Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has created an Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives to focus on city and regional economic development activities. The office is a partnership with the state funded by the Council of Michigan Foundations, a consortium including the Kresge Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Mott Foundation. Program office will be located in Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids.
Another map-based transit app has debuted. Unlike our recent transit-job access tool, Mapnificent computes transit access by timeframe. Fast Company has a nice little write up.
Finally, while many politicians like to talk about appealing to the youth vote, aside from a couple of campaign planks few make discernibly targeted efforts out on the trail. Enter Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, up for reelection this year, with his version of “City Council” to the tune of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow.”
Watch and learn.