Earlier this month, I toured the two newest city halls in Southeast Michigan. Dearborn and Westland both moved their city offices this fall. And, wow! Both are very impressive and are tangible representations of the vision that Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly and Westland Mayor William Wild have for serving their residents and for investing in their cities and their employees. Look for a full story on these two great new public assets in a future issue of Semscope. Below are a few quick observations after the tours – special thanks to Mayor O’Reilly and Mayor Wild for their hospitality!
First, there were very practical economic and safety issues that drove these moves from older buildings that needed major capital investments. At the same time, both mayors used the move as an opportunity to further their visions.
Second, both Mayors share a vision of the future that includes using public investments and civic places to create a destination area in their communities.
Third, the cities moved their offices into existing, vacant buildings. This was a significant money saver in both cases.
Fourth, both cities used design techniques to help drive increased efficiencies in service delivery and reduced costs for internal operations.
Look for the magazine article to further expand and give examples on these and other observations. In the meantime, congratulations to Dearborn and Westland for offices that put the focus on customer service and really reflect community pride!
Leave a Reply