U-M planning student and fellow blogger Murph was pleasantly surprised by what he found at a local Washtenaw County Planning meeting targeting professionals: there appears to be a professional consensus that well-built, vibrant urban neighborhoods are desired in the area:

” … The third major theme, and here’s where it gets interesting, was advocacy. In order to create and promote the vision of new and better forms of development and set up the collaborative climate that we want, we need to get out there and get us some converts. …

So, Revolutionaries, we have support. They want vibrant urban neighborhoods (or “urban” neighborhoods, since we are discussing Ann Arbor and Ypsi here), villages with distinct character, and functioning farmland. They are desperate to have people ask them to change things so that they have an excuse to do it, because they’re currently trapped by the political demands of the status quo. They want grassroots citizens’ groups to agitate for change. I told them to give me a week and I’d have a group for them to meet with. I don’t think they took me quite seriously, but the grassroots that they’re looking for is what the local blog-agglomeration is, and now I know people to call up for air support when we’ve got an idea to press.”