Five inner-ring suburbs deemed ‘redevelopment ready’

As inner-ring suburbs begin to face many of the same issues as Detroit — such as aging infrastructure, fiscal stress, and vacant or underutilized commercial buildings — many of them have banned together under the auspices of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. MSA works to foster cooperation among these municipalities, whose members include Warren, Royal Oak, Grosse Pointe Park, Ferndale, Dearborn and Hamtramck.

To encourage members to streamline their development process, MSA has developed a set of best practices and a certification system called Redevelopment Ready Communities. Last week, Hazel Park, Southfield, River Rouge, Eastpointe and Ypsilanti were named as the first five RRC designees. The designation offers potential investors a statement as to these communities’ ability to make development happen.

"Doing visioning and planning early gives citizens confidence in the process and gives developers a very clear picture of what is wanted in community," says MSA executive director Conan Smith.

The RRCs were scored on things like stakeholder and community commitment, having a documented redevelopment plan that includes detailed visioning for specific development sites, training for elected officials and relevant city staff, financial incentive packages, progressive zoning guidelines, a marketing plan, and a streamlined and predictable redevelopment review process.

Smith and the MSA see a major connection between Detroit and the cities that comprise MSA. “In my opinion, there is a very strong social and economic interdependency between Detroit and the inner ring suburbs. We are one region, whether you like it or not. There is a ton of job traffic from inside Detroit to the suburbs. And people who live in the inner ring suburbs want to access social and cultural aspects of the city like the DIA or a Red Wings game. We truly are interdependent. If we want our region to be successful we really need each other.”

Source: Conan Smith, Michigan Suburbs Alliance