from Older Cities
Want a copy of our 2007-2008 Annual Report?
Just say the word. Email Anna at anna@suburbsalliance.org and she'll be sure to get you one (or two!)
Our hot-off-the-press publication emphasizes how the Michigan Suburbs Alliance hinges on the interactivity of city leaders, citizens, students, planners, policy makers, developers, academics and nonprofit and business visionaries. As a unique point of collaboration, we don't merely talk about regionalism; we manifest in the partnerships that shape our work from the ground up.
Because southeast Michigan matters to all of us.
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Letter from the Staff
August 2008
On Babies, Scotland and a New Way
by Anna Clark, Communications Coordinator
By the time you read this, my little sister's probably had her baby. This is the first of the next generation in my family, and it comes with all the feverish anticipation you can imagine. But us Clarks are experiencing it at a distance: Elizabeth lives in Scotland. I won't meet the child until the family of three visits Michigan for the December holidays.
Disappointing, yes. Heartbreaking even. My mother fills the void by buying up all the newborn gear from the Detroit Tigers, the Red Wings and the Pistons, so that the baby, who will boast dual citizenship, "won't forget their roots."
But it was never a question of Elizabeth returning to Michigan for her pregnancy; the family support offered in Scotland simply has no local counterpart. At least not yet. Elizabeth is a Central Michigan grad who, two years ago, returned to the country where she studied abroad. She's 25-years-old, and her Scotland experiences offer me a vantage into another way of doing things--from family support to education. Over here in Michigan, a state intent on enticing young talent and families, what I see resonates.
