By: Andrea Messenger

From growing pains to a blueprint for change, The Grand Vision regional planning effort set the national record for per capita participation in a regional public planning study and is securing prosperity and quality of life for future generations.

Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Kalkaska and Wexford counties, home to the unassuming communities of my youth, are now considered the fastest growing region in the Midwest. Experiencing an explosive 26 percent growth rate in the last decade, the area's population is supposed to double within 40 years.

When our editorial team needed someone to research the Grand Vision regional planning effort for this issue, I just had to jump in-what was my tip-of-the-mitt cooking up this time? Continue reading...