Earlier this week I received a call from a good friend of cities, Peter Kageyama. For those of you who don’t know Peter, he is what one might call a city “evangelist”. I first met him several years ago at a CEOs for Cities conference. At the time, he was heading a group called “Creative Tampa Bay” and presented on their efforts to attract and retain talented individuals. Peter was already knee deep in work to make Tampa Bay a vibrant, 21st century city.
Given that my work at the League was beginning to focus more on seeking out people, organizations, and strategies along the same line as what Peter was doing, I mentioned Peter to our team as someone we should have in to a conference or meeting. And so it was that Peter came and spoke at one of our public policy forums to talk about his efforts. Since then, he has been in Michigan quite a bit either through our efforts or his own. Recently, those efforts have involved promoting a book he has written called “for the love of cities”.
It was with this in mind that he called. Last year as Peter was moving about the country promoting his book, he made a stop in Muskegon. Because of that stop, a number of Muskegon residents, the business community and especially the Community Foundation for Muskegon County decided to take the ball and run with a project called “Love Muskegon”.
Now the project was initially aimed at attracting a larger business to the area. As part of the campaign a group of people stood in the chilly waters of Lake Michigan one day to promote their city.
And over the course of the last year, more people have joined the cause. This time, Peter had been invited back to Muskegon to lead a series of events and workshops related to the work going on.
He called to say that I should come over and check it out, that something exciting was taking shape. So it was that on a sunny, 80 degree afternoon, I made way to Muskegon. And while it was not to enjoy their beautiful beaches it was to observe a true exercise in civic engagement.
The workshop was the final piece in a series of activities around “Love Muskegon”. Events had been held throughout the week aimed at groups from young professionals to the business community. And I have to tell you, I was impressed with the passion and excitement in the room. More than 50 people from all over the city, people of different ages and races, backgrounds, and disciplines, were led by Peter through a series of free, interactive and engaging activities designed to build on the work that had already begun.
Peter talked about the need to support risk takers, to not be a squelcher and to help local officials to get to yes. He discussed the importance of art and culture, and the rituals and traditions of a community that help to create place based memories.
At the end of the program two $500 grants were awarded for ideas that would make Muskegon a better place, not unlike the “Light, Quicker, Cheaper” concept from our friends at the Project for Public Spaces.
What took place that afternoon and what is taking place in Muskegon is what we had in mind at the League when we started our “Let’s Save Michigan” campaign. The goal of LSM has always been to jump start local efforts among those who are dedicated to improving and maintaining quality of life in their communities…nothing less than what’s going on in Muskegon, and quite frankly in communities across Michigan.
