Longread #136 -- Tee Time in Benton Harbor -- 8/15/12

Today's longread is about another unconventional city management approach. In this case, the city's development has been driven largely by profound economic distress. In trying to adapt to this situation, planners have rebranded the city around a major golf course, which serves as a troubling juxtaposition to parts of the city that are woefully neglected in terms of development and public services. While it's easy to poke holes in the golf course plan, it's much harder to propose alternate ways to rebuild the city that are likely to be effective. Another element of all this relates to the ramifications of how the state of Michigan's appointment of city managers in place of elected officials affects the government's accountability to the public. While it depicts an extreme case, this longread nevertheless demonstrates the types of struggles that cities across the country are grappling with.

"Now That the Factories Are Closed, It’s Tee Time in Benton Harbor, Mich." by Jonathan Mahler
Published in the New York Times, December 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/magazine/benton-harbor.html?pagewanted=all

Eric