Mapping the Nation: Creating the World We Want to See

146 “We’ve had a number of former office towers that have been gutted and turned into housing or offices, or typically both,” Nutting said. “Schools that are 50 to 100 years old are being converted, and there is more multifamily development than in the past.” The map also helps anticipate future trends, such as whether development is trending more toward infill lots and smaller projects or whether developers are jumping to the exurbs where they can create whole subdivisions. Informing Individual Plans The aim of all this information gathering is to project the patterns of growth far into the future for an accurate SEMCOG forecast, and also foster collaboration between planners in neighboring communities. “Our hope for the forecast is that communities will use it in their own planning work and that they will consider the zoning and master plans of their neighboring communities to make planning more seamless and integrated,” Nutting said. These infill projects show how housing is being added in older neighborhoods. Looking toward neighboring Windsor, Ontario, you can see that development is planned in and around Detroit’s downtown.

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