If you are looking for a little entertainment, take some time to read the ”czb Report.” Whether you’ve never heard of it, or you’ve forgotten about it, it deserves a(nother) read.
The report is nearly 10 years old, but it is filled with predictions about the future of Ann Arbor and the future of Washtenaw County. It’s actual title is ”Housing Affordability and Economic Equity – Analysis – Washtenaw County, Michigan”.
On the cover of the report, it says:
”The goal of this analysis is to provide a snapshot of housing market conditions and corresponding goals to improve affordability across a wide spectrum of households in Washtenaw County’s urban core communities. In support of these goals, the report identifies tools intended to guide the allocation of resources and policy decisions toward a regionally balanced housing market in order to maximize opportunity for lower and middle class households. This supports the development of a more equitable community, with corresponding economic, environmental, and other quality of life benefits for all residents.
I have no idea how much we paid for this report, but clearly, the crap about a “regionally balanced housing market” fell on some very deaf ears.
Also on the cover is a curious warning of sorts:
”The imbalance in income, education and opportunity between the jurisdictions along with the segregation that goes with it will hamper the regional economic growth potential of the area. Regions that experience strong and more stable growth are typically more equitable, have less segregation and better balanced workforce skills within them.”
czb Report is good documentation of serious, persistent issues
On one level, the report is filled with data and predictions about where the housing market in Washtenaw County will go. On another level, it discusses the economic and social differences that – if left unaddressed – will rip Washtenaw County apart. When you read the report, you can see some of these things are happening already.
Washtenaw County is at (or is at least much closer to) the tipping point that the czb Report describes. Unfortunately, little progress has been made in the past decade toward correcting the inequalities that are quite literally being farmed in Washtenaw County. The report discusses in detail the economic bifurcation of Washtenaw County and paints it as a zero-sum game. For example:
”The importance of reshaping the county into an equitable community across jurisdictions cannot be overstated. Segregation of any sort racial, economic, other – is also a two way street. It is never mathematically possible for one area to become segregated unless other areas as oppositely comprised. The more segregated into a high income area Ann Arbor becomes, the more segregated Ypsilanti will be. This group should be responsible for educating the community on equity issues”
There’s nothing that prevents Ypsilanti from becoming a higher income area even as the wealth in Ann Arbor increases. (Truthfully, Ann Arbor isn’t even the wealthiest community in Washtenaw County, so the report makes a primary error in assuming that it is.)
Washtenaw Community College doesn’t feature in this report. At all. That’s unfortunate because WCC could play an important role in correcting the income imbalances that underpin much of the report’s conclusions. Provided that WCC makes heavy investments in its academic programs, and that those investments enable the college to focus on the creation and delivery of high-wage, high demand programs.
Photo Credit: mSeattle, via Flickr
