Process and Politics Surrounding the Redevelopment of a Municipal Parking Deck Site in Houghton, Michigan

A proposal to redevelop 1.7 acres of publicly owned downtown waterfront property located in Houghton, Michigan involved a private developer replacing a decaying municipal parking deck with mixed-use taxable construction. The city’s redevelopment process and the developer’s vision for the site met op...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPublic administration quarterly Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 37 - 49
Main Authors Douglas, Christopher C., Merz, Erin L., Merz, Thomas E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 11.04.2024
Southern Public Administration Education Foundation
Subjects
Ballots
Candidates
Collective action
Consumers
Councils
Election results
Elections
Hypotheses
Ignorance
Incumbency
Interest groups
Local elections
Redevelopment
Social networks
Voter behavior
Voters
Voting rights
United States > US
Michigan
redevelopment
rational ignorance
strategic voting
collective action theory
political conflict
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:A proposal to redevelop 1.7 acres of publicly owned downtown waterfront property located in Houghton, Michigan involved a private developer replacing a decaying municipal parking deck with mixed-use taxable construction. The city’s redevelopment process and the developer’s vision for the site met opposition from a small, but well-organized, group calling for a halting of the process and the defeat of incumbent councilors in the subsequent election. Our analysis of the ballots found that challengers received more strategic votes than incumbents and that straight ticket and Election Day voters disproportionately skipped the city council race on their ballots. These results are consistent with collective action theory and rational ignorance theory.
ISSN:0734-9149
2327-4433
DOI:10.1177/07349149241231142