GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL
APRIL 18, 2022
17
GUEST COLUMN Lou Glazer
Michigan needs vibrant, in-demand central cities
C
onventional wisdom has it that big cities are dead. This time the cause of their supposed demise is the pandemic. It is widely believed that since you can now work from home, combined with a predicted long-lasting fear of crowded places, that big cities are toast. There is one problem with this theory. When asked where they want to live after college, post-pandemic college students say big cities. The renaissance of America’s big cities the last two decades was driven in large part by young professionals. Looks like the post-pandemic generation of young professionals have the same preference for big city living. The 2022 Axios-Generation Lab Next Cities Index asked, “Considering all factors that matter to you, where would you most like to live after college?” Who did they survey? “There’s a fixed slice of the graduating population that plans to live where they grew up. Then, there’s the ‘roving’ bloc, which looks for fresh ground after getting degreed. Along with Axios, Generation Lab interviewed 1,072 of those ‘rovers’ (from a representative sample of 2,109 students nationwide from two-year and fouryear schools)." What did they find? The top 15 places in order where rovers want to live after college: • Seattle • New York • Los Angeles • Denver • Boston • Chicago • Washington, D.C. • Phoenix • Colorado Springs • Austin • Portland • San Francisco
• Minneapolis • Dallas • Atlanta The absence of any Michigan community on this list should be setting off alarm bells among the state’s political and business leaders. Why? Because this is an economy where talent attracts capital. Creating a place where people want to live and work is what matters most to retaining, attracting and creating high-wage jobs. Those regions without the quality of place that mobile talent is looking for will be at a substantial disadvantage. Creating a place where people want to live and work becomes even more important as Michigan goes through at least a decade and a half where the number of older workers leaving the labor market will exceed younger workers entering the labor market. The Axios-Generation Lab Next Cities Index makes clear that to grow and attract high-wage employers Michigan needs vibrant central cities that are as in demand as Chicago and Minneapolis, the leaders in the Great Lakes. Even better would be competitive with national talent magnets like Seattle and New York City. To be competitive with those talent magnets, Michigan’s political and business leaders need to understand that quality of place attracts talent. That a primary economic development priority for the state is big cities that have the high-density, high-amenity, transit-rich neighborhoods that young, post-pandemic professionals are still flocking to. The in-demand cities in the Axios-Generation Lab poll have spent decades investing in non-roads transportation; housing; mixed use/high density development; parks and outdoor recreation; and
arts and cultural projects. Interestingly, rail transit — except for Colorado Springs — seems to be the most prominent and, almost certainly, the most important common trait these cities share. Those major public investments were made possible because business and political leadership in those regions and cities understood that retaining and attracting young talent was an economic priority. And that to be a talent magnet required a vibrant central city. By and large, Michigan, its regions and cities have been missing in action for decades in making
these kinds of quality-of-place public investments. In large part, that’s because Michigan's business and political leadership has not made retaining and attracting young talent or vibrant central cities economic priorities. The availability of billions of dollars in one-time federal funding and a large state budget surplus gives the state, regions and cities a chance to pivot toward an economic development strategy where talent attracts capital and to make the kind of public investments in our CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
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GUEST COLUMN Dallas Lenear
Stop payday lenders from overcharging
I
n a time of great struggle for Michigan families, we have the opportunity to take a simple but powerful, popular and positive action. Currently, predatory payday lenders in our state charge triple-digit interest rates that exceed 370% APR. A proposed measure seeking a place on the November ballot would make sure they cannot charge more than 36% annually. Payday lending works like this: A person short on cash takes a loan of a few hundred dollars that is typically due to be paid back on their next payday. The payday lending industry markets these loans as a “quick fix,” but the reality is that they operate as a long-term debt trap. That’s because the terms of the
payday loan are designed to create a long-term cycle, requiring full payment plus fees and requiring direct access to the borrower’s bank account to collect it. Routinely, the borrower finds themselves unable to meet those terms and becomes stuck in a downward spiral of recurring debt that lasts months and sometimes even years. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that the average payday loan borrower takes out 10 loans in a year; and in Michigan, 70% of payday loans are taken out on the same day as the previous loan is repaid. What’s marketed as a “quick fix” is actually a debt trap by design. Payday lenders depend on this trap to feed their wealth-stripping machine. The harms caused by this practice are significant. Every high-interest dollar that goes to a payday lender is one dollar less that stays in our community. Payday loan users end up behind on utilities and other bills. They are unable to shop at local businesses or buy their children birthday presents. Oftentimes, their credit gets ruined, and some even lose their bank accounts because of multiple insufficient funds fees. As the executive director of a local financial empowerment organization (Project GREEN) and
a pastor, these painful stories are seen far too often. Proverbs 22:22 says, “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor …” Yet, that is precisely what predatory payday lenders do here in Michigan. Charging rates like 370% APR is pure exploitation of those who can least afford to pay such inhumane fees. That is why diverse interest groups are joining together to support a ballot measure reducing interest rates to no more than 36%. Our coalition includes groups concerned about helping working families maintain their ability to fully participate in Michigan’s economy, including consumer advocates, nonprofit organizations, credit unions and our faith communities. Rate caps have successfully passed in 18 states plus Washington, D.C., several of which were passed by ballot measure. Just recently, Nebraska voters passed a similar measure with over 80% support, while voters in South
Dakota and Colorado passed their payday lending reform initiatives with more than 70% support. Michiganders should join the growing number of states that put a swift stop to this exploitation by passing this rate cap on predatory payday loans. Unfortunately, our state legislature refuses to act on this important issue, even with a strong majority of Michiganders from all parties supporting this commonsense policy. We have been left with no choice other than to take this issue directly to Michigan voters. You can help make sure that Michigan citizens have an opportunity to raise their collective voice to make a significant difference on how these loans impact people in our community by signing a petition this spring. Dallas Lenear is the executive director of Project GREEN in Grand Rapids.
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