Building a Sense of Place

The Michigan Land Information Access Association (LIAA) assisted seven Michigan communities with a process that helped them articulate what they love and wish to protect. LIAA recognized that the problem created by sprawl and poor planning is “not an absence of concern or desire, but the absence of a method for injecting the qualities of places worth preserving into local land use decision making. While each individual decision may make sense, the cumulative effect of many decisions over years may be a drastic and undesired change in community character…”

Among the most innovative aspects of this program was the comprehensive community information system (CIS) that enabled the public to work toward sound decisions to build the community vision in the long-term. The process involved five major components, each with distinct time frames, goals, and outcomes.  

1. Public relations: Outreach staff contacted a wide range of community leaders and groups to educate and involve them
2. Citizen participation: Each community formed a citizen advisory committee to identify information needs
3. Community discovery: LIAA led a series of exercises to help people determine what they liked about the communities. Exercises included identification of important social and natural resources and a visual preference survey.
4. Information integration: LIAA combined GIS data, community photographs, and other data into multimedia presentations that were displayed on kiosks, on CDs and the web.
5. Technology transfer: LIAA trained communities to use and update the completed CIS, through “Roll-out” receptions, special training classes, and workshops for citizens.