General Purposes

About this grant

Like other regions across the state and country, the tri-county region of Michigan that includes the cities of Grand Rapids, Holland and Muskegon is undergoing rapid population changes and the expansion of urbanization into outlying areas. The region faces additional challenges as its traditional manufacturing-based economy enters a period of transition to, and competition in, a more technologically-oriented global economy. There is a critical need for regional long-range planning.Funding will enable the Western Michigan Strategic Alliance to engage regional opinion leaders to work toward a common vision for regional land-use planning and informed state land-use policy reform, including monitoring implementation of recommendations from the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council; undertake a variety of outreach and communications activities to create a regional mindset among opinion leaders and the public; direct an Urban Center Revitalization Task Force to identify and highlight ways to make Michigan’s urban centers desirable places to live and work; and provide support to a Green Infrastructure Task Force, charged with developing recommendations and generating support for the establishment of a green infrastructure for the tricounty region.The alliance was established in 2000 after business leaders, members of metropolitan planning organizations and local government officials in the tri-county region began seeing the need for and benefits of regional long-range planning. The mission of the alliance is "to be a catalyst for regional collaboration."