While there is little doubt that the housing market in Michigan’s Great Southwest has enjoyed spectacular days over the last several years, there is still always an undertone stemming from the question — What about affordable housing? That will be the subject of the first 2019 presentation of the Speaker Series of South Haven this month.
Affordable Housing: Obstacles and Solutions in Lake Shore Communities will be the subject of the first 2019 presentation on Thursday, April 11th from Ryan Kilpatrick an affordable housing expert and Executive Director of Ottawa County Housing Next.
Kilpatrick will explore the many ways in which 50 years of federal, state, and local policy decisions have contributed to the shortage. He then focuses on a variety of local and regional solutions including such factors as transportation, community design, connectivity, and quality of life.
His presentation will be the first at the Integrated Learning Center in South Haven High School located at 600 Elkenburg Street. The center is located on the east side of the building. Those unfamiliar with the high school should use the main entrance with the statue of the Ram in front.
Mark Odland is Series Chairman for the program. He says, “The Series grew to an average of 170 attendees in 2018 with two programs exceeding 200,” and adds, “We simply outgrew the available space at Lake Michigan College. We are grateful to the staff there for hosting our events during the first four years of the Speaker Series programming.”
The talk will begin at 7:30 pm and will be preceded by a reception with the speaker at 6:45 in the school cafeteria.
Odland notes, “Lakeshore communities and South Haven in particular have a huge stake in defining and developing affordable housing,” and adds, “We believe Kilpatrick’s presentation will have a special appeal to impacted residents, employees, public officials, real estate folks, and others in the business community affected by housing and transportation issues.”
Kilpatrick, a polished speaker, is responsible for day-to-day management and strategic direction of Ottawa Country Housing Next. The project focuses on housing, economic development, land use, and transportation policy. Bridging the private and public sector, he is responsible for streamlining the development process to build more resilient communities.
He draws on a rich background including Community Assistance Specialist with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Director of Community and Economic Development for the City of Douglas. Throughout his career he has had impressive hands-on experience in a wide variety of planning issues and projects such as:
- Transportation planning
- Sustainable land use
- Development rights and finance
- Preservation and green infrastructure
- Tax abatement programs
- Brownfield redevelopment
- Community engagement and visioning processes
Kilpatrick earned a Masters Degree in Design from Kendall College of Art and Design with an emphasis on social innovation and community development. Working with other professionals from a variety of fields he co-created a new program at Kendall that focuses on the design process for solving systemic problems with in-depth exploration of social enterprise, design-thinking and models of innovation.
For its second event the Speaker Series will host Great Lakes advocate and author Peter Annin on Thursday, May 9th at the Integrated Learning Center. His subject will be “The Great Lake Compact: A Decade of Lessons Learned.” A revision of his book The Great Lakes Water Wars was released last Fall.
