The City of Linden adopted a new 20-year Master Plan to maintain its small-town character, build community sustainability and multimodal circulation, and prioritize community services as the population and economy grows. A longtime client, Linden is a vibrant community along the Shiawassee River featuring a historic downtown and desirable neighborhoods. The City received technical assistance funding from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) program to prepare the new Master Plan along with economic development and marketing strategies. Wade Trim led the master planning effort, with assistance from CIB Planning, and helped Linden earn its RRC certification.

Key elements of the Master Plan include two firsts for the community to meet its goals: A Circulation Plan and a Priority Redevelopment Sites section. Building on local and regional initiatives, the Circulation Plan lays out a complete streets vision to transform Linden’s streets into safe and efficient routes that support vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian travel. The Priority Redevelopment Sites section identifies four underutilized sites near downtown targeted for transformation into mixed-use spaces. Additionally, a Future Land Use Plan was prepared to protect the City’s historic, cultural, and natural assets while targeting growth and investments in strategic locations, while an Action Matrix was prepared to guide implementation of the plan over time. The economic development and marketing strategies recommend specific resources and branding efforts to drive new public and private investments.

Public engagement was strong during the master planning process. Linden officials formed a steering committee in 2021 to oversee master planning efforts, which included a Master Plan web page, focus groups, a visioning workshop, and various presentations on specific portions of the plan. In addition, an online community survey that received more than 600 responses from residents revealed 74% of survey respondents believe the small-town character of the community was most important; however, a large percentage also desired more dining and shopping/retail options in Linden. The plan was adopted in February 2023.