Departments and Research Centers

Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) conducts, supports and fosters applied academic research to inform local, state, and urban policy issues.

Showing 181 - 210 of 656 results

CLOSUP report: Mixed signals in local government fiscal health across Michigan

Nov 15, 2018

By Mandira Banerjee | Originally published by Michigan News, November 14, 2018ANN ARBOR— Michigan’s local governments report improvement and decline in fiscal health over the last year, according to a University of Michigan survey.The biggest...

Barry Rabe expects Midwest to refocus on climate issues

Nov 14, 2018

With a change of governorships after the midterm elections, one previously passed-over issue is seeing a resurgence. Governors-elect are already showing signs of making climate issues a top-priority in Midwestern states. Daniel Cusick, reporter for...

Barry Rabe calls midterm climate initiatives an “amazing compilation of policy”

Nov 8, 2018

The 2018 midterm elections set an unprecedented amount of campaign spending, with one cause taking a surprising lead. In their November 5, 2018, article in E&E News titled “4 States Have Ballot Measures That Could Shape U.S. Climate Policy,”...

News

Northern Michigan housing struggle corroborated in CLOSUP survey findings

Nov 2, 2018

The tourism industry is butting heads with affordable housing efforts in Northern Michigan. In an October 29, 2018 piece for The Petoskey News-Review titled “Resort industry poses unique issues in housing shortage,” William T. Perkins cites data...

News

Researcher shows red states embrace wind energy for the sake of bottom line

Oct 25, 2018

While renewable energy through wind mills is often seen as a coastal undertaking, Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), details how research reveals that red states are pursuing...

News

Local leaders offer advice, experience

Oct 24, 2018

An event at the Ford School, “Women Leading Local Government,” spotlighted women around the state of Michigan who are leading communities and developing policies. The interactive seminar allowed graduate and professional students a chance to...

Wheels Keep Turning: Researcher Sarah Mills continues to educate on wind turbine impact in MI

Oct 18, 2018

“The goal is to share the pros and cons of wind energy so communities can make their own decisions based on facts,” explained Sarah Mills, a senior project manager and researcher at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy...

News

CLOSUP survey reveals that local officials are perplexed on Prop 1

Oct 12, 2018

On November 6, Michigan voters will have the option to either affirm or oppose Proposal 1, an amendment to the Michigan state constitution that will legalize the use of recreational marijuana. While public opinion polls convey support for the...

Informing local leaders about fiscal health and economic development image

News

John Chamberlin responds to criticisms of Michigan’s Proposal 2

Oct 11, 2018

With Michigan’s upcoming election, commentary around the ballot’s Proposal 2, which would establish a citizen’s commission responsible for creating voting district lines, has run the gamut. In the October 10, 2018, piece for Bridge titled “5...

Coverage of CLOSUP medical marijuana policy poll grows like weed

Sep 21, 2018

On September 13, 2018, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at U-M’s Ford School of Public Policy released a survey that found almost 75 percent of Michigan cities, townships, and villages report that they have chosen to prohibit medical...

CLOSUP report: 54 percent of Michigan local officials oppose marijuana legalization

Sep 13, 2018

A majority of officials in Michigan oppose medical marijuana facilities in their jurisdiction, according to a new survey by University of Michigan...

Photo with green background, imprint of a Marijuana leaf, and an illustrated town

News

Making an Impact: Researcher Sarah Mills gives Michigan communities the straight story on wind turbines

Aug 24, 2018

By Terry Kosdrosky, Public Engagement & Impact A company wants to build wind turbines in your township and is offering landowners, many of them farmers, a sweet deal to lease property. Meanwhile, your board meeting is packed with strongly opposed...

News

New report from CLOSUP: Rising confidence in Michigan’s direction but partisan differences remain

Jul 27, 2018

An annual survey by University of Michigan researchers has tracked two straight years of improving evaluations for the Michigan legislature and the governor by the local government leaders of the state. About 56 percent of Michigan’s local...

Rabe, NSEE: with warmest May on record, Americans' acceptance of global warming reaches new high

Jul 12, 2018

Over the last 10 years, the National Surveys on Energy and the Environment (NSEE) has fielded 19 surveys in which Americans have been asked if they believe there is solid evidence of global warming. In the latest version of this ongoing research...

News

Rabe speaks with Michigan Radio's Environment Report on public support for carbon pricing

Jun 22, 2018

Professor Barry Rabe spoke on air with Michigan Radio's Rebecca Williams on June 21 about the tricky politics of climate change policies such as carbon taxing and cap-and-trade. The interview took place as the National Surveys on Energy and...

News

CLOSUP report: Michigan officials report housing shortages

Jun 22, 2018

Many local governments in Michigan feel they have a shortage of housing in their counties and cities, according to a survey from University of Michigan researchers. About 40 percent of local officials say they have too little single family...

News

Most local jurisdictions follow master plan, but struggle with too few planners

May 7, 2018

Nearly half of Michigan’s largest local governments feel they have little staff capacity for land use planning and zoning, according to a survey from University of Michigan researchers. This survey is the first statewide attempt to explore which...

News

CLOSUP publishes report, hosts webinar on local government workforce issues and challenges

Feb 7, 2018

In January, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) published a report and hosted a webinar on the views of Michigan local government officials regarding workforce issues and challenges. The results come from the Spring 2017...

Sarah Mills: "Wind development in Pennsylvania: A reflection on state policy"

Feb 5, 2018

An article by Sarah Mills, "Wind development in Pennsylvania: a reflection on state policy," was published in Commonwealth: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy (Volume 19, Number 1 [2017]). AbstractWhile other states have continued to add...

News

Rabe & Mills: "State energy policy in the Trump era: Insights from public opinion"

Feb 5, 2018

An article by Barry Rabe and Sarah Mills, "State energy policy in the Trump Era: Insights from public opinion," was published in the December 2017 edition of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. Abstract In light of President...

News

Rabe joins NAPA Panel of Fellows assessing Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Feb 2, 2018

Barry Rabe, director of the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, has been appointed to a five-member National Academy of Public Administration Panel of Fellows that is charged with assessing the Oklahoma Corporation...

For Brookings, Barry Rabe discusses state and federal tension around climate policy

Jan 30, 2018

In a new blog for the Brookings Institution, Barry Rabe looks into the difficulties surrounding climate policy in America, detailing how fluctuating positions at the federal level have impacted states and their individual commitments.Barry Rabe is...

State & Hill

Low voter turnout? Introducing Turn Up Turnout and the Big Ten Voting Challenge

Dec 21, 2017

Voter turnout is abysmally poor," says Joe Schwarz, a Ford School lecturer and former U.S. Congressional representative (R-MI-7). "In general elections, you're lucky to get 50 to 60 percent of eligible voters—that just shows an embarrassing level of...

News

David Bohnett mayoral fellowship program featured in Governing Magazine

Dec 7, 2017

The David Bohnett Leadership and Public Service Fellowship program, which has provided generous support to 20 Ford School graduate students since its launch in 2010, is highlighted today in an article by Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene,...

Mills provides power of information, nears end of Michigan wind energy tour

Nov 16, 2017

Sarah Mills is working to dispel rumors and inform rural Michiganders of the pros and cons of wind farm energy.Mills, a post-doctoral fellow at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), received an $80,000 grant from the...

Michigan Public Policy Survey results featured by AP and Michigan Bureau of Elections

Nov 14, 2017

Results from the spring edition of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) were highlighted by the Michigan Secretary of State’s Bureau of Elections in their November 9 newsletter, which is sent to election officials across the state.The latest...

Michigan News release: Statewide election survey explores problems, potential reforms

Nov 6, 2017

ANN ARBOR—A statewide survey of local officials shows that a majority are very confident in their jurisdiction's ability to administer accurate elections, however, those in Michigan's largest cities and townships—which hold nearly half the...

News

Michigan News release: Local leaders say recovery is mixed, but slightly positive overall

Oct 12, 2017

Overall, the fiscal health of Michigan's local governments appears to have improved slightly since last year, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers. Across the state, 35 percent of the local government leaders surveyed...

News

Michigan News release: Americans support hotly debated 'net energy metering' policies

Sep 6, 2017

Approximately three out of every four Americans—76 percent—support hotly debated net energy metering policies, which allow residents with wind turbines and solar panels to sell excess energy back to the grid at retail rates. That’s according to a...

In Brookings, Barry Rabe talks "Carbon pricing durability and the case of California"

Aug 31, 2017

“Collectively endorsing carbon pricing as the preferred route to achieve pledged [greenhouse gas] reductions is relatively easy,” writes Barry Rabe in his latest Brookings blog. “Much harder is navigating the politics upon returning home.”Rabe’s...