To be vibrant and competitive, Michigan communities must be ready for development. This involves:
- Planning for new investment and reinvestment
- Identifying assets and opportunities
- Focusing limited resources
In August 2015, the City Commission agreed to take part in the Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) program. The RRC program promotes effective redevelopment strategies through a set of best practices. It also certifies communities that use transparent, predictable, and efficient development practices.
In October 2015, we submitted a self-evaluation and applied for certification. Over the next year and a half, the RRC program staff reviewed our development practices. In March 2017, they presented us with a report of findings. The report showed we had already implemented two-thirds of the best practices. We also had begun implementing the remaining one-third but still had some work to do.
We completed the implementation of the RRC program recommendations in February of 2018. Rather than modifying our development practices, this process allowed us to validate and enhance them. On May 21, 2018, we became the 21st community in Michigan to become RRC certified. The RRC certification is a formal recognition that our community has a vision for the future and practices in place to get there.