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

Abstract

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.