We have been living in Muskegon for over a year now and one of the more interesting parts of living here has been getting involved in our neighborhood. Nelson Neighborhood encompasses downtown Muskegon and the closest adjoining residential neighborhood. To get an idea of the demographics of the neighborhood visit the Community Research Institute's (the website I administer as part of my work with Grand Valley) Nelson Neighborhood profile. If you don't visit the profile suffice it to say that Nelson is a diverse neighborhood which makes for a lot of interesing issues.

And that is what neighborhood meetings are about. Talking about the issues that face all the people of the neighborhood from commercial redevelopment to problems with crime. As Nelson is an especially strategic neighborhood to the city of Muskegon (being downtown) the issues can be quite interest laden. Interests of the city, residents, and business owners are not always the same and the neighborhood association provides a forum for discussion of this issues and helping to come a concensus about what would be best for the people who live and work in Nelson.