Community Vitality Program
PI: Jim Bingen, Dept. of CARRS
Other Faculty: Laura Delind, Dept. of Anthropology
Community Partners: Dave Glenn MSU Extension Presque Ilse County, Tom Edison, MSU Extension and Northeast Michigan Council of Governments.
Project Summary: The overall goal of this project is to enhance rural and community vitality in Presque Isle County by enabling citizens and policy makers to incorporate a concept of place into their local and community development policy making. This project contributes to the development of a values-based methodology and set of methods that can be adapted by people in small and mid-sized Michigan communities as they grapple with development issues in place and seek to keep place-based identity politics at the heart of community vitality.
A Comparative Case Study of Participation Effectiveness and Social Capital in Urban Michigan Communities
PI: Pat Crawford, Landscape Architecture Program, School of Planning, Design and Construction
Other Faculty: Warren Rauhe, Landscape Architecture Program, Kenneth Frank, Dept. of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, and Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Community Partners: Mary McDonald, Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership, GVSU, Betty Blasé, MSU Extension Kent County, Dave Fenech, MSU Extension Genessee County, Ruth Miller, MSU Extension Saginaw County.
Project Summary: Community Design Initiative projects in Flint, Grand Rapids and Saginaw, Michigan provide the context in which to explore the following study questions. What makes participation effective? Does participation in the CDI process improve social capital? Are perceived participation effectiveness and social capital development related? Does community size (small town – urban) impact perceived effectiveness ratings?
Partnerships for Stronger
Families and Neighborhoods
PI: Steve Gold, Dept. of Sociology
Other Faculty: Joe Darden, Dept. of Geography, Rex LaMore, School of Planning, Design and Construction.
Community Partners: Angela Speaks, Pontiac Housing Commission, Section 8 Administrator.
Project Summary: This project investigates the spatial mobility of participants in the Section 8 program in Pontiac, Michigan. Many participants in the program do not use their vouchers to move to higher income and more racially diverse areas. Instead, most people who receive vouchers either use them to supplement their income in their current housing units or use them to move to new housing units located within the City of Pontiac. By identifying and informing policy makers and program administrators about the wide range of factors contributing to the residential location decisions made by voucher holders, this project will make significant progress toward improving family well being and community health both in Pontiac as well as in other urban areas.
Exploring Accessibility, Non-Motorized Travel and Obesity by Income, Race, Age, and Gender in the City of Lansing
PI: Igor Vojnovic, Dept.of Geography
Other Faculty: Ellen Velie, Dept. of Epidemiology, Joe Messina, Dept. of Geography, Bruce Pigozzi, Dept. of Geography, Joe Darden, Dept. of Geography.
Community Partner: Risa Wilkerson, Vice President of Active Communities, Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health, and Sports.
Project Summary: The research objectives are to build measures of accessibility, isolate the role of income, race, age and gender in conditioning accessibility, quantify pedestrian activity, and examine potential associations with physical activity and obesity. We hypothesize that neighborhood accessibility is a precondition in encouraging pedestrian activity. Class, race, along with the sense of value of exercise and sense of safety will be key determinants of pedestrian activity. More specific objectives involve: measuring accessibility for all neighborhoods and quantifying differences based on socioeconomic conditions; exploring whether Lansing residents maintain different travel behaviors than East Lansing and Meridian residents; exploring how perceptions of walking vary by income, race, age, and gender; and exploring the association between obesity and walking/cycling, accessibility, income race, age and gender. A multinomial logit model will be used to explore the relationship between the built environment, physical activity and obesity.
Improving the Quality of Life for Michigan Senior by Establishing Certified Elder Friendly Communities
Faculty: George Rowan, Dept. of CARRS
Community Partners: Doug Woodard, MSU Extension Clare County, Paul Mconaughy, MSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences, Peggy Bray, Michigan Office of Services to the Aging.
Toward Increased Social Capital through Youth and Family Volunteerism
Faculty: John Seita, School of Social Work, David Knaggs, School of Social Work
Community Partner: Dawn Lehman, Kids Korps USA.
Faculty: Gail Vanderstoep, Dept. of CARRS
Community Partners: Ann Chastain, MSU Extension Emmet & Cheboygan Counties, Mike Klepinger, Michigan Sea Grant
Family to Family, Neighbor to Neighbor: A Study to Define the Importance of Informal Neighborhood Coalitions to Improve Quality of Life in East Lansing
Faculty: Joanne Westphal, Landscape Architecture Program, Patricia Machemer, Urban Planning Program
Community Partner: Laurie Mullins, City of East Lansing, Dept. of Planning and Community Development