No, seriously — why did the city put that there?
You may be tempted to ask yourself this question upon seeing a change made to a park, a rearrangement of transit options, or a new and obviously massively expensive thing being foisted upon your neighborhood by one government authority or another. It could be that it was a waste of money, or a good idea that wasn’t explained well, or something that the city tried to tell you about but that just got lost in the shuffle. Getting to the bottom of what happened through the web of government authorities, meetings, and contracts can be mind-numbingly frustrating.
Metro Detroit has no lack of regional and urban projects, big and small. Those can be everything from massive projects like the Gordie Howe International Bridge, to midsize projects like the transformation of Macomb County’s Lakeside Mall, to something as simple as your local park’s new playground equipment. But staying in the loop about what your city or county government is planning to do, and making your voice heard about the plan, is actually easier than you think, once you know how.
Do Your Homework
Major planning projects are like cakes. You can change what the final cake will look like many times in the process — the frosting color, the inscription — but what type of cake it will be (chocolate or cheesecake, gluten-free or vegan) is baked in early on. That means it’s best to ask questions about the new parking structure down the street before the groundbreaking.
First, gather all the information you can. Most projects, whether municipal or private, come with publicly available documents that provide a treasure trove of information, such as websites, legally binding plans, cost analyses, third-party audits, and legal actions. (A law degree isn’t required to understand them, but it couldn’t hurt.)
Start with the city website (detroitmi.gov) and find the right department, says Dara O’Byrne, Detroit’s deputy director of planning and development. “If it’s streetscapes or roadway improvements,” the Department of Public Works is your destination. The Water and Sewerage Department handles “stormwater [and] sewer infrastructure upgrades, and they have a good presence online.” The Department of Neighborhoods, she adds, has the most-recent information on what is going on in a specific district. All
departments have newsletters and outreach tools.
Be as forward as you like. Scroll through your city’s or county’s staff list for public emails and find the right staff person for your question. Email your questions and concerns or ask for a meeting, but remember that every county and municipality has slightly different rules.
“We are 27 different cities, villages, townships that all make up one county,” explains Vicky Rowinski, director of Macomb County’s Department of Planning and Economic Development. “Each individual community is home rule, so they produce their own master plan, future land use, and oversee a lot of the planning and zoning at the local level.”
Get in the Game
“Show up however you can,” says Brittany Simmons, a Detroit-based city planner and social media influencer. Attend planning meetings, feedback sessions, and conference calls where the public is invited to participate. Simmons explains that most public meetings take place around dinnertime on weeknights because people are more likely to be available then — unless, of course, they have busy lives with kids and other commitments.
Fortunately, city planners are adopting more-flexible approaches. “It is becoming more common for [planners] to try and reach people where they are,” Simmons says. That means they’re putting up tents at farmers markets, local festivals, and other events where the community gathers. Don’t walk by; stop and talk with the person with the clipboard, tell them how you feel about their project. It’s super helpful to them and empowering for you.
Online surveys and virtual meetings are also making it easier to offer feedback. Attending a public planning meeting in person is the most effective play, but participating online is the next best thing. Municipal planning boards often live stream their meetings, so you can watch and eat pizza simultaneously. Just remember that the earlier you can get your voice heard, in person or online, the more likely it is that your perspective will be considered. Get a group in on the action; multiple voices speak louder, especially if you are dead set against a project. The good news is, municipalities tend to be all ears. In Detroit, public engagement requirements are written into city code.
Be Patient — and Persistent
It’s important to remember that public planning is a slow, deliberate process on purpose. The safety, environmental sustainability, economic equity, and cost- benefit implications of each project are ruthlessly analyzed by multiple parties, and everything is checked over and over to prevent graft or fraud. There is red tape at its reddest. Yes, this can be frustrating, and it requires perseverance. But the past is littered with huge projects that upturned lives and landscapes — and that we now are trying to undo.
For example, the Michigan Department of Transportation is making massive changes to I-375, transforming it into a “vibrant urban boulevard” that reunites fragmented neighborhoods. This project has wide-ranging implications for the whole of downtown, Eastern Market, and the Jefferson Avenue corridor.
Part of this area used to be Black Bottom, a thriving African American neighborhood that was demolished wholesale, along with nearby Paradise Valley, for middle-class housing (Lafayette Park) and eventually new freeways in the 1950s. MDOT has to juggle the concerns and feedback of many different groups. At Christ Church, which stands near the Renaissance Center, the congregation is worried about how construction vibrations might affect their historic 1865 stained-glass windows. (MDOT says that it will plan around the sensitive windows and will place monitors around the church perimeter to measure vibration.)
Ruth Boeder, a Christ Church member who teaches at Wayne State University, has been a regular at the public engagement meetings. “I am concerned about historic residents of this neighborhood and about the African American community’s concerns being addressed,” she says. “MDOT [has] brought in some different consultants … who seem to be doing more and different and I think better [outreach], and I hope they’ll be able to continue on that path.”
As Boeder will tell you, influencing the built world around you takes time and effort, depending on how high the stakes are for you and your neighborhood. You are not powerless. It’s your community, your city, and you should have a say in what it becomes.
This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on May 5.
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