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TC2DC for the Forward on Climate Rally!

Power to Change, Climate | February 18, 2013 | By MLUI

The Michigan Land Use Institute and Sustainable TC are teaming up to offer northern Michigan activists a chance to attend the upcoming Forward On Climate rally in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17. We are chartering a bus to leave from Traverse City on Feb. 16 for an overnight drive to the nation's capital and the rally. We will drive back to TC overnight on Sunday with a return set for Monday morning....

Hans Voss: Choosing TCL&P’s New Director Is a Big Deal

TCL&P | February 14, 2013 | By Hans Voss

Our message is clear: TCL&P board members should look far and wide for a new director, attract the best candidates possible, and interview them with wide-open minds and complete transparency. Like every utility today, Traverse City’s is at a crossroads. It must choose between its business-as-usual model and the new, even revolutionary 21st-century models now emerging around the world....

Regional Rider: The 'Share Your Opinion' Edition

Choices, Regional Rider | February 14, 2013 | By James Bruckbauer

It sounds like bus ridership is growing. Our field reporters tell us that there’s an increasing number of riders on the Frankfort to Traverse City Connector, and that buses all over town are filling up. That’s news we like to hear. What about you? Do you think transit in this region is improving? Do you see more people at bus stops around town? Do you ride the bus? Why or why not? Share your opinions and join the community discussion on transportation, housing, and energy at a new Grand Vision website....

MLUI Welcomes New Members to Board and Advisory Council

MLUI News | February 13, 2013 | By MLUI

The Michigan Land Use Institute Board of Directors recently welcomed its newest member. Tim Pulliam brings with him vast experience in the energy efficiency field as co-founder and president of Keen Technical Solutions, LLC. Keen provides clients throughout North America with analysis and energy conservation strategies. Inc. Magazine named Keen one of the "500 Fastest Growing Private Companies" in a profile last year....

Dozens of farmers get tips on the wholesale marketplace

Get Farming, Wholesale | February 13, 2013 | By Jim Sluyter

More than 60 people from nearly 50 farm operations crowded into the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Center on Feb. 11 to hear Atina Diffley deliver one of the most effective workshops in the five-year history of MLUI’s Get Farming! program....

Survey: Residents want bike trails, sidewalks, buses—not wider roads

Choices | February 11, 2013 | By James Bruckbauer

Northern Michigan residents want to see officials invest more money in bike trails, sidewalks, and transit, even if that means less money is spent widening roads, according to new survey by Northwestern Michigan College....

Traverse City Restaurant Supports Farm to School Efforts

Press release, Farm to School, 10 Cents A Meal | February 4, 2013 | By MLUI Farm To School Program

Firefly Restaurant will help area schools purchase fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers by donating $1 of each dessert sale to the 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms program, a project of the nonprofit Michigan Land Use Institute....

Public-Private Partnerships Power Business Efficiency

Efficiency First | January 31, 2013 | By Jim Dulzo

You’d never know it driving by, but tucked into a nondescript warehouse district just south of town is an office and production space so airy and dazzling that it would turn heads in the hippest urban enclaves. The comfortable digs and lighting at Britten, Inc., are the result of several recent, major energy efficiency projects. They are making Britten’s workers happy, but the firm’s accountants are smiling, too....

Running Out of Options for MI Transit

All Aboard | January 31, 2013 | By James Bruckbauer

Michigan has few choices when it comes to raising money locally for transit. Transportation agencies can only ask voters to pitch in through local property taxes. They must rely on fewer and fewer state and federal dollars for the rest of a project’s cost. Michigan lawmakers must stop holding its cities back. Our towns can start meeting their transportation needs without waiting for the state to solve the state transportation crisis....

FoodCorps seeks next crop of hard-working service members

FoodCorps, Farm To School | January 30, 2013 | By Diane Conners

FoodCorps, a national organization affiliated with AmeriCorps, is accepting applications through March 24 for up to 130 positions nationwide—including two in northwest Lower Michigan based out of the Michigan Land Use Institute’s Traverse City office....

FoodCorps Diaries: A Rainbow of Flavors in Central Lake

Farm to school, healthy food, FoodCorps | January 23, 2013 | By Daniel Marbury

Central Lake Elementary School celebrated a rainbow of fruits and vegetables last Thursday with a little help from FoodCorps. ...

Get Farming! Announces Wholesale Success Workshop

Get Farming, Wholesale | January 17, 2013 | By MLUI Get Farming! Program

Farmers and other producers looking to succeed in the wholesale marketplace are invited to an upcoming workshop....

Governor Pleads for Road Funding, But Details Are Unclear

All Aboard | January 17, 2013 | By James Bruckbauer

In his third State of the State address, Gov. Rick Snyder asked the Legislature to come up with a way to raise about $1.2 billion dollars that he says is needed to fix the state’s roads, bridges, buses, and trains. The state that brought modern transportation to the rest of the world is now fractured by crumbling roads, congestion, airport and train delays, and poor bus service. But questions remain, and local funding options should remain a high priority. ...

Regional Rider: Old Man Winter edition

Choices, Regional Rider | January 16, 2013 | By James Bruckbauer

National experts are coming to the area to help make our regional transit system even better. Smart Growth America, a national nonprofit dedicated to thoughtful city development, will enlist a team of big-time consultants to work with local transportation officials on developing a list of ways the state can encourage more collaboration among the region’s transit agencies. Plus, Snyder's state of the state address and the Wililamsburg Connector. ...

Snyder expected to tackle transportation in State of State

All Aboard | January 9, 2013 | By James Bruckbauer

You can expect one topic to be high on the agenda when Gov. Rick Snyder delivers his annual State of the State address next week: How we’ll pay for transportation in Michigan. The Republican governor, who set out to change the way Michigan invests in its road and transit network, is expected to unveil more details of his long-term strategy for fixing Michigan’s broken transportation system....

Permit Is Renewed, but Rogers City Coal Plant Still Stalled

Power to Change, Wolverine, Coal | January 7, 2013 | By Jim Dulzo

In a quick and quiet decision, Michigan environmental regulators have given Wolverine Power Cooperative another year to break ground on its long-delayed, highly controversial Rogers City coal plant. But stricter coal plant emission limits, soaring coal-power costs, cheap natural gas, and falling demand for electricity could still doom the 600-megawatt project. ...

Holland OKs Gas Plant, Turns To Efficiency Projects

Power to Change, Holland | December 17, 2012 | By Jim Dulzo

In an historic vote, the Holland City Council has pre-empted longstanding plans to build a highly controversial coal plant in the city and, instead, approved a natural gas-fired power plant that will likely provide more power than the town actually needs. ...

In Memoriam: Helen Milliken

MLUI News | December 14, 2012 | By MLUI

Helen Milliken joined the Michigan Land Use Institute board in 1998, but her work inspired the core values of the Institute when it was founded in 1995. Helen and Gov. William Milliken were among the first to highlight the connection between a clean environment and a strong economy—a philosophy that continues to guide our efforts today. ...

Momentum builds for a regional energy plan

Energy Plan, Garforth, Efficiency | December 13, 2012 | By Brian Beauchamp

The 88,000 people in Grand Traverse County spend $306 million a year on energy. Of those millions, 70 percent leaves the community—a huge tax and a drain on the people and the economy of the region. But what if we dedicated ourselves to making sure more of that money stays in the region? What if we embarked on a deliberate plan to cut back on those energy costs, capture the energy that’s being wasted, and invest in new energy sources locally? Those were the questions asked last week at a workshop in Traverse City. ...

Regional Transit Authority a big win for Michigan

All Aboard | December 13, 2012 | By James Bruckbauer

Reliable, convenient, and efficient transit may soon make a much-needed comeback in the city that gave the world modern transportation. Last week, lawmakers in Lansing passed a series of bills that would create a regional transit authority (RTA) for Metro Detroit. It’s a big win for Michigan, for Detroit’s revitalization, and for the groups that have advocated for regional transit over the past few decades, including many members of the Transportation for Michigan coalition....

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