Special thanks to Michigan Land Use Institute Operations Director Mac McClelland, whose in-depth, indefatigable investigation of state and local government financial records provided most of the financial statistics underpinning this report. Additional background, history, and financial and policy information came from the following published material:

City of Grand Rapids Economic Vitality 2003 Annual Report, City of Grand Rapids, 2004.

10 Ways to Increase Michigan’s Prosperity, Michigan Land Use Institute and United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan, January 21, 2004

Oakland County I-75 Expansion, Thomas W. Barwin, Interdepartmental Communication, City of Ferndale, January 26, 2004

Hard Lessons: Causes and Consequences of Michigan’s School Construction Boom, Mac McClelland and Keith Schneider, Michigan Land Use Institute, February 2004

Report on SEMCOG Lawsuit, David Whitaker and Kerry Baitinger, Detroit City Council, February 11, 2004

West Michigan Growth Statistics, The Right Place Program, April 2004.

Setting Priorities Memorandum, David Rusk, Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength, April 14, 2004

Projects Implemented Fiscal 2003, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, May 20, 2004

The State of Smart Growth, Philip Langdon et al, On Common Ground, National Association of Realtors, Summer 2004

SEMCOG Review and Recertification Resolution,

Downtown Housing Update, City of Grand Rapids Planning Department, June 2004.

Downtown Grand Rapids Development Projects, City of Grand Rapids Planning Department, June 2004.

Greater Grand Rapids Taxes and Incentives, The Right Place Program, 2003

Revitalizing Michigan’s Central Cities: A Vision and Framework For Action, Lou Glazer, Michigan Future, Inc., February 2003

New Economic Engine: National Comparison Shows Michigan Can Pull Ahead With World Class Transit, Kelly Thayer et al, Michigan Land Use Institute and United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan, March 2003,

Michigan Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Prosperity in Michigan, Myron Orfield and Thomas Luce, Ameregis and Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, April 2003

Thomas W. Barwin, Interdepartmental Communication, City of Ferndale, April 8, 2003

Marketing Smart Growth, David Goldberg et al, On Common Ground, National Association of Realtors, Summer 2003

Michigan’s Land, Michigan’s Future: The Final Report of the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council, Public Sector Consultants et al, August 2003

Missing the Bus: How States Fail to Connect Economic Development with Public Transit, Mafruza Khan and Greg LeRoy, Good Jobs First, September 2003,

Land Use Planning in Michigan: A Consensus Reached? Bernie Mein and Lee Schwartz, Michigan Builder, September/October 2003

Michigan Residents Views on Development and Land Use, Lyke Thompson, Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies, October 2003

Sprawl, schmall…Give me more development, L. Brooks Patterson, Michigan Real Estate Journal, November 2003

Highways and Transit: Leveling the Playing Field in Federal Transportation Policy, Edward Beinborn and Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution Center of Urban and Metropolitan Policy, December 2003

The Sprawl of the Wild, Bruce Katz, The Patriot News, December 7, 2003

The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida, Basic Books, 2002

State-Local Flexibility Key To Downtown Redevelopment in Michigan’s Fastest Growing Region, Susan Sandell, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, November 2002.

Will Michigan Climb On Board: Rail is Energizing Cities Coast to Coast, Kelly Thayer, Great Lakes Bulletin, Michigan Land Use Institute, March 2001

Liquid Assets: Detroit Teaches Michigan a Lesson in Natural Economics, Keith Schneider, Great Lakes Bulletin, Michigan Land Use Institute, Summer 2001

Breaking the Sprawl Addiction: A Twelve Step Program, Keith Schneider, Great Lakes Bulletin, Michigan Land Use Institute, March 2000

Acting as a Region to Tame Sprawl: Grand Rapids Leads the Way in Michigan, Keith Schneider, Great Lakes Bulletin, Michigan Land Use Institute, Spring, 1999

There’s A Better Way to Get There, Keith Schneider, Great Lakes Bulletin, Michigan Land Use Institute, Summer/Fall 1999

City of Grand Rapids Downtown Chronology, City of Grand Rapids Planning Department, January 1997.

Redevelopment and Race: Planning a Finer City in Postwar Detroit, June Manning Thomas, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997

The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit, Thomas J. Sugrue, Princeton University Press, 1996

The Report of the Downtown Housing Task Force, Downtown Management Board, City of Grand Rapids, December 1995.

Voices and Visions: Community Planning For Downtown, Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority, July 1993.