Center for Local State and Urban Policy

Showing 151 - 180 of 221 results

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...

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...

Informing local leaders about fiscal health and economic development image

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...

State & Hill

Catch up on Ford School faculty news in the Fall 2017 edition of State & Hill magazine

Dec 29, 2017

Tamar Mitts and Robert Axelrod participated in a trilateral workshop on the roots and trajectories of violent extremism. Mitts spoke about the radicalization of Islamic State supporters on social media; Axelrod about the strengths and weaknesses of...

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

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...

State & Hill

Engaged learning in Ford School classrooms--beyond the big-ticket experiences

Dec 23, 2016

The Ford School has a long history of emphasizing engaged learning. Many of the big-ticket experiences, like the Integrated Policy Exercise (IPE), Applied Policy Seminar (APS) now called Strategic Public Policy Consulting (SPPC), International...

News

Michigan local leaders assess drinking water issues in latest Michigan Public Policy Survey

Nov 29, 2016

Over a quarter of local officials from Michigan jurisdictions that provide shared water infrastructure believe funding levels are not sufficient to maintain those systems, according to the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), "Local...

News

CLOSUP survey: Local leaders concerned about property tax appeals, "dark stores" assessing

Oct 26, 2016

Findings from the most recent Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), reveal broad concern by local leaders and administrators over property tax appeals. The survey...

News

Michigan Radio's "Stateside" highlights CLOSUP's latest, and troubling, fiscal health findings

Aug 24, 2016

Michigan Radio’s Cynthia Canty interviews Tom Ivacko (MPP ’93), CLOSUP program administrator, for the segment “Declining fiscal health “an early warning sign” for local governments, report says.” The program focuses on CLOSUP's latest Michigan...

News

Michigan Radio interviews Brian Jacob about latest research on MI high school curriculum reforms

Mar 9, 2016

Last week, Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski and two colleagues from Michigan State released a new paper, "Are expectations alone enough? Estimating the effect of a mandatory college-prep curriculum in Michigan." The paper examines the effect of the 2006...

News

CLOSUP Survey: Attitudes about Clean Power Plan implementation shaded by partisan affiliation

Dec 17, 2015

A majority of Americans (54 percent) want their state to submit an implementation plan to comply with the Clean Power Plan, according to CLOSUP’s latest survey. Another 22 percent would prefer their state not submit a plan and instead allow the...

News

Local leaders worry about retiree health care benefits, says latest CLOSUP MPPS report

Oct 29, 2015

ANN ARBOR—Health care benefits for retirees of Michigan's local governmental units are presenting significant fiscal challenges, and more than half of local officials surveyed indicate they are concerned they won't be able to fulfill their...

News

In latest CLOSUP survey, local leaders say fiscal stress is low, but see red flags

Sep 22, 2015

ANN ARBOR—About two-thirds of local governments in Michigan rate the levels of fiscal stress as relatively low in their jurisdictions today, while just 7 percent rate the stress as high. While the latter percentage is low, the figure represents...

News

CLOSUP wins Third Century Initiative grant to bring data to the classroom in a big way

Sep 8, 2015

CLOSUP, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, is ready to bring real-world data to the classroom in a big way. Through a recently awarded Quick Wins/Discovery grant, part of the University of Michigan's Third Century Initiative,...

News

Local leaders' confidence in state's direction erodes, CLOSUP MPPS reveals

Aug 26, 2015

ANN ARBOR—For the first time since 2012, fewer than half of Michigan's local leaders believe the state is headed in the right direction—chief culprits include road funding fumbles, state tax policies and general dysfunction in Lansing, according to...

News

Internship field report, Sandy Mervak from the National Conference of State Legislatures

Jul 7, 2015

That old trope about states serving as "laboratories of democracy" has become much more real for me this summer. I am working as a research intern in the energy program at the National Conference of State Legislatures—a national, bipartisan NGO that...

News

CLOSUP survey findings on state of Michigan roads cited in AP, Free Press stories

Feb 24, 2015

A recent CLOSUP report presenting the opinions of Michigan local government leaders on the state of roads was cited by the Associated Press, Detroit Free Press, and other media outlets. Most of the media coverage focused on the fact that while 79...

News

Barry Rabe and recent CLOSUP survey cited in Christian Science Monitor

Jan 24, 2015

2015 is shaping up to be a decisive year for U.S. energy and climate policy, according to a recent Christian Science Monitor article, “What are Republicans going to do about climate change.” While the 2016 presidential election is still nearly two...

News

For better or worse, Michigan's fiscal health post-recession

Oct 2, 2014

For the first time in six years, more Michigan communities report that they are better able to meet their fiscal needs this year than those who say they are less able to do...

News

Carbon tax might work, if revenue funds renewables

Jul 23, 2014

A July 21 report released by Barry Rabe, director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), and collaborators at the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, "Public Views on a Carbon Tax Depend on the Proposed Use of...

News

Rabe cited in Forbes on EPA greenhouse gas rules

Jun 3, 2014

Ford School Professor Barry Rabe was cited in Howard Gleckman's June 2 Forbes article "Could EPA's New Greenhouse Gas Rule Open the Door to a New State-based Gas Tax?" "The proposed EPA rules, which Brookings senior fellow Barry Rabe describes as...

News

CLOSUP hosts Ann Arbor mayoral candidates

Apr 18, 2014

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) hosted the four declared candidates in Ann Arbor's mayoral race on Wednesday, April 16. The forum focused on the future of public transportation and prospects for economic development of Ann...

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State & Hill

An engaged citizen

Apr 22, 2013

Barry Rabe on the future of CLOSUP A six-inch bobblehead of Ron Swanson, director of a fictitious Midwestern parks department in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, dominates the meeting table in Barry Rabe's office. The bobblehead is something...

State & Hill

You can get there from here

Apr 22, 2013

RTA Board representative Elisabeth R. Gerber sees the possibilities transit can offer for Southeast Michigan-and for the region's hardest hit city Getting from Detroit to Ann Arbor is a trip in more ways than one. The two cities are 43 miles...

News

Ford School expands scope of education policy research

Oct 19, 2011

Over the past year, significant new research and post-doctoral training grants added to the already active slate of education policy initiatives underway at the Ford School. In May, Susan M. Dynarski and Brian A. Jacob received a $250,000 grant...

News

CLOSUP report: Sales tax holiday spurs business, losses in tax collections

Jul 29, 2010

Sales tax holidays for certain goods lead to significantly higher sales on the goods, but also substantially reduce tax collection revenue. The findings appear in a new report by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, which is in the...

CLOSUP publishes brief exploring economic revitalization through college scholarships

Sep 2, 2009

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy published a new research brief called “Economic Revitalization through College Scholarships: The Kalamazoo Promise and Similar Programs.” This brief provides an overview of programs developed to spur...