Michigan Municipal League_The Review_July-Aug 2022

Beckett & Raeder, Inc. is a Michigan corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor with additional offices in Petoskey and Traverse City. The firm has a staff of professional landscape architects, planners, and civil engineers; many of which have LEED Accreditation, Form Based Code Institute Certification, Congress for New Urbanism Accreditation, and National Charrette Institute Certification. Our services include sustainable design, land use programming and analysis, master planning, campus planning, placemaking, site planning and civil engineering, site development, municipal engineering, storm water management, downtown revitalization and redevelopment, community planning and urban design, form-based code, economic development, public/private development services, and ecological and environmental services.

The community forum focused on six questions: 1. How would you describe the Ellsworth-Atwood community today? 2. How would you like to describe the Ellsworth- Atwood community in the future? 3. What does the Ellsworth-Atwood community need today? 4. What are the barriers that are preventing the achievement of the needs? 5. What does the Ellsworth-Atwood community need 10 years from now? Communities are often confronted with barriers that impede success. These take the form of financial considerations, political posturing, lack of administrative capacity, lack of capabilities, and resident sentiments. Separately or collectively, these barriers determine the success and ultimate disposition of the community. Communities with a “can do” culture are often those that are vibrant and actively sought after by new residents and business. On the other hand, “can’t do” communities are often undervalued, rife with economic and social issues, and adhere to that familiar adage of ‘same old, same old.’ The outcome of the latter situation begs the question: “If you are not willing to reinvest in your community, who is?” Setting Priorities Strategic priorities are based on the actions that need to be taken to move the community closer to its vision. The priorities must also be tailored to the capabilities and capacity of the community, because an overwhelming variety of action items and objectives can produce the unintended consequence of organizational paralysis, resulting in no action at all. 6. What actions need to be taken to accomplish the desired outcomes?

ELLSWORTH pop. 367

JULY / AUGUST 2022

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THE REVIEW