After a year of vacancy, the position of community and economic development director for the city of Hamtramck has been filled. The new captain at the helm of multiple planning and development initiatives for the city is Jason Friedmann, most recently a senior planner for Macomb County.
Friedmann, a Detroit resident, is already familiar with many of the issues and challenges faced by urban areas such as Hamtramck -- as well as the flavor, culture and diversity that they have to offer. "It's pretty exciting," he says. "Hamtramck has all of the good things going on in the city of Detroit, [but the size] is just a little more manageable."
A couple of the initiatives that he plans to jump into straight-away include the development of the Hamtramck Trail -- a greenway system that would ultimately link the city to the Dequindre Cut -- and the creation of a
certified industrial park on the southern end of town.
He aims to work closely to encourage better connections to Detroit, and envisions the establishment of a corridor improvement authority on Conant, where merchants technically located in Detroit consider themselves to be affiliated with Hamtramck. Another ammenity he hopes to improve is a shuttle connector between Hamtramck and education and cultural centers in Midtown, Downtown and Northwest Detroit.
With a grant from the state's Cities of Promise program, Friedmann will undertake the development of a master plan for Hamtramck that will include brownfield assessment and a vision for infill housing, recreation, arts and culture and sustainability. He plans to release a Request for Proposals for the project in the next few weeks.
Source: Jason Friedmann, City of Hamtramck
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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