Dan Gilmartin and Kalamazoo and Lansing Mayors Stress Importance of Placemaking in Infrastructure Investment

A key to attracting talent and business is having quality infrastructure AND vibrant places that draw people. That was the consistent, persistent and insistent message Tuesday during the Midwestern Infrastructure Summit that took place in Lansing as part of Infrastructure Week activities happening throughout the nation this week.

Michigan Municipal League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin participated in the event along with Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Michigan mayors – Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell. The public summit calling for more investment in Michigan’s failing infrastructure was co-hosted by the League and the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA), at Lansing Brewing Company. The summit was just one of four held nationwide during national Infrastructure Week so it was very significant and an honor to have the event in Michigan. The other summits are happening in Washington D.C., Las Vegas and Dallas.

“Our cities and our state are at a crossroads where we must make drastic funding changes for our infrastructures and our cities. This summit is an opportunity to discuss the issues and showcase what our leaders in the legislative and business community are doing to move Michigan forward,” Gilmartin said.

Gilmartin led a panel titled Beyond Asphalt and Concrete: Infrastructure for Placemaking that included Jared Fleisher, Vice President of Quicken Loans Family of Companies’ Margaret Trimer, Director of Corporate Communications & Citizenship of Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio & Indiana; Paula D. Cunningham, state Director of Michigan AARP,

A key to investing is investing in “community infrastructure” – not just roads, bridges and pipes, but all the assets that attract people and make places great, including police and fire protection, parks, and arts and culture. These are all things that make up placemaking, which is about “improving the human experience,” said Gilmartin.

Fleisher talked about how placemaking and community infrastructure led Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert to move his companies’ headquarters to downtown Detroit. Fleisher said today’s talent wants to be in vibrant places where they can live, work and play.

Other speakers included Bob Trezise, President and CEO of LEAP; Planet M, Siemens Mobility Intelligent Traffic, Bytemark Inc., AECOM and HNTB. Also participating in the summit were Rodney Slater, partner with Squire Patton Boggs and Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation; Paul Ajegba, Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, Deborah Brown, Director Alternative Delivery of WSP, Mike Nystrom, Executive Vice President/Secretary of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association. came together at the Midwestern Infrastructure Summit to express frustration at the state’s failure to invest in infrastructure and the cost of that failure to Michigan.

Slater also talked about the value of placemaking and how it relates to infrastructure investment.

“Place is space, plus memories,” Slater said. “… Cities are laboratories for innovation.”

“You dive in and you fix it” said Kalamazoo Mayor Hopewell. “We have a major crisis and we still don’t understand the importance of the need for infrastructure.”

It was especially cool to see Mayor Schor drawing on his experience as a former legislative associate and assistant director of state affairs with the League to drive conversation about importance of placemaking in creating a vibrant community like Lansing.

“I do believe if you want to grow the pie you have to be a community that is attractive to people,” Mayor Schor said.

Both mayors Schor and Hopewell emphasized the impact that a properly-funded infrastructure would have on smart placemaking strategies that improving the quality of life by creating walkable, bikeable communities that attract young people and empty nesters. They spoke of the challenges that mayors face while allocating budget between infrastructure, safety and building the quality of life through parks and recreation, with placemaking often suffering during tight budgets like Michigan cities have faced the last 15 years.

Mike Nystrom, Executive Vice President of MITA, stated, “We have systems around the state that are over 100 years old, we have to address these problems.” Nystrom discussed the importance of fully funding infrastructure projects now and that putting off projects will cause even higher costs in the future, funding that could go towards placemaking and creating desirable communities to live and work.

It’s important that leaders educate the public and debunk myths around Michigan’s infrastructure problem and potential solutions, Nystrom said. For instance, while many blame heavy trucks for highway failures, Nystrom pointed out that roughly 5 percent of trucks exceed the posted weight limits and many trucks don’t travel on roads with the worst quality. And many Michiganders remain unaware how little they pay in taxes for roads, he noted.

The business leaders from Delta Dental, QuickenLoans and the Michigan AARP discussed the importance of investing in infrastructure in Michigan’s talent and business hubs to attract and retain population, workers and job creators. Residents, both young and old, are focused on walkability and transportation in the cities that they live in. Businesses take into account mobility of city centers when looking at site locations to invest in, with cities now taking an “all of the above” approach to make their communities more attractive to investors.

Mayors and community leaders continued to emphasize the importance of creating an environment that caters to both young professionals and empty nesters, including infrastructure and the city and cultural amenities that are important to enhance the quality of life.  The plans that are being developed today, caters to communities where the culture, residents and the needs of both, will continue to change.

Closing the summit was Governor Whitmer, who said it was Michigan’s people who led her to a strong position on fixing Michigan’s roads — leading to her proposed 45 cent a gallon gasoline tax increase to fund $2.5 billion of highway work across the state.

“It was made clear to me in a conversation that I was having with a couple of moms. I asked them, “What is the most important issue to you?” Each of them said, “I just need you to fix the damn roads,”” Whitmer said. “We have the worst roads in the nation. Not because we don’t know how to build good roads but because we are not investing in them.”

The event was covered extensively on social media by League staff and other supporters. Also more than a dozen reporters attended. Here are some of the Twitter highlights from the very successful event:

Thinking big picture and how everything connects is difficult and requires strong leaders. #BuildForTomorrow. ‘We’re trying to make our systems for everyone’ says @Hope4Kzoo in explaining why @KalamazooCity is a #CompleteStreets city

.@MMLeague CEO @DPGilmartin kickoffs panel at #BuildForTomorrow event in Lansing saying young talent doesn’t move to cities for low taxes and regulatory control – they go for #Placemaking – improving the human experience! W/ @AARPMichigan @DeltaDentalMI @QuickenLoans

.@MMLeague’s Dan Gilmartin – “It doesn’t happen by accident; it happens by investment.” #BuildforTomorrow