April 14, 2004

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today met with a group that represents the economic future of Michigan – young, college-educated workers in the first of three university cool cities forums to explore ideas for creating "cool cities" in Michigan.

Participants in today’s forum at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, which was attended by over 200 young people, identified walkable streets and gathering places, local shops, and a place for family as the most important attributes that would influence their decision on where to live. A majority of the participants identified Grand Rapids as either pretty "cool" or "getting cooler."

"The timing for this forum today could not have been better," said Granholm. "Grand Rapids was just named one of America’s most livable communities by Partners for Livable Communities, and the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area was recognized as having the third most competitive knowledge economy in the world, according to the World Knowledge Competitive Index," she added. "The initiatives that led to these types of designations are what we were here to talk about today. Whether you call it a livable community, a competitive knowledge economy, or a cool city doesn’t matter. What matters is that this area is bringing people and businesses to the region, and they are being recognized for their efforts."

Subsequent forums are scheduled at Northern Michigan University in Marquette on Thursday, April 15, and Wayne State University in Detroit on Tuesday, April 20. They are a follow-up to the highly successful "cool cities" survey conducted at www.michigancoolcities.com earlier this year. The survey was designed to gather college students’ and young people’s input on the factors that are most important to them in choosing a city in which to live or work. Since December, more than 13,000 people have responded to the survey, which was distributed with the help of the state’s university, community college, and private college communities.

Governor Granholm kicked off the "cool cities" effort last year as part of her overall plan to grow Michigan’s economy. U.S. Census data showed that Michigan is losing workers ages 25 to 34 at a greater rate than other age categories, yet research shows that these young, knowledgeable workers will be critical to economic growth in the future.

The group of young people talked with Governor Granholm about the importance of attributes such as affordable housing, arts and cultural venues, and walkable streets when they consider where to live. They used technology from the Michigan Virtual University (MVU) to vote for attributes that are most important to them and gave the Governor examples of what they consider "cool."

"The young people we talked with today told us what makes a city or community livable or ‘cool’ for them and what attributes will influence their decisions about where they will live and work," said Granholm. "These folks will shape the economic future of our state for the 21st century," she added. "If we want them to stay in Michigan to live, work and raise families, we have to find out what they want and then help create the Michigan they want to call home."

Governor Granholm and Department of Labor and Economic Growth Director David Hollister announced on April 1, 2004, a new pilot program designed to help communities across the state create vibrant, attractive places for people to live, work, and play.

The "cool city" pilot program combines more than 75 of the state’s community improvement grants, loan programs, and assistance programs into a single "resource toolbox" that can be used by cities and communities for revitalization projects. The program also creates a new "catalyst grant" that will serve as a flexible tool for those organizations engaged in neighborhood revitalization projects. Together, the toolbox and the catalyst grants leverage millions of dollars that will be strategically directed to revitalization projects that present the best opportunity for success.

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