Consultants working on Eastpointe City’s economic development strategy told the planning commission that participants in a two-hour stakeholder workshop prioritized economic growth, walkability, stronger local businesses and more jobs that Eastpointe residents can fill.

The workshop, held as part of the project’s stakeholder engagement, included more than 25 attendees and used individual brainstorming and table-based priorities. Consultants said common themes were a desire for a ‘vibrant, walkable community,’ improvements to the business ecosystem and stronger schools, and that the findings will feed both the economic development strategy and the master plan.

Consultants presented a draft 10-year vision based on the sessions describing Eastpointe as a walkable community with strong schools, diverse housing and thriving local businesses that attract and retain families, young professionals and entrepreneurs and expand job growth. The consultants emphasized that the vision is preliminary and will be refined as survey and interview data are added; the community survey was reported active through November 14.

Participants identified top strengths as local government and city staff, Eastpointe’s regional location near Metro Detroit and Macomb County, a supportive business ecosystem (including the chamber), key amenities such as parks and the library, and engaged residents. Funding sources, the transportation network and commercial-corridor traffic were flagged as external opportunities that the city could leverage to attract investment.

Among challenges, consultants said the school system, housing blight, lower household income, infrastructure needs and limited available land ranked highly. Technology concerns — specifically broadband and computer access — were also raised as a rising issue.

Consultants reported nearly 100 strategy ideas generated in a ‘moving forward’ exercise and said they will synthesize those ideas into recommended strategies for the economic development plan.

Commissioners asked questions about outreach and demographics; consultants said poster boards from the open houses would be rotated to schools for the final week of the survey period and that additional interviews are scheduled to reach demographic gaps.