For details about Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America, visit michiganmodern.org.

Physical design/walkability is one of eight assets the Michigan Municipal League has identified as making desirable and vibrant communities for the 21st Century. But strong physical design didn't happen by chance.

Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America is a symposium and exhibit hosted by Michigan's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that will show how innovative, chance-taking designers and architects left an indelible mark on the American cultural landscape. The event is to tell the story of Michigan designers and architects who met the challenge of a new century with optimism and spirit. They defined the look of the twentieth century with iconic pieces like the Eames Lounge Chair by the Herman Miller Furniture Company, the expressive styling of automobile details like the fins on a Cadillac, and the corporate campus image and office environment of the General Motors Technical Center.

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is hosting a symposium June 13-16 that will bring together national experts in design and architecture who will provide their own unique insight on the people, places, and events that populated Michigan’s design world and about why Michigan should take its rightful place as a twentieth-century design powerhouse alongside New York City and Los Angeles. The SHPO is also partnering with MPdL Studio of Ann Arbor and Cranbrook Art Museum on an exhibition that will showcase Michigan’s outstanding contribution to Modern design. The exhibition will be open to the public June 14-October 13, 2013.

For details about Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America, visit michiganmodern.org.

Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 and mbach@mml.org.

A rendering for the long-term vision for Capitol Park as outlined Thursday by Dan Gilbert. Source: Quicken Loans and the Detroit Free Press.

Quicken Loans Chairman and Founder Dan Gilbert announced his continuing commitment to revitalizing Detroit at an “Opportunity Detroit” event Thursday, that included Fred Kent of Project for Public Spaces. The plans, which included an announcement of a Papa Joe’s grocery store opening in the heart of downtown, are very consistent with the League’s placemaking message. In fact, a good portion of the two-hour session had Kent discussing the elements of placemaking and how to create lively urban places to live, work and play.

Kent told the audience at the event that Detroit has major assets and a passion for redevelopment that he has not see elsewhere, according to a Detroit Free Press article by John Gallagher.

"Downtown Detroit’s geographic location and particularly the half mile from the Detroit River to Grand Cricus Park is the most concentrated diversity of urban assets and placemaking opportunities anywhere in the world,” Kent said.

Many of the changes envision for downtown Detroit are reminiscent of a European capital, including sidewalk cafes, retail kiosks, food stands in parks, lawn games, beach volleyball in parks, traffic-calming devices such as raised crosswalks, retail storefronts open to the sidewalk, boutique hotels and pedestrian walks protected from traffic. They also called for a narrowing of Jefferson Avenue near Hart Plaza because the current eight-lane boulevard leaves a feeling of disconnect between downtown the Detroit Rivewalk. This narrowing of major roads is also something League CEO Dan Gilmartin has called for in his Economics of Place blog.

Media reports from the Opportunity Detroit event were truly exciting and League members will get to see many of these changes taking place first hand when they attend the League's 2013 Convention in Detroit this September. Learn more about our event here.

"We're all in," Gilbert told an audience of about 400 business and civic leaders invited to the City Theatre at the Hockeytown Café. "It's more than fluff ... A big chunk of this is going to happen this summer. It's agreed, funded."

Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at mbach@mml.org or (734) 669-6317.

Another rendering of Detroit's future. Source: Quicken Loans and the Detroit Free Press.

The 2012 CEA finalists after being selected at the 2012 Capital Conference.

The Village of Lexington in Michigan’s Thumb region as well as Albion, South Haven and St. Joseph in the southern portion of the state are among the first communities to enter the Michigan Municipal League’s 2013 Community Excellence Award (CEA) competition.

The CEA is a spirited competition that recognizes innovative solutions taking place in MML-member communities. The contest officially gets under way during the League’s Capital Conference (April 9-10 in Lansing) but communities interested in participating can submit entry forms now at this link.

The small Village of Lexington, population 1,178, was the first to announce its entry into the CEA, affectionately called “The Race for the Cup” and St. Joseph, the 2007 winner of the Cup, and South Haven, and Albion entered this week. The League is seeking nominations from communities of all sizes from throughout the state. The 2012 winner was Grandville and you can view other past winners here. You can view past CEA presentations here.

Communities will compete in the first round of the competition during regional meetings at the League’s Capital Conference. Attendees of the Regional Roundtables will vote on the projects, and the regional winner will go on to compete at League's Annual Convention taking place in Detroit in September.

Remember, giving a five minute, “elevator pitch” style presentation at your Regional Roundtable at our Capital Conference is the ONLY way to enter!

Here's how to get involved in this year's CEA competition:

1.) Register: Click here for the online Community Excellence Award entry form.

2.) Prepare Entry: Prepare a five (5) minute verbal “elevator pitch” style presentation. Optional:  Bring a 2 x 3 ft display board of your project/initiative; we will display it on an easel during the meeting.

Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 and mbach@mml.org.

Dan Gilmartin and Natalie Burg talk about aging in place on the Prosperity Agenda radio show.

From now until 2030, AARP predicts all 50 states will see a “rapid acceleration in growth” in their elderly populations as baby boomers turn 65.

During this month’s Prosperity Agenda radio show on News/Talk 760 WJR the Michigan Municipal League's Dan Gilmartin and guests talk about retiring baby boomers and the unprecedented opportunity they bring to cities and downtowns ready to accommodate them.

Several Michigan communities, such as Marquette, Holland and Howell, are already recognized for meeting this challenge and becoming thriving environments for retirees. The show airs 7 p.m. Wednesday on News/Talk 760 WJR, but you can listen to the show anytime here on our website or by podcast here. You can register now for the Age-Friendly Communities Conference coming Feb 28 to UM-Ann Arbor.

The host of the show is League CEO Dan Gilmartin and his co-host for this first show of 2013 is Natalie Burg, a writer and owner of Vial Half Full Communications. Natalie is a former Downtown Development Director in Owosso and now writes about cities, placemaking and downtowns for numerous outlets including Metromode and Ann Arbor’s Concentrate. Our other guests are Marquette City Manager Bill Vajda, Barbara Spreitzer-Berent, an urban planner and gerontologist who serves as volunteer state coordinator for health and supportive services for AARP Michigan; and Joe Borgstrom, director of downtown and community services division for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). The Prosperity Agenda is a monthly radio show that challenges listeners to help make Michigan a better place to live, work and play by creating vibrant and prosperous local communities. It airs on News/Talk 760 WJR on the fourth Wednesday of each month.

Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 or mbach@mml.org.