Highland Park resident Ken Chambers during the Open House on Tuesday, 6/10/2025
With the hum of possibility in the air and a vision for revitalization on the horizon, the City of Highland Park called on residents, business owners, and community supporters to take part in an essential civic conversation about its future. On Tuesday, June 10, 2025, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., city officials held a drop-in Economic Strategy and Branding Open House at 138 Cortland Street. The event was designed to gather community feedback as Highland Park embarks on an ambitious update of its Economic Development Strategy, Master Plan, and Zoning Ordinance, three critical pillars that will shape how the city looks, functions, and thrives in the years to come.
Donavan Smith, Principal Planner with McKenna and planning manager for the City of Highland Park, highlighted that he is particularly excited about the community and resident input, which provides valuable feedback on what people want to see as he heads up the progress.
“We’ve done three events so far including a stakeholder event and it’s with a lot of state a state-level partners on bringing resources,” Smith said.
“We did the second with the business community. And then this is the actual third public-facing event today.”
The open house promised a welcoming, informal environment where attendees stopped by anytime within the three-hour window to learn more about the planning process, ask questions, and share their ideas with planners and city officials. Stations were set up for each of the plan components, along with opportunities to give feedback through surveys, suggestion boards, and interactive maps.
In attendance with the local residents were Mayor Glenda McDonald, Mama Shu of the Homework House, and local business owner Martell Mason of Sepia Coffee, all of whom are looking forward to what’s to come to the Highland Park area.
The effort to update Highland Park’s guiding documents comes at a critical time in the city’s evolution. Once a thriving industrial hub known as the birthplace of mass automobile production, Highland Park is now carving out a new identity, one rooted in innovation, culture, sustainability, and community resilience.
This transition of progress will pose challenges as the city’s Master Plan, which acts as a long-term roadmap for land use and development, was last updated over a decade ago. Highland Park has faced ongoing concerns regarding water and streetlights for some time. Much has changed since then, from housing patterns and economic pressures to environmental priorities and digital infrastructure needs.
“We want to bring a fresh vision, a fresh set of eyes, to the full planning process,” Smith said.
“This economic development strategic plan is that first step and laying the framework on what the vision, the goals and objectives for the city from an economic development lens.”
A huge part of the progress is the 1.6-mile stretch of the Joe Louis Greenway, which will wind through the historic community, expanding the existing trail system designed to connect neighborhoods throughout the city. Construction on the Greenway began in 2021, and with the support of totaling $20 million in American Rescue Plan funds from the Biden administration, significant progress has been made over the years.
In January 2025, Leona Medley, Executive Director of the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, announced that the organization had received a $10.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. The funding, awarded through the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP), represents a transformative investment in the Joe Louis Greenway and moves the city closer to realizing its vision of connected communities, equitable access, and active transportation options for all.
“The Partnership remains committed to supporting community, fostering collaboration, and advocating for projects that uplift and unite our neighborhoods,” Medley said.
Highland Park Resident Ken Chambers moved to the area in 2015, but he has been in the Detroit area since 1990. As a result, he has seen firsthand the ups and downs of his neighborhood and remains vocal about the positive changes happening around him but asks the question, “What does the future look like?”
“We understand where we’ve been. We understand where we are,” Chambers said.
“We want to look forward to the future and see how we can develop this community and become a greater part of the communities around us.”
In addition to policy updates, the city is also working on a new branding initiative to more clearly and confidently tell the story of Highland Park its history, its assets, and its aspirations.
In January, Mayor McDonald announced the city’s plans for a new beginning in Highland Park with “The City in Motion” plan, which will unfold over the years, including a a new landscape of lights planned for the city as well.
“Our goal is to increase our tax base. Our goal is to continue to move towards getting the city up and running again to a status where citizens are proud to be here,” McDonald said during the press conference.
“Everything that’s going on in this city is something that has already been vetted, has been moved, and we’re trying to make sure that it continues.
An ongoing resident’s concern, mentioned repeatedly on Tuesday, was infrastructure improvement.
“We got to do something with the streets,” Chambers said.
“There’s a lot of things we got to do in terms of repairing the streets, including the infrastructure.
City officials emphasized that the open house is just the beginning of the process. Following this initial session, additional community engagement events will take place throughout the summer and fall, including youth workshops, neighborhood walking tours, and pop-ups at local businesses and community centers.
“We can only do as well as our communities do. If our communities need help, we want to help them. The better they do, the better we do,” Smith said.
“We’re going to be here, and we’re writing it, we’re getting the guidance, and we’re implementing it.”
For more information, residents can visit the City of Highland Park’s https://www.highlandparkmi.gov/ or contact the planning department at (313) 555-0123.
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