When you think of the vital cultural epicenters of Washtenaw County, Washtenaw Avenue isn't on the top of most people's lists.  In fact, most residents try to avoid it by any means necessary, especially at rush hour.  Traffic is always congested, it's not at all pedestrian or bike friendly, and getting in and out of the strip malls can be kind of a nightmare.  However, it is the primary throughline from downtown Ann Arbor to downtown Ypsilanti and is one of the main entry points for visitors to both cities.  For that reason, the county has put together an action team through the Ann Arbor Region Success initiative in order to "Redevelop Washtenaw Avenue as a Talent Center with an array of housing types in which talent can live, fixed transit service, and sustainable economic growth." 

A little over a week ago I attended one of the brainstorming meetings for community members and interested parties, including developers, planners, and members of the business community.  My good friend, and fellow Ann Arbor native, Anya, is managing the project so she invited me to attend and wear my "housing hat" as a member of the Housing & Human Services Advisory Board.  We spent time during the morning identifying particular areas of Washtenaw Ave that could benefit the most from redevelopment and then dreaming up how they could look.  In some ways it seems like a bit of a futile effort because the things that we all would like that area to be seem so far off.  But I realized that this project is kind of like marketing our community and that gave me a new perspective for what can be achieved. 

Every good marketing effort has a plan or a strategy behind it.  Here at MOVE we ask a couple of questions as we develop a marketing plan with our clients.  The first is "Where are we?"  I think most A2/Ypsi residents would agree that where we are with Washtenaw Ave is not where we want to be.  We split up into groups during the morning and across the board there was interest in more green space interspersed with commercial and mixed use spaces and more accessiblity to public transportation for the many residents who travel along this corridor each day from home to work or school.   This brings me to the next question, "Where do we want to go?"  More and more people in the community are demanding walkable spaces where they can live, work and play.  We want to like Washtenaw Ave.  But, "How will we get there?"   How can we encourage desireable development?  How can the environmentalists, public transportation, developers, business-owners and residents all be happy with the outcome?  It will definitely take a spirit of collaboration from all parties.  The interesting thing that I have learned though is that it's really more important that everyone agree on where they want to go than what the plan is to get there.  The plan is what makes the ideas actionable but if everyone doesn't agree on a common goal that plan will never be completed.  I'm excited about the possibility for Washtenaw Ave because it seems like there is a consensus forming about what it can be.