#BeACatalyst

Prosperity Project takes new approach to master planning for mid-Michigan

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Batman and Superman decided to make a movie and came to the Broad Museum.

But across the street is the abandoned Taco Bell.

We’ve got new developments, incubators and restaurants in Lansing.

How do we get college students to go west of Frandor into Lansing?

It’s not usual to be in a conversation about regional growth and development and hear the “but.”

That’s exactly what those attending the Capital Region Prosperity Project at the Lansing Center Tuesday were asked to do.

Nearly 300 registrants participated in dialogue sessions and breakouts to develop action items to create a prosperous region.

“We can survive separately, we can thrive together,” said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.

In some ways the dream of Lansing is coming into view with exciting new developments like the Knapp’s building, the Midtown mixed use development, the new Runway incubator – but to fully develop it we need to be willing to change and be honest.

The event was reminiscent of Ignite Lansing or TEDx, complete with colored lighting and a live band.

The ideas were inspiring: make Lansing a destination, build a downtown grocery store, volunteer to tutor the best and brightest in our schools, recruit from within and not from out of state, develop a vibrant Michigan Avenue to link the region’s two largest cities.

Catalyst comes on the heels of Lansing Makers Week, which celebrated manufacturers big and small in Lansing. It comes less than two weeks after the Power of We Symposium, which encouraged collaboration and innovation.

“It’s a big deal. What you’re doing here is really important,” said Gov. Rick Snyder “It’s really about teamwork.”

There was less “Rah! Rah!” and more candor about our obstacles and challenges: resistance to change, collaboration efforts stalling, not recruiting local talent.

“We wanted to be interactive and call out the obvious where we’ve had some great success, but also where are those challenges?" said Tim Daman, president and CEO of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The emcees kept challenging the conversation to be honest.

“We’ve been trying to do this for years,” said Kat Cooper, another emcee.

Changing attitudes and culture takes time. Several presentations emphasized mass transit or bikeability.

“The people get it. The politicians need to get it,” said Gordon Mackay, president of Indian Trails/Michigan Flyer. “We’re all doing our own thing and not connecting.”

So what was different?

The dreams for our future included different kinds of voices.

Barb Whitney, director of the Lansing, Art Gallery, described the role art can and should play in the community.

“Art gives us a shared experience,” she said.

She’d like to see more public art and even singing and dancing in the streets.

Bobby Bringi, president of Michigan Biotechnology Institute in Lansing, challenged that the pursuit of growth should not be to the expense of our health.

“Do not lose the healing power of nature in our lives,” he said, showing photos of wooded areas and sunrises in the area.

Interacting with nature once a day grounds us, he said.

As the area develops and grows, he stressed for none of us to get stressed out.

“Nature and human design can coexist beautifully.”

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