Forum Will Explore Town Planning Ideas
Set at St. Ignace Tues., January 9

Dave Ivan, an expert in community and economic development, will bring his program, "Can Small Towns Be Cool?" to Mackinac County Tuesday, January 9, at 1 p.m. The program will be at Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace, presented by Michigan State University Extension.

The program draws on the experiences and good ideas from 250 Midwest and East Coast communities and describes how communities can improve their appearance and attract people and commerce. He uses as examples Mackinaw City, Suttons Bay, Petoskey, and Elk Rapids in northern Michigan and Newaygo, Marshall, Coopersville, Douglas, Manistee, Middleville, Hastings, South Haven, Allegan, St. Joseph, Three Oaks, and Dowagiac among other Michigan communities.

Mr. Ivan is the director of Clinton County MSU Extension, a rural but growing county next to Lansing. He serves as a member of Michigan State's economic development, community development, and land use area expertise teams. He has participated in two research projects about the sustainability and success initiatives of smaller communities. What he has learned will be presented January 9.

Register for the program by calling the Mackinac County MSU Extension office at (906) 643-7307. The cost is $25.

When Mr. Ivan spoke in Manistique in October, about half of the participants were from Mackinac County, said Michelle Walk, MSU extension director for Mackinac County, and that prompted her to schedule a similar program in St. Ignace.

Can Small Towns Be Cool? is based on the "Cool Cities" title used by community and economic developers to define the places where people want to live. Such places attract young people and families and professional and educated people called "the creative class."

Mr. Ivan's research paper, "Can Small Towns Be Cool?," is the foundation of his presentation, in which he examines the qualities of small communities that bring residents together through commerce, education, and a sense of personal identity. After analyzing the 250 towns to find the qualities they tend to share, he identified 10 keys for success in those places.

He found all or most of them have a strong engagement between citizens, community organizations, and government; successful approach to land use opportunities; willingness to adapt zoning regulations for new opportunities; active pursuit of cultural economic development opportunities; deliberate effort to connect with youth and the younger generation within the community; attention to natural amenities; local entrepreneurial investment; willingness to seek help from the outside; a conviction toward self-determination, and the belief that lessons are learned from setbacks and successes are celebrated.

Mr. Ivan concluded that these 10 elements are vital to long-term success in building a community. He will speak in greater detail about these themes and the specific characteristics of successful towns at the January 9 meeting in St. Ignace.