Battle Creek, Michigan

American City by the National Civic League, a source of great pride to every citizen. It recognizes communities across the country for hard work, local initiatives and collaboration, and civic engagement. The city partnered with the Battle Creek Community Foundation and BC Vision on that application. Speaking to important aspects for future growth, Feldt shares, “ Two main things – one, our downtown is undergoing a renaissance. Adding a lot of live / work options and attracting developers who have moved back to Battle Creek as residents and are investing in the community through new office ventures, new brewery opportunities, etc. That’s a major positive area of impact in the last few years. And secondly, just making the outdoor lifestyle great for Battle Creek. Much more than an urban lifestyle with parks, it’s how interconnected and accessible our neighborhoods are to those places, whether it’s an easy walk or bike ride to a park, or a five- minute drive by car to a launch site at the river for your kayak or canoe, or a short ride or walk to a place to get something to eat. “We also have a relatively low barrier cost of entry, our housing costs are generally lower than other mid-sized cities. Also there’s a huge range in housing costs, as well, providing further accessibility for people to live here and enjoy the outdoors. There is a real recognition that we need to redevelop the central neighborhoods surrounding our downtown, and our growth as a community is going to come from the redevelopment of these historical neighborhoods.”