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All this year, Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition host Christina Shockley has been asking people from all walks of life what three things they think we can all do to help improve the state. Today, we hear from Michael Score, president of Hantz Farms in Detroit.

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Hantz Farms is an organization that is working to turn Detroit’s vast and growing amount of underutilized land into urban farmland. He sees opportunity where some see blight.

Michael is confident in Michigan’s people and assets and he wants to rebuild the economy utilizing the values and skill-sets already in place.

“Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are our strong suits, and I think we should excel in these areas and invest in them.”

He notes that many Michigan school systems are considering a move in this direction. “[They] are talking about rebuilding themselves with new focal points for the future. And, rather than moving away from our traditional sectors of excellence I think we should embrace them and make sure they’re integrated into our curriculum.”

His second idea is for Michigan to invest wisely in its most valuable resources: It’s youth, it’s history, and it’s natural resources. “I think those are the reasons people come to Michigan, and more people choose to live here, and a concern I have is that we’ll mortgage or we’ll liquidate our treasures to weather the short term crisis…”. He wants entrepreneurship and new business growth focused on these natural strengths to be coupled with “public initiatives to preserve the best of our land and water resources in the state of Michigan.”

Lastly, Michael wants to “clean house” by encouraging others, especially local governments, to let go of legacy investments that have not worked out. “With Hantz Farms we’re trying to purchase tax reverted foreclosed properties in the city of Detroit, and even though there are 40 square miles of vacant land it’s hard for city leaders to actually identify city property they’re comfortable letting go of so that a new business can start.” Score specifically mentions some Detroit HUD (Housing and Urban Development) houses that were built but never occupied that local governments are reluctant to let go. He believes, “when things don’t work we have to cut loose and move on.”

Michael says of these three ideas that when acted upon would “help us to commit to living within our means…and contribute to policies that would result in balanced budgets for Michigan communities.”

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