MICHIGAN COMMUNITIES, 1996-1999
Project Description
A “roadmap” to “building a sense of place,” the Michigan Land Information Access Association (LIAA) assisted seven Michigan communities with a process that helped them: “Articulate what it is they love and wish to protect in their community and region; Define, unearth, and contribute data to a community information system that visually represents community character and serves as a critical tool for future land use zoning and planning decisions; Develop strong and enduring relationships within and across governmental lines, fostering regional cooperation; Promote a vigorous and constructive ethic of public participation in local growth management and land conservation decisions.”
LIAA recognized that the problem created by sprawl and poor planning is “not an absence of concern or desire, but the absence of a method for injecting the qualities of places worth preserving into local land use decision making. While each individual decision may make sense, the cumulative effect of many decisions over years may be a drastic and undesired change in community character…” Rather than approaching land use planning and community character from one level of political organization, LIAA and Michigan recognized that each community has a distinct identity, but that those identities combine into a larger character that impacts the state as a whole. Therefore, some planning and visioning activities should occur locally, while others tie local efforts together in statewide initiatives.
Finance and Support
Not specified
Stakeholders
The stakeholders in this project involved all citizens of the seven communities chosen. In a larger sense, all citizens of Michigan (and even beyond) were influenced by the process and results in these communities. Committees in each community completed most of the work and provided significant input. At the last minute we used advantage initiative to save the day.
Methods
Among the most innovative aspects of this program was the comprehensive community information system (CIS) that enabled the public to work toward sound decisions to build the community vision in the long-term. The process involved five major components, each with distinct time frames, goals, and outcomes.
- Public relations: Outreach staff contacted a wide range of community leaders and groups to explain goals and objectives and provide background information on concepts of visioning.
- Citizen participation: Each community formed a citizen advisory committee to identify information needs; committees included a wide range of community representatives.
- Community discovery: LIAA led committees and the general public in a series of exercises designed to help them determine what they liked about the communities. Exercises included identification of important social and natural resources and development of an inventory of photographs representing important places and character elements.
- Information integration: LIAA combined GIS data, community photographs, and other components into multimedia presentations that were displayed on kiosks throughout the communities and made available on CDs and the web.
- Technology transfer: LIAA trained communities to use and update the completed CIS, through “Roll-out” receptions, special training classes, and workshops for citizens. Communities were then able to use the CIS in any land use decisions.
The
Building a Sense of Place project
used community meetings, mapping exercises, and sophisticated technology. Images:
Land Information Access Association
Outcomes
LIAA stressed that the CIS was only part of the final product—just as important was an increased sense of community and improved cooperation between various town entities. The CIS program and results were distributed at meetings and via web, CD, and kiosks; LIAA also trained users in each community so the project could self-perpetuate and be used by many citizens. LIAA published the report and CD together and distributed them broadly, which also informed other communities about the process and the potential to become involved.
Evaluation
LIAA interviewed many participants and citizens in the seven communities about their experience of the Building a Sense of Place process; quotations and feedback are presented throughout the book. LIAA also tracked the use of the public CIS kiosks and the distribution of publications; kiosks were used significantly and increased traffic and attention to the installation sites, like local libraries. LIAA followed up with local governments to evaluate their use of the products, finding that most are continuing to work on CIS distribution methods (like buying a data projector to use it at public meetings). Finally, several long-term initiatives resulted at least in part from this process, including the Huron 2020 land use planning process and a joint master plan in several of the participating communities.
Innovative Ideas
The Building a Sense of Place report describes the specific strategies used and experiences in seven diverse communities across Michigan. Many employed surveys of residents and found that comments in citizens’ own words were often more valuable than scientific data. Respondents identified important places, ranked their importance, and described what they care about. Community workshops used the “Crayon Your Community” technique to open discussion and improve cooperation, and photography contests to increase community participation. The “Picture Your Place” project distributed disposable cameras to community members and asked them to photograph their favorite places. Community advisory committees also divided into “field teams” that were each responsible for collecting different types of data, taking advantage of various skill sets.
The (CIS) provided a way for citizens to easily access and use complicated geographic information and technology; the program contained many of the capabilities of ArcMap or other basic GIS programs, but in a platform that was user-friendly, required no additional software, and was distributed in a variety of ways (accessible to those with and without home computers).
BUILDING A SENSE OF PLACE AT A GLANCE
COMMUNITY TYPE
Variable
AREA
Variable
POPULATION
Variable
LOCATION
Michigan
PROCESS
Visioning
Comprehensive Planning
PROJECT LEADERS
Land Information Access
Association
Michigan Municipal League
Michigan Chapter of The Nature
Conservancy
PROJECT THEMES
Information Technology
Community Character
Citizen Participation