LANSING – Its supporters say it helps cities grow. Its critics call it a feel-good

government program, not a job-creation program.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm touts it. Challenger Dick DeVos belittles it.

The Cool Cities initiative, created in 2003, gives cities a boost by sprucing up cities, which may attract new businesses and residents, said Robert Swanson, director of the Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

Cool Cites grants, helps cities with such projects as projects developing theaters and opera houses, turning warehouses into lofts and retail spaces and revitalizing run-down neighborhoods.

“It’s a whole diverse approach for improving a city,” Swanson said. Money for the grants comes from existing state funds, he said.

But calling a city “cool” doesn’t help it grow, said John Truscott, communications director for Republican gubernatorial candidate DeVos.

If elected, DeVos would eliminate Cool Cites, Truscott said. The program doesn’t create jobs and most of the initiatives would have happened anyway, he added.

 DeVos would create economic growth by reducing taxes and speeding up the permit and regulatory procedures that bog businesses down, Truscott said.

“In business, time is money,” Truscott added. “If you don’t move quickly enough, that investment will move someplace else.”

Taking issue with the Truscott-DeVos stance is Precia Garland, Cadillac’s assistant city manager.           

The program is important because it shows another side of economic development, she said. Instead of focusing just on job creation, the program helps develop attractive neighborhoods and downtowns, which are essential to bringing in new businesses.

In 2004, the state awarded Cadillac a $330,000 Cool Cities grant. It was used to pave a street, replace a sidewalk and increase storm sewer capacity in Cadillac’s historic district.

Garland said she doesn’t know if the renovations created jobs or businesses in Cadillac, but it helped raise awareness of the need to develop and revitalize the city. 

“It’s an important tool in the overall effort of community and economic development,” she said. In order to attract private investment, a community must show public investment, she added.

Wendy Moore, who has been redeveloping houses for 20 years, said the renovations in Cadillac’s historic district made the idea of redeveloping homes in the district seem like a better idea.

Moore said she converted two multi-family houses into single-family homes, which has given the neighborhood a face-lift. Owners who occupy houses tend to take better care of homes than landlords, she said.

But Carol Donohue, vice-president of the Downtown Cadillac Association, said few businesses are aware that the renovations had been a part of the Cool Cities program.

“I would think the grant would do something cool, not fixing the sidewalk,” she said.

Donohue said that the renovations were great for the city, but they aren’t something that tourists will notice. Spruicing up downtown buildings and making Mitchell street more pedistrian friendly are projects she said she would like to see the program tackle.

“We need to look a little cooler,” Donohue said.

The Cool Cities initiative has helped other cities too.

Traverse City received a $100,000 grant to renovate the Traverse City Opera House and equip it with a new lighting and audio system.

Rob Bacigalupi, deputy director of the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority, said opera house events have brought more people downtown.

Bacigalupi said that he couldn’t say the renovated opera house has created a certain number of jobs, he could say that its made Traverse City a more lively town.

And creating lively towns, he added, is Cool Cites goal.

“You have to have a community that workers want to be in,” he said.