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They are for More Than Just Binge-Drinking
More than ever anchor institutions are shaping cities. And while for the first half of this century and even until the recently, the anchor institutions in our state and even across the nation were factories and corporate headquarters, we now live in a world and state where these institutions aren’t the same and aren’t necessarily the things you would build a community around . In fact, in most cities, gone are the days when industry, financial institutions, and public utilities were the largest employers. Instead, increasingly the anchor institutions of our core communities are our universities and major medical institutions, or ‘Eds and Meds’ if you will.
Dr. Judith Rodin, is the former president of the University of Pennsylvania and now, the head of the Rockefeller Foundation. She is one of the leading voices in the movement for universities to play a role in revitalizing urban areas. She spoke on reinventing American cities at Wayne State University on April 28. Detroit Public Television recorded the event and presents this half hour of highlights.
While she spoke at Wayne State and talked at length about Detroit, her lessons from Philadelphia and ideas for the future of cities are just as applicable to cites across Michigan, in particular, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Marquette, Kalamazoo and Flint.
While at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Rodin played a key role in getting the Ivy League university engaged in reviving the blighted community that surrounded the school. Dr.Rodin stated how Penn “demonstrated what a powerful impact a university can make when it accepts that its destiny is entwined with that of its neighbors. “
Eds and Meds are important because they are transforming core communities and metropolitan regions across the nation. They represent growing industries and they are hard to sell or move out of the country or to other states. But beyond that that they are playing an increasing role in developing start-ups and investing in typically neglected neighborhoods.
In Michigan, we are quite fortunate to have a world class public university system as well as major research medical institutions.
The trend is already taking place across Michigan. In Grand Rapids, we see Grand Valley State expanding along with the development of the Medical Mile just north of downtown. The University of Michigan-Flint is developing student housing in downtown Flint and despite all the odds turning the poster-child of rust-belt decay in to a college town. In East Lansing we are seeing the university teaming up with the city to create business incubators and support entrepreneurs.
Too much of the economic development policy in this state is geared towards bringing back the factories that left. While manufacturing is a key part of our economy and will be for a long time, we need to appreciate the need for a 21st century knowledge-based economy to Michigan’s future and that the institutions that can bring about that change are already here.
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