Project Library
Here is where you’ll find documents about the Best Benton Harbor Master Plan and general resources relating to city planning, public policy, equity, and more.
Planning Week Presentations
Here you will find videos and downloadable PDFs of the presentations given during the Best Benton Harbor Planning Week events taking place from June 6–10, 2022.
Videos
Existing Conditions Orientation Live Stream
Introduction to the Best Benton Harbor project with presentations on the existing conditions and demographics in Benton Harbor as well as the ongoing Ox Creek Revitalization efforts.
Streamed: June 6, 2022
Future Land Use Report Back
Recap and report back from the mapping and visualization exercises conducted on Day 2 with members of the public, the City, and the project team.
Streamed: June 7, 2022
Night 2: Food for Thought Live Stream
An overview of planning history, topics, and processes in Benton Harbor.
Streamed: June 7, 2022
Night 3: Ideas and Aspirations
Ideas, aspirations, and alternative solutions for the City of Benton Harbor.
Streamed: June 8, 2022
Night 4: Report Back
Recapping Planning Week: what was discussed, what we heard from the community, and where we go from here.
Streamed: June 9, 2022
Presentations
Planning Week Orientation
Building the foundations for the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance.
Presented: June 6, 2022
Ox Creek Revitalization Intro
Prioritization of Ox Creek and its corridor for recreational and economic development.
Presented: June 6, 2022
Ox Creek Corridor Contaminated Properties
Presented by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
Presented: June 6, 2022
Ox Creek Overview
Presented by the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission.
Presented: June 6, 2022
Nonpoint Source and MS4 Program
Nonpoint Sources of Pollution in the Ox Creek Corridor.
Presented: June 6, 2022
Day 2: Vision and Food for Thought
Collaboration, visioning exercises, planning topics. and themes.
Presented: June 7, 2022
Day 2: Food for Thought History
Overview of planning history in Benton Harbor.
Presented: June 7, 2022
Retail’s New Normal
Challenges and opportunities for retail in the post-COVID economy.
Presented: June 7, 2022
Ox Creek Revitalization Night 2
A collaboration between the City of Benton Harbor, state agencies, the University of Michigan, Kansas State University, and many local partners.
Presented: June 7, 2022
Night 3: Ideas (Alternatives)
Ideas, aspirations, and alternative solutions for the future of Benton Harbor.
Presented: June 8, 2022
Ox Creek Revitalization Night 3
A recap of participant input so far and where we go from here.
Presented: June 8, 2022
Night 4: Planning Week to Planning Year
Turning Planning Week conversations into a vision for the future.
Presented: June 9, 2022
Day 5: Vision for the Future
A continuation of the Night 4 presentation.
Presented: June 10, 2022
Reading List
Are you interested in learning more about city planning, public policy, urban design, equity and antiracism? Please consider these book recommendations, many have been featured reads in the Michigan Association of Planning's book club, "MAP Reads."
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Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
By Charles Montgomery
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The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
By Richard Rothstien
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Future Search: An Action Guide to Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities
By Marvin R. Weisbord and Sandra Janoff
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The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
By James Howard Kunstler
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The Death and Life of Great American Cities
By Jane Jacobs
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Fixer Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems
By Jenny Schuetz
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Black Bottom Saints: A Novel
By Alice Randall
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Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
By Isabel Wilkerson
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Citizen Brown: Race, Democracy, and Inequality in the St. Louis Suburbs
By Colin Gordon
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How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood
By Peter Moskowitz
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White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism
By Dr. Robin DiAngelo
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How to Be an Antiracist
By Ibram X. Kendi
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Nudge
By Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
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Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change
By Stacey Abrams
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Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future
By Paul Krugman
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Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America
By John Lewis
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The Art of Peace
By Morihei Ueshiba
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The Image of the City
By Kevin Lynch
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Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town
By Charles L. Marohn Jr.
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Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America
By William H. Frey
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Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis
By Daniel G. Parolek
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Increments of Neighborhood: A Compendium of Built Types for Walkable and Vibrant Communities
By Brian O’Looney
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The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma
By Alex Kotlowitz