Midland, Michigan

6 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 choose to live or work pretty well anywhere in the world,” adds Kaye. “We have to make sure there is a reason for them to want to live here to live here, and that’s one of the challenges we take pretty seriously.” To meet that challenge, Midland has invested heavily in improving the quality of life for its residents. That includes an excellent school system that they will be investing $121 million in over the next five years, as well as a number of high quality amenities. “We are pretty amazing for a community our size,” boasts Midland Mayor Maureen Donker. “We have 72 parks – that’s over 7200 acres of parkland in the city itself. And we have been investing in our parks and growing our parks system.” The city is also home to Dow Gardens, a 110-acre botanical garden that offers trails, a children’s garden, and numerous flowering plant beds. Inside the gardens is Whiting Forest, a 54-acre woodland with trails, an apple orchard, meadows, a stream, and the nation’s longest canopy walk, coming in at 1400 feet long and hanging 40 feet above the ground. When it comes to cultural amenities, Midland takes great pride in its Center for the Arts, which features Broadway touring productions and is also home to the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Arts. Rounding things out, the city also has a minor league baseball stadium, home to the Great Lakes Loons – an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. “There is great opportunity here because people look at our amenities, they look at the community, the schools – everything we have to offer – and we find there is great interest,” Stamas says. “Even for people working in the Great Lakes Bay region; they may work in one of our surrounding counties, but there is great interest in being in Midland.” Midland has also been investing in its MIDLAND , MI CHIGAN