Birmingham planner talks at Troy
Chamber luncheon, mayor may speak later

By Terry Oparka
C & G Staff Writer

TROY — An annual Troy Chamber of Commerce event took a different turn this year when Birmingham Planning Board Chair Robin Boyle took the podium to speak during the State of Cities luncheon March 4 at the MET Hotel Troy. 

About 70 Troy Chamber of Commerce members and others attended the event. In past years, Troy Mayor Louise Schilling has chronicled Troy’s successes and challenges at the annual event. Last year, more than 100 people listened to Schilling’s speech at the Troy Community Center.

But Schilling said there was simply not enough time to prepare for the address after a Feb. 23 millage election and the following Troy City Council meeting March 1. Voters defeated a 1.9-mill tax hike nearly 2-to-1.

“It was a different situation previously,” she said. She noted that the annual State of the City address does not have to be a chamber event, and she said the city could hold the event at a later date.

Troy City Council members Robin Beltramini and Mary Kerwin attended the luncheon, but did not speak.

“What was the ‘State of the City’ is the ‘State of the Cities,’” said Chamber President Michelle Hodges. She described Boyle as an iconic symbol of what collaboration could accomplish, and noted that he agreed to speak at the March 4 event at the last minute.

The Troy Planning Commission and the Birmingham Planning Board have met jointly to discuss and consider plans for the $7 million Troy/Birmingham Multi-modal Transit Center on Doyle Drive, at Maple and Coolidge, which received full federal funding last month. Both cities have slated a combined total of $1.6 million for the project, and hired lobbyist Clark Hill to secure funding and grants for the center. Plans for the center include a 10-foot-high, 14-foot-wide tunnel connecting a 2,500-square-foot facility at Maple and Coolidge to the loading platform at the Amtrak rail in Birmingham.

The Troy facility will serve as a waiting area for train, bus and taxi passengers.

When completed, the center will serve as a hub for regional public transportation, using existing Amtrak rail infrastructure along the Wolverine Corridor, while providing a transfer point for Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation bus services, and taxi and sedan connections consistent with a Detroit regional mass transit plan.

Property values within a quarter mile of a transit center are known to increase between 25 and 40 percent, lease rates to jump between 40 and 200 percent, and for every dollar invested in public transit, return investment ranges from $4 to $8, according to Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker. 

“The collaborative element pushed the project over the edge (for funding),” Hodges said. 

Boyle also serves as chair of the Wayne State University Urban Planning Department, and was born and educated in Scotland.

“I’m not here to address the immediate concerns of Troy,” Boyle said.

Boyle said what’s needed to keep cities sustainable is an increase in private investment and a reduction of operating costs to retain jobs, as well as building  confidence through zoning and other regulations, and attracting federal support.

“Cities are fundamentally resilient,” he said. “Out of depressions came great projects that changed America and its cities.

“The new suburb is going to have a different feel and way of operating. Open cities work,” he continued. “Immigrant cities are strong cities. One-quarter of the leading scientists in this country come from other countries.”

He noted that Troy is ahead of the curve with its diverse population.

Kerwin said Boyle pointed out how Troy is well-positioned to move forward, “albeit in a leaner fashion.”

Troy resident Jim Edoff of Fanning-Howey, an architecture and engineering consulting firm, said Boyle offered practical advice in difficult times to promote sustainable improvements.

Architect John Tagle, who sits on the Troy Planning Commission, said Boyle’s talk was very insightful and encouraging, and offered a very worldly prospective.

“We need more positive dialog,” Tagle said.

You can reach Staff Writer Terry Oparka at toparka@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1054.