By Derek Melot/Bridge Magazine

* Lou Glazer at Michigan Future Inc. has new reports out on metropolitan economies in Michigan between 2001 and 2010. He writes on Grand Rapids: “From 2001-2010, the seven county Grand Rapids regional economy performed better than the Michigan economy. That said it was a decade of decline. And the region in 2010 was one of the poorest of all the metropolitan areas in the country with a population of one million or more.” Job growth in health care and education in the region reached nearly 13 percent for the period. It’s daunting to consider what Grand Rapids’ economy would look like without the investments made on Hospital Hill/Medical Mile.

http://www.michiganfuture.org/11/2012/new-report-the-metro-grand-rapids-economy/

* While Grand Rapids might not like the report above, it will love this next one, from an outfit called Economic Modeling Specialists. They looked at 2010 to 2012 and tried to identify job growth based on “unique regional factors” among the top 100 metro areas. Grand Rapids rated no. 7 on the chart.

And Detroit rated no. 10:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/11/these-cities-show-way-create-jobs/3836/#

* With national Republicans in full navel-gazing mode over what might have been in Election 2012, I’m wondering if a similar process will occur within Michigan Democratic Party circles. On a big night for Democrats that saw the party regain control of legislative chambers from Colorado to Oregon to Maine, Michigan Dems picked up only five seats, leaving Republicans firmly in charge in Lansing for another two years:

http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/statevote-2012-election-night-results-map.aspx

* Changes to Michigan’s auto insurance system of “no fault” coverage and virtually unlimited medical care for catastrophic injuries are back on the agenda in the “lame duck” session of the Legislature. While the argument in Michigan is over the amount of medical care, the debate in other states has centered, apparently, on the entire concept of “no fault” itself:

http://money.msn.com/auto-insurance/is-no-fault-insurance-finished

* Environmental groups are considering their options in the wake of Proposal 3′s decisive defeat. “The only county where it passed was Washtenaw, where nearly 52 percent voted yes. Three of the four counties with the greatest percentage of voters rejecting the proposals have wind farms: Missaukee (79 percent), Huron (77.5 percent), Osceola (74 percent).”:

http://greatlakesecho.org/2012/11/09/energy-proposal-carries-only-one-county-advocates-eye-new-strategy/

* Gov. Rick Snyder this summer appointed the director of the Department of Natural Resources, Rodney Stokes, to be his urban vibrancy leader. Would Snyder and Stokes endorse any of these national urban strategies?:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/11/urban-policy-ideas-next-president-should-steal/3827/

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