WSU urban planners are giving a Detroit neighborhood the tools to demand better

On a summer evening in late June, about 25 residents of Detroit's Seven Mile - Conant neighborhood gathered to talk about what they loved about where they lived and what they wished were different. Running the session were not city officials or outside consultants. They were Wayne State graduate students. That kind of hands-on work is the whole point.

Since 1994, Wayne State's Master of Urban Planning (MUP) program has paired capstone students with real community clients, putting future planners in the middle of Detroit's most pressing neighborhood challenges before they ever hold a professional title.

"Urban planning is a professional practice," said Department of Urban Studies and Planning Chair Dr. Rayman Mohamed, who has led the capstone course for more than a decade. "Our capstone course gives students that experience from the very beginning to the end. Each step is designed to prepare them for professional practice."

This year's cohort of 20 students spent the summer working with Solomon's Village Community Development Corporation (CDC), a newly formed organization born out of Solomon's Temple church in the Seven Mile - Conant area. The CDC approached Wayne State looking for help building a neighborhood action plan to support a proposed senior housing development and make the case for wider investment in the area.

Students conducted site visits, analyzed census data, surveyed business owners along Seven Mile Road and hosted a community listening session. They divided the work into three focus areas: housing, beautification and commercial development.

What they found was a neighborhood with real strengths. "Kids are out playing in the street," said MUP student Kelsey Kneebone. "If they were to go to the city and say, why invest here, the answer is because you have people, good people who want to be around each other and want to make this space better."

The goal was never to tell the community what to do. It's about empowering residents with the tools they need to advocate for themselves. "I want these residents to show up to a city council meeting with this document and say, why have you not invested in our community?" said MUP student Alexis Mahoney. "That's it."

The students didn't stop at the action plan. Kneebone also built a community resource website that links residents directly to practical tools like property tax assistance and home repair programs. The site is designed to live beyond the class, giving the neighborhood a digital home base as they build momentum. In addition to the site, a robust LinkedIn group documented and shared the students' every step.

Student Diane Owens tackled the funding side. "We wanted to make it easy for them to apply for money," she said. "We identified grants awarded to similar organizations and outlined what to do in September, what to do in October, who to reach out to, what applications are due and when."

The students presented their final recommendations to a room packed with community stakeholders on Aug. 4. Solomon's Village CDC walked away with a neighborhood action plan, a grant roadmap, a resource website and, for the first time, a real seat at the table.

For Mohamed, projects like this one are exactly what Wayne State stands for. "It truly demonstrates Wayne State's commitment to the City of Detroit."

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