Provided photo From left, Amanda Boehner and Brian Farley, state and local government students at Alpena Community College. Standing from left are John Kurowski, Grant Jarema, Rodney Ayotte, Bridget Hollinshead, Cyrus Finn, and instructor Tim Kuehnlein.
ALPENA — What does Northeast Michigan want?
The Alpena Community College class teamed up with the Sunset Project to provide residents with the Northeast Michigan Community Empowerment Survey to find out just that.
The survey launched on March 11th and can be completed online until March 29th. It takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and all results are anonymous.
ACC Political Science and History Instructor Tim Kuehnlein's PLS 222 State and Local Government course partnered with Sunset Project Executive Director Gavin McDonald and Creative Director Nick Poli to develop the questions. Many of the questions are open-ended for participants to answer. honest feedback.
“We've already heard feedback from people who responded to the survey that they really appreciated the fact that this survey pushed them beyond these simple statements,” Kuehnlein said. “It forces you to think.”
The purpose of the survey is to learn what residents want for the future of Northeast Michigan in terms of programming, development, and more. The results will be compiled and made available to the public in April to help local authorities, organizations and businesses better understand the wants and needs of their communities.
“It was great working with Tim’s class. They helped us develop the questions for the Sunset Project. It was an incredible collaborative effort and everyone was deeply involved in the process. '' McDonald said.
The Sunset Project is a nonprofit focused on investing in creative communities and changing the way Northeast Michigan views mental health.
“This study is a student-led, community-supported project aimed at strengthening dialogue about overall community development issues at the local level,” Kuehnlein said. “As a class and as collaborators, we look forward to collecting, organizing, analyzing, and sharing information from the survey with the larger community, including local governments and nonprofit organizations, in April. ”
Kuehnlein said students have already learned a lot from this project, especially in working with Sunset Project leaders.
“Working with the Sunset Project team is an engaging hands-on experience for students, allowing them to make a real impact on the communities in which we all live, work, and recreate,” he says. I did. “This project is a great way for young people to join the conversation and gather ideas to make a difference in the future of themselves and their communities.”
He said the survey will help local governments and agencies understand what residents want now and in the future.
“There's no question that creating a better 'sense of place' will make a difference in where people want to live, work and play,” Kuehnlein said. “Understanding what different groups of people want to see happen in overall community development can shape the public dialogue, inform authorities, and help individuals and organizations find the spaces of most interest. It helps us to be able to contribute to making a difference.”
ACC student Bridget Hollinshead is one of 10 students in Kuehnlein's government class.
“In doing this, we quickly realized that no matter your age, change is inevitable,” she said. “We can make it better. With this survey, we want to know the community's perspective and involve them as much as possible to make it better.”
She said positive change is worth working together.
“If we work together, even small communities can make a big difference,” Hollinshead added.
The Sunset Project has recently begun exploring a unique approach to community placemaking and will use the findings to inform the development of programs, projects, and events across the region.
Also contributing to this effort is Springboard for the Arts Rural Revitalization Fellow Mary Ellen Jones. Springboard for the Arts is a nonprofit arts services organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota, dedicated to advancing the role of arts, culture, and creativity in rural development and community building.
Please take the survey here: www.thesunsetproject.org/post/survey.
The survey is open to anyone, but Kuehnlein hopes to see people of all ages participate.
“Especially young people,” he said. “This is their future. What do they want this town to look like? Or what will this area look like in their lifetime?”
He said many local agencies are talking about how the area wants to grow and what residents want the area to be known for.
“With all of these conversations coming together, it feels like the time is ripe for a study to figure out 'what do people want?'” Because you can fight against change, Traverse City You don't want to be like this, but the reality is that change happens, and unless you're willing to try to manage it constructively, you'll end up with: We may not want this to happen,” Kuehnlein said.
The main difference between Traverse City and Alpena is their proximity to freeways. I-75 heads straight into TC. Population – Alpena has just over 10,000 people living within the city limits and 28,893 people living in Alpena County. TC is home to more than 15,500 people within the city and 95,860 in Grand Traverse County. And the layout — while TC has a number of large hotels in Grand Traverse Bay, the majority of Alpena's Thunder Bay waterfront property is residential.
He said it's less about the technical side of things and more about “how we want the community to feel.”
Kuehnlein expects there will be many conversations in the community surrounding the findings.
“People can get what they want from there,” he said. “Knowing what people want and envision is very powerful. I think the good thing about this work is that it doesn't focus on any particular agenda.”
McDonald explains how the Sunset project fits in.
“We are seeking input from the community to move forward with the next phase of the Sunset project,” McDonald said. “The Sunset Project is looking to participate in placemaking to make our community a more vibrant and better place to live. We wanted to give a proper message of what kind of ideas we have to make it a vibrant place. ”
He added that Alpena is a unique place with a lot of special things to offer both residents and visitors.
“It’s a rural community with 10,000 people living in town, so it makes for such an interesting environment,” McDonald said. “There's a little bit more urbanization in the downtown area and in the community. Even though it's not near Traverse City or Grand Rapids, it's still an important hub in the area. Alpena in particular is a place where people come to experience art, culture and vibrancy. It's a Northeast Michigan spot to go to, and combining that with the beauty of the area and the solitude that people are looking for is a really interesting combination.”
He added: “We really want to make our region a better place to live, and a great place to start is by asking the community how we can make our region a better place to live. It’s Ayumu,” he added.
