We Love Where You Live

Live with the League — 10.6.2025 — We Have a Budget!

On this very special edition of Live with the League, we talk all things related to the $76 billion state budget that finally passed on Friday. John LaMacchia breaks down its effect on road funding, revenue sharing, the MI Home Program, and more. 

Not a Checklist or a Quick Fix—Something Better

Testing new ideas—especially an entire framework of thinking—isn’t without risk and discomfort. But that’s just what the League has been working on over the past year. We’ve designed and refined tools to help Michigan’s local officials break out of silos and move their conversations and communities forward toward a shared vision. Herasanna Richards shares what two pilot facilitations of the thriving communities framework revealed to local leaders. 

Michigan Central Station highlights the importance of preserving local history

No one wants to live in a place without stories. One source of stories? Architecture. Beautiful, historic buildings provide communities with important connection points, both physical and emotional. These are the places that make your town or city more than just a point on a map—they make it your home. Jack Brady explores some recent examples of Michigan communities preserving, revitalizing, and honoring their historic architecture.

I Do Like These Trees

The League’s own Murph, Policy Research Labs program manager, reflects on the lovely treescape of Grand Rapids’ Monroe Center Street.

Isn’t It Iron-ic: Negaunee Revives Its Past, With Nankin Square, Westland Evolves Beyond the Mall, & Wyandotte Gives Itself a Dumpster-Hiding Makeover

In the final entry in our series about the 2025 Community Excellence Award submissions, we take a look at three Michigan cities in the process of tackling one of the biggest projects of all: reviving and reimagining their downtowns. 

In the Heart of Hart, Public Art; & Portage Lights Up the Night

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we visit two Michigan communities brightening their neighborhoods—and their spirits—with creativity. The City of Hart’s resident-let “community spirit initiative” is growing its regional reputation as a destination for public art, and the City of Portage is bringing competitive holiday cheer with its annual Tricked Out and Decked Out holiday home decoration contests.

Birmingham Plots the Course to a Greener Future, & Roscommon Puts a Bird on It

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we take a look at three Michigan communities making the world just a little bit more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The Village of Roscommon and the City of Southfield created beautiful, educational spaces celebrating important wildlife, and the City of Birmingham developed an all-encompassing sustainability and public health plan for the years ahead.

Live with the League — 8.25.2025 — Live from Clare (Featuring MI Home Program)

We begin this week’s show with a wide-ranging conversation with Clare City Manager Jeremy Howard and Mayor Patrick Humphrey about the city’s downtown revitalization efforts, creative placemaking projects, municipal partnerships, and more. We then turn to our legislative update to discuss our new MI Home Program proposal—a set of tools to address the state’s housing crisis.

Big Rapids “Plays Big” With Hemlock Park, Milford’s Central Park Gets a Glow-Up, & “Doing A Lot with a Little Bit”: Mt. Pleasant’s Town Center

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we visit three Michigan municipalities that strengthened community bonds through revitalized third spaces. Big Rapids and Milford breathed new life into aging downtown parks, and Mt. Pleasant turned an unpopular parking lot into a thriving new town square. 

Live with the League — 8.11.2025 — Introducing the Community Growth Academy

Welcome to August with Live with the League! This week’s show begins with a conversation with Luke Forrest of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity,  discussing the new Community Growth Academy and how it can help communities navigate economic transitions. 

Moving into what's happening (or not happening) in Lansing, we discussed the current state of the ever-ongoing budget process. We finished with some updates from the road (MME, BLAC, MAM, and more), and how these face-to-face, on-the-ground, mano-a-mano conversations with members shape the League’s advocacy priorities going forward.