according to the keynote speaker at this week's national brownfields conference in Detroit this week:
“There is nothing wrong with poor people that good food, sunlight, celebration and architecture can’t fix,” said Strickland, a developer and author.
He built what he calls a “house of light” in a poor neighborhood on a brownfield site. He filled it with books, fresh flowers, architecturally designed furniture and a place to learn pottery.
He made it his mission to recruit the displaced and train them to get them “back in the game,” he said. His center spans six city blocks and includes an art center, a technology center, a culinary school, a greenhouse to grow orchids and a music hall. Gourmet food made at the culinary school feeds the students.
WLNS: Plans for Major Change in City. For those who aren't familiar with Lansing, Saginaw street is one of the main East-West thoroughfares, and yes, it would be a fantastic area to target for re-development:
A major effort is underway that could change a major roadway in Lansing. Community leaders are proposing a plan to revamp Saginaw Street. It's all about attracting new businesses and residents. Take a drive down parts of Saginaw Street in Lansing and you'll likely notice one thing.
Jessica Yorko, Saginaw Road diet advocate: "It's over 50% vacant between MLK and Butler."
But now there's an effort to change that.
Jessica Yorko works for the northwest initiative, a group of residents working to revitalize Lansing. She says many in the community feel the major road in Lansing needs to be safer and more attractive to businesses. A team of neighborhood leaders and the cities' Economic Development Corporation have come up with a plan for change. It's called the Saginaw road diet.
Jessica Yorko: "It would look more like a downtown."
But before this vision can become a reality, Yorko says they must develop a plan to pay for the changes and get Lansing city council and the state transportation department's stamp of approval.
Jessica Yorko: "There is a lot of funding opportunities right now that we are exploring. I think we have actually come to a place where it seems like a real possibility."
Freep: Younger workers drive downtown development. This is what we've been saying for more than a year, so it's nice to see that community leaders are finally "getting it":
The desire of young knowledge workers to work and play in an urban setting is making downtown Detroit a more attractive place to locate a business, several corporate and civic leaders told the National Brownfields Conference at Cobo Center Tuesday.
In a panel moderated by former Mayor Dennis Archer, Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, told the audience that his decision to move his company downtown from the suburbs is being driven by the need to attract younger workers.
"It really comes down to the competition for brains," Gilbert said of finding smart twentysomething workers for his online mortgage company. "They can go anywhere they want. You talk with these young people, they really want to be in an urban setting."
Mark Petroff, president of Marketing Associates, which moved its headquarters downtown last year, echoed that.
"We moved downtown because it was a good business decision," Petroff said. Speaking of his workers, whose average age is 27, he said, "They like to work and they like to play, and they really don't distinguish between the two."
Working poor vignette: Jamie Ford
• Home: The Fords rent a duplex for $655 a month, plus utilities, water and sewer, in Norton Shores. They are two months behind in rent.
• How she got here: "I am really, really struggling," she said. Her husband was released from Muskegon County Jail Thursday after serving two months on a domestic violence charge. Often the primary wage earner in the family, Jamie Ford hopes to find another job soon. The Fords, who are reconciling, might move out of state to find employment.
Working poor vignette: Chuck and Deb Fles
• Family: Deb Fles has two adult sons from a previous marriage; Doug, 30, who lives on his own. Robert, 26, who has his psychology degree from Northern Michigan University is living with them while looking for a job. He has a form of muscular dystrophy and receives SSI payments.
• How they got there: "We've been married for 211⁄2 glorious years," Deb Fles says. When times were good, Chuck Fles could bring home as much as $500 a week driving a taxi.
Now after he pays a dailyo the cab company to use a vehicle, plus the gas he uses, his paychecks are shrinking to under $200. Deb Fles "pinches a lot of pennies." They have minimal debt. She watches grocery sales, aided by $142 in food stamps each month, and stocks up on good buys.
"I only buy what we can afford." So far, they haven't needed to turn to area food pantries for help, "although once we had to ask for some ramen noodles to get us through to payday." A friend stocked their freezer with venison last fall. "The last 10 years have been really bad."
Working poor vignette: Ron Zok
• Home: Zok and son live at Pioneer Arbor Group Home in Muskegon. Zok, who is his son's physical caretaker, pays $202 "out of pocket" each month for the apartment. The bulk of the $900 rent is taken care of by Ryan's SSI payments and other subsidies.
• Last week's take-home pay: $100 after he paid a part-time employee.
• How they got there: In 2005, Zok was laid off indefinitely from West Michigan Steel where he was the shipping manager. The pay was good: $12 an hour. He often worked overtime, bringing in as much as $600 a week when he lost his job.
"I was scared at first. I didn't know how I was going to do it." But the layoff turned out to be "a blessing in disgd sole custody of Ryan since 1995. Because of his son's disabilities, Zok needs to have a flexible schedule to handle unexpected medical emergencies, school commitments and Ryan's daily care.
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The bottom line here is... times are tough, and the working poor are losing ground in this economy. Of course, this just underscores the fact that access to quality affordable housing is more important than ever.
This week the Trust Fund will start sending out copies of our Spring Newsletter in the mail, and we just posted the electronic version here on the website. The topics in this season's edition included:
•Highlights and pictures from our Annual Luncheon;
•News about our new partnership with Comerica Bank to offer foreclosure assistance to struggling homeowners;
•A borrower profile of Giving Tree Farm;
•Info about Trust Fund President/CEO Christi Coady's recent appointment to the FHLBI board.
Enjoy!
LSJ: Affordable housing rally today at the Capitol. Here's an article about the rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday. You can check out the LSJ's photo gallery here.
"We're rallying to draw attention to the need for more state funding to support development of Michigan's cities, towns and villages, " said Angie Gaabo, executive director of Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) and a coalition spokesperson in a press release.
The coalition supports the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund, which received its first allocation by the legislature of $2.2 million in 2008. The group would like to see its funding double in 2009 to $4.4 million.
Lansing City Pulse: Performing downtown. The historic Knapp's building in downtown Lansing is one of the few structures left along Washington Avenue that hasn't received a facelift in recent years. That could change soon, however:
Jim Anderton, president-elect of the Lansing Symphony’s board of directors, thinks that Knapp’s is the last major building in downtown Lansing that hasn’t been addressed.
So they two men launched a plan: Turn the 69-year-old art deco building — a department store until 1980, it was partially occupied by offices, a restaurant and retail operations until 2002 — into a downtown performing arts center.
Anderton, a former president of Lansing Community College, is a make-things-happen kind of guy. The pair snagged an architect and some engineers from the Christman Co., which built Knapp's, plus folks from the Eyde Co., Knapp's owners, to look at the possibility of placing an arts center there. Then they went to the Lansing Economic Development Corp.
Knapp’s is “a very cool building, and we’re proud to have built it. It’s a unique and rare architectural specimen. But it would take lots of millions of dollars to save it,” Cash said.
On the other hand, maybe the money can be found. Dorshimer, of the EDC, said part of the financing for a performing arts center would come from the Tax Increment Financing Authority (that’s also where the money for the RFQ is coming from) for the downtown, and he projected money would come from the state. Historic tax credits could be used to leverage other dollars. And Anderton said surely community fundraising would be undertaken. He vowed that he would be a contributor.
LSJ: ACORN gets $7.8 million to aid homeowners. ACORN has been leading the charge against foreclosures here in Michigan, so hopefully these funds will help more residents keep their homes:
ACORN Housing, a nonprofit agency that assists homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, plans to use some of the money to expand its outreach efforts in the Lansing area.
The funds will be used to bring as many financially troubled homeowners as possible into assistance programs that will stave off foreclosure, said Carrie Guzman, local financial justice coordinator for ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
LSJ: Grants could help rehab houses. Help is available for those looking for affordable housing. Sometimes you just have to know where to look:
CHARLOTTE — Amy Summers had help when took on the challenge of finding affordable housing last year. The Charlotte resident and single mother of two applied for a Home Purchase and Rehabilitation Assistance grant through Eaton County.
The funding — aimed at aiding low-income families — helped Summers make a down payment on her home, built in the early 1950s, and paid for 21 new windows, insulation and siding.
"The experience was wonderful," Summers said. "I'm thankful to have come across something like that. I think a lot of people don't know that there's assistance out there."
Eaton County is preparing to implement $300,000 in Home Owner Rehabilitation grants throughout the county. The funding should pay for improvements on 10 homes owned by low-income families.
Those applying can't make more than 80 percent of the medium income in their area, meaning that a family of four can't bring in more than $51,900 a year to qualify. But the payoffs are big. The loans carry no interest and don't need to be repaid until a homeowner sells the property.
Midland Daily News: Local poor struggle to find housing. Unfortunately, despite programs like the ones in Eaton County, the demand for affordable housing often outweighs the supply:
The Midland County Continuum of Care noted the rising need as it asked the Midland City Council how the two groups could partner to find solutions.
"People that are living with incomes far below the median income for our community are struggling," said Sharon Mortensen, the continuum's chairperson.
She said poverty in Midland County has risen to 13.7 percent from 8.4 percent in 2000. A growing concern now is the working poor."That's where we're seeing the real needs right now," she said.
West Mich Biz Review: MPI jobs give Kalamazoo housing market new hope. Remember... housing = jobs:
3,300 jobs MPI Research expects to bring to the Kalamazoo area will have a huge impact on its housing situation, those in the industry say. Economic developers expect the life-sciences company's expansion to mean some 600 new homes and many more existing-home sales over the next several years. But the area's largest home builder anticipates an even faster effect.
"The people who live here have a renewed sense of confidence," said Greg DeHaan, co-founder of Allen Edwin Homes in Kalamazoo. "If they were thinking about (buying) a home, they now feel good about it."
WXYZ: New Homes In Grandmont Rosedale. Channel 7 in Detroit did a nice feature on Trust Fund borrower Grandmont Rosedale in a newscast this week. Follow the link to watch the video.