The Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber along with the Southwestern Michigan Association of REALTORS is hosting a two-day event addressing the region’s housing crisis.

The two-day summit, on Dec. 12 and 13, will feature author and Strong Town founder Charles Marohn addressing key issues of housing affordability and accessibility and understanding how policy decisions impact those factors.

Chamber director of membership and events Sarah Spoonholtz says this event hopes to inspire change.

“Thursday night will be a meet and greet. That will be an opportunity for everybody to get a signed copy by Chuck Marohn, the author of Strong Towns. And then on Friday, we’ll have the in-depth housing summit. We’ve got four different breakout sessions, things like zoning and the ordinances, updates, incremental developments, and parking minimum.”

Marohn is a civil engineer, urban planner, and an advocate for resilient communities. Spoonholtz tells us through Marohn’s guidance, that they hope attendees get how we can work together to make housing easier for Southwest Michigan.

“We can do two things. One, help attract people, provide housing for people who are currently living here, who maybe are, you know, wanting to go from an apartment or from renting a place to live to actually owning someplace to live,” Spoonholtz says. “But also, it’ll help grow our population because then we’ll have the housing stock available for individuals who want to come and live full-time here in Southwest Michigan.”

The two-day event will take place at the Frederick S Upton Foundation Education Center Pavilion at Corewell Health South.

Registration is $20 per attendee and includes admission to both days and a copy of Marohn’s latest book.