What If Our Harbor Looked Like This?

Community planners are often tasked with creating a vision of what the ideal land use might be in any given municipality. When the Berrien County Planning Commission met this afternoon, they were among the first to receive a major new Twin Cities Harbor Study crafted by a steering committee that is looking at the long-term potential for the waterfront in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. It was the perfect launch point for a brief lesson on Community Placemaking by Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette and his team.

The images included here and many more like them contained in the comprehensive 82-page report are world-class visions that ask and sometimes answer a lot of "What If" types of questions.

The City of Benton Harbor, along with representatives of the steering committee have released the study evaluating the long-term potential of the harbor. Meeting since August of last year when Benton Harbor organized and led the stakeholder group of diverse private and public leaders, including representatives from St. Joseph and Berrien County. The committee worked through the Andrews University Graduate Urban Design studio in conjunction with the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission and outside experts including firms located in Gold Hill, Colorado, Chicago and Birmingham, Michigan.

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