East Lansing officials are determining their "coolest" ideas this week, as they outline future projects in a state grant application that will be sent to the governor's office.
The application is for a grant that could add $100,000 for improvements to the city in accordance with Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities initiative.
The grant money can be used for a variety of projects, including construction of new buildings, acquisition of new land and even the development of an urban farmer's market.
"We're very enthusiastic about it," East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said. "With all the activities that are going on in the downtown, we'd certainly find a good use for the money."
East Lansing is one of more than 100 Michigan cities participating in the initiative, which aims to bring economic growth to Michigan cities by attracting young, innovative professionals, nicknamed the "creative class."
The "catalyst" grants, given to at least 12 communities as part of the initiative's first phase, are intended to jump-start projects required to be under way by the end of the year. The communities also will be granted access to a resource toolbox that will combine more than 75 of the state's community-improvement grants, loan programs and assistance programs that can be used for revitalization projects. Similar state grants will be given to different communities in future years.
The Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries is one of the state departments that provides funds for the catalyst grants, along with other grants included in the toolbox.
Department Director William Anderson said the Cool Cities initiative and the department's goals of preserving and expanding cultural opportunities go hand in hand.
"Having a vibrant arts and culture program in a community is very attractive to people," Anderson said. "We're going to try and give some priority in our grant-making to those who work within the Cool Cities initiative."
A series of instructional sessions are scheduled this week around the state with officials outlining which projects will be favorable to the multi-agency team choosing the winning plans. The applications are due at the beginning of May, and the winners will be announced in early June.
East Lansing planning staff will attend one of these sessions in Grand Rapids on Thursday.
David Hollister, director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, said these kinds of programs are needed to curb the number of young people leaving the state for traditionally "cooler" places such as San Francisco and Boston after they get their education. From July 2000 to July 2002, about 33,000 people in the 25- to 34-year-old age group left Michigan.
"We have been losing our talent pool," Hollister said, adding that the phenomenon is not exclusive to the United States. "People around the world are collecting in cities that they think are more diverse and more exciting."
Now, East Lansing officials must determine which projects they would like to pursue to keep young people in this area.
Although there are ideas in mind, there are no concrete plans for the application yet, said East Lansing Planning and Community Development Director Jim van Ravensway.
He said the East Lansing Cool Cities Partnership, a coalition of city staff, developers and local business owners, will meet this week to discuss what their top priorities are.
"We just have a bunch of things we'd like to do - sort of our Cool Cities initiative list," van Ravensway said. "We think we're well on our way."
Don Jordan can be reached at jordand3@msu.edu.
