#semcog

in like the intro theyre like "it is good to have a clean environment, active community, effective local gov., housing, diversity, etc. etc." and like. im just going insane cause like YES its soooo obvious but for some reason like ppl LOVE to ignore it 😭😭😭 like girl.

Water is one of Southeast Michigan's invaluable assets. The water we drink, the water we enjoy, the water we flush... It's all one water.

The One Water campaign was created to attain a greater public awareness and shared responsibility for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. The goal is to educate people throughout the region that by taking care of and investing in our interrelated water systems, we can keep our water fresh and flowing.

Click the link below for more information:

https://semcog.org/mionewater

MDOT and SEMCOG continue to collect travel data from Michigan households

LANSING, MI – The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) remind residents that the MI Travel Counts household travel survey is continuing and invitation letters for the fall portion of the study will be sent to randomly selected households in September and October. MI Travel Counts will provide vital information necessary to set…

MDOT and SEMCOG to collect travel data from Michigan households

LANSING, MI – The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) are kicking off a yearlong household travel survey that will provide vital information necessary to set transportation priorities for the next 20 years.

The survey, MI Travel Counts, will be conducted by Westat, a nationally recognized research firm, for MDOT and SEMCOG.

Tran…

 Join us, Dec. 3 - 15, to kick off rapid transit planning for Woodward!

You’ve heard all about the regional transit authority legislation moving through Lansing, but that isn’t the only news about transit in metro Detroit. Rapid transit on the Woodward corridor is getting a fresh look--we’ll be talking about the entire 27 miles from Jefferson Avenue in Detroit to downtown Pontiac. Starting December 3rd, you are invited to join the discussion and help shape the future of Woodward transit. The cities along Woodward Avenue have joined with the Woodward Avenue Action Association, SEMCOG, and the Michigan Suburbs Alliance to launch an “alternatives analysis,” the first step in the formal process of developing a transit system. Over the next year, this process will combine your input with technical data, cost, and other considerations to pick the route, technology (rails? tires?), and general station locations. In addition, this effort will consider connections to the downtown M-1 Rail streetcar project, high-speed rail service, complete streets planning, and other projects currently under development. Seven meetings are scheduled over the next two weeks for your input. We’ll be talking about the “purpose and need” for the project--what is it that we need transit to do on Woodward?--and laying out the roadmap for the rest of the work. Over the course of 2013, we’ll have additional meetings around major steps in the process.

Monday, December 3, 5-7 p.m., Berkley Community Center, 2400 Robina Avenue, Berkley, MI, 48072

Tuesday December 4, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., SEMCOG, 535 Griswold Street, Suite 300, Detroit, MI 48226

Tuesday, December 4, 4-6 p.m., Detroit Police Department Central District, 7310 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202

Thursday, December 6, 5-7 p.m., Baldwin Public Library, 300 West Merrill Street, Birmingham, MI 48009

Tuesday, December 11, 4-6 p.m., Detroit Palmer Park Police Station, 12th Precinct, 1441 W. Seven Mile Road, Detroit, MI, 48203

Wednesday, December 12, 6-8 p.m., Ferndale Public Library, 222 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale, MI, 48220

Saturday, December 15, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Bowen Senior Center, 52 Bagley Street, Pontiac, MI, 48341

Photo Credits: Catherine Tang, Spring 2012, Detroit

As part of my thesis, I am proposing strategies of cooperative regional governance. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, my idea of it is closely related to what Neil Brenner, Professor of Urban Theory at the GSD, calls "metropolitan regionalism," which he defines as "all strategies to establish institutions, policies, or governance mechanisms that of existing socio-economic inter-dependencies within an urban agglomeration...a variety of inter-governmental and inter-organizational strategies to enhance cooperation and coordination among government agencies as well as public and private institutions and actors" (Decoding the Newest Metropolitan Regionalism, 2002). While I'm still doing research on exactly what these strategies may be, I figured that they can be executed in a three-pronged approach:

1) More coordination and cooperation among municipal leaders to move the region forward together by building on the region's strengths and sharing the responsibilities of the weaknesses. This would include the creation of a new metropolitan government, new policies of property tax base sharing, and strategies of infrastructure service sharing, etc.

2) More coordination and cooperation in planning/design and development efforts across the region. This would include some sort of regional master plan and urban design guidelines that would bridge strengths between municipalities, etc.

3) More civic engagement in regional decisions and plans to enhance civic identity and rebuild public trust.

That being said, I've been doing some research on what already exists in the Detroit metropolitan area, and yes, something similar already (sort of) exists: SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

According to their website, SEMCOG is "the only organization in Southeast Michigan that brings together all of the region's governments to solve regional challenges." In fact, this sounds like what I'm shooting for!... right? Well, let's keep reading.

"SEMCOG strengthens local government and regional decision making by:

Providing data and unbiased analysis for informed decision making affecting Southeast Michigan and its local governments;

Promoting the efficient use of tax dollars for both long-term infrastructure investment and shorter-term governmental efficiency;

Delivering direct assistance to member governments in the areas of transportation, environment, and community and economic development;

Solving regional issues that go beyond the boundaries of individual local governments; and

Advocating on behalf of Southeast Michigan in Lansing and Washington."

Well, it all sounds about right, but what does it all really mean? I'm skeptical as to whether or not SEMCOG is allowed to do everything necessary and possible to move the region forward. And I mean this in regards to governing authority (what it is allowed to do or not do). From what I have read, it seems that SEMCOG (as a body) can only recommend policies, programs, etc, but does not necessarily have the authority to enact them. Interesting.

I've had some time to look at other (and potentially successful) examples of regional governance structures, i.e. metropolitan governments, elsewhere in the nation that do have the regulatory authority to enforce particular policies that can have great and successful effects on the region. A couple that I will be looking at, include: "Metro" in Portland, Oregon and the "Metropolitan Council" in the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis), Minnesota.