Small Town Mixed Use - St. Joseph, Michigan

Recently I enjoyed a couple days in the small village of St. Joseph, Michigan. It was a great place to take a break from a busy schedule and spend some time with family. I am continually impressed by the vibrancy of the little downtown/main street. You can tell there is a lot of effort, resources and thought put into this small town, creating a truly great place. Of course, the main economic engine here is tourism and proximity to the water.

It is clear from a few of the for-sale signs still posted that the real estate market downturn was hard here, too. There is a condominium building that clearly never got built, as evidenced by the large yellow banner atop a sign for a three-story mixed-use building comprised of first floor retail, second floor office, and rooftop penthouse. The most disappointing part of the trip however was seeing the projects that did get built during the boom time were sprawling golf courses and single family homes that were disconnected from this beautiful downtown core, even though they were easily within walking/bike riding distance from our location. It is really too bad these Benton Harbor golf courses and their surrounding development couldn’t be directly linked and potentially even integrated, as it seems like this could have been a win-win for both parties.