February 12/14, 2021 FridayMusings is your source for what we love about Livonia
Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan shares her love of Livonia

I often say “Livonia is the biggest small town you will ever find.” It’s what I love most about our city, and my first year as Mayor has made me surer of that view than ever. 

Livonia is a thriving, vibrant community – one of our state’s 10 largest cities. But at the same time, we remain an incredibly close-knit Livonia family, committed to our neighbors and community. We celebrate and mourn together. We serve and worship together. We grow and learn together. We work and play together so much so that one of every four Livonia residents also works in our community – I think this dynamic is a vitally important part of the fabric of our community. 

As Mayor, it is my job to make sure our government serves as a nexus for our community, helping connect the dots between our dedicated community groups, active neighborhood associations, vital businesses, high-quality schools, and other organizations. They truly are our City’s foundation. And never has the strength of that foundation been more tested than through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But through that test, which has threatened the health of so many Livonia residents, brought grief to too many families, shocked our economy, disrupted our schools, and changed our everyday lives, our community stood strong, together, and united. 

I was there as our local businesses stepped up to donate personal protective equipment and volunteer their spaces for blood drives. I heard from our teachers, students, and families adjusting to and excelling despite adversity. And I watched from the front row how our City employees not only navigated the pandemic but responded to it.
Our Together Livonia Cares program is a statewide example of how, in times of difficulty, our community rallies together. Businesses and leaders selflessly donated personal protective equipment and other resources, which were then directed by City leadership to long-term care facilities in need at the height of the pandemic. This was the type of unprecedented effort needed to match an unprecedented crisis and is just one example of our City’s work in the last year.

I love Livonia because in times of difficulty, together we rise to meet every challenge. And even beyond that, in times of struggle, we never stop looking forward, planning for the future. 

The same leaders selflessly giving to support these efforts, the same parents juggling their own work and their student’s learning, the same City employees being asked to take on new responsibilities – they all came together at various times this past year to look ahead at what is possible for the future. In the months and years ahead, together we will implement Livonia Vision 21, our city’s community-inspired, resident-driven master plan. We will address our public safety staff shortages, build a world-class job and skills training program, fight for our fair share of infrastructure funding, and advance our shared values in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
 
We’ve only just begun to envision where our community can go. The possibilities are magnificent. If we dream boldly, plan wisely, and move with determination. If we continue to work together, Livonia will remain a City of limitless potential, because at the heart of our work for the community we love is a deep compassion for one another and an undying hope for the future. And if you love this City in the same way I do, there is a place for you in the work of building a City our children want to come home to.
Jim Jolly: I love Livonia because it is the home my family shares with 100,000 friends. There is a reassuring and real comfort and peace that in a city as big as Livonia, our community feels like that of a small town. To me the heart and soul of Livonia is our shared effort to make this city our home.
Ted Davis: I love Livonia for its people. The commitment to the high quality of life that Livonia offers with city services, parks, and the world's largest city with a small-town feel.
Lynda Scheel: I love our "We-Can-Do-It" spirit. Whether it is with the help of your fellow employees or the many Volunteers throughout our City, we all pitch in to do our best for each other, and for those in need.
Brandon McCullough: I love Livonia because we have 1,389 acres of Park Land, The best schools, incredible community service groups, exceptional master planning, world-class public safety.

Most of all, I love Livonia for the people.
Haitham Fakhouri: I love Livonia because it is both my home and my place of work. Since moving here over 11 years ago, the community has welcomed me and my family with smiling faces and positive attitudes. From excellent schools to a thriving business community, Livonia is the perfect mix of work and play. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Dan MacIver Livonia truly is my hometown! It is where I have lived and worked my entire life and I couldn’t imagine a better place to live and raise my family! The community organizations are incredibly strong and supportive of all that is Livonia. This is why I love Livonia!

Colleen Burton: Excellent schools and parks, well kept and inviting neighborhoods, stable taxes, a wide variety of stores and restaurants, and a fabulous central location. But what I really love are the people, family, and friends who have become dear to us over the decades as we have raised our family and called Livonia home. 
Robb Drzewicki: Livonia is, at once, a large city and a small town. It's homogenous but wonderfully diverse. It's forward thinking, but deeply rooted in tradition. It knows it's a great place to live, but it's open to growing and improving. 

Why love Livonia? Because, like the people who live here, it's not simply red or blue; black or white; left or right. It's all of the above and most things between.
Rob Donovic: What I love about our city is the big small-town community feel. Livonia has many community-based organizations that host events and help people in need and keep many of us connected. Our city government is always looking for creative ways to engage the public and help create memories for families and create that welcome feeling you get from smaller communities. We don’t forget to focus on the things that make us humans and many residents and local businesses volunteer in that effort.  
Cory Jacobson: We have businesses in 5 cities and you really begin to appreciate Livonia far more for the citizens once you have that experience of working and living elsewhere. There are people who know how to get things done dependably and have a work ethic. It is simply a quality community where citizens are clearly content with life. It makes a big difference in daily attitudes and overall happiness.
Tom Klisz: 50 years- it went by in a blink! Great schools and churches and little free libraries to help us think. Neighbors who shovel for free and then share a slice of pie for you and for me. Braille books for children allowing them to read through touch and welcoming Corn Roasts for new neighbors to be!
Bob Carris: Great government for many years, and many great service clubs who work together and are non-partisan in the service and donations they provide. And the support you give to all the service clubs in your column!
Bishop Emeritus Dave Stechholz: The Lord God has bestowed the city of Livonia with an incredible number of blessings, including foresight for the layout of the city, outstanding parks with numerous amenities, the dedication to the community of churches and service organizations, volunteers, cultural and social organizations, good schools, top-notch police, firefighters, and libraries even with services during the pandemic, clean neighborhoods, and so much more. I want to give a shout out to neighbors and our libraries and their dedicated workers. My family and I have lived in several different cities across the country, but rarely have I seen such vibrancy, helpfulness, and joy as our15 years here in Livonia.
Wendy Ernzen: I love Livonia because it is a generous community with people who truly care about others. Thanks Livonia for wrapping the Arc NW in a big hug of support as we celebrate sixty years!
Cathy White: I love that Livonia is a community of strong neighborhoods, helping to clear snow from sidewalks and driveways, checking on each other when things seem amiss, hopping on a bike to try to catch a neighbor's runaway dog, or sharing homemade holiday baked goods. We care about our neighbors. I feel absolutely blessed to live in Livonia!

Lauren Peters: Blessings in a Backpack LOVES Livonia because there is never a shortage of amazing volunteers and supporters poised to rally for a cause. What doubles our LOVE is the fact that Livonia is raising its younger generations to share the same ideals.
Alan Helmkamp: As a resident of Livonia for nearly 60 years (except for my stint at the University of Michigan), and a graduate of the Livonia Public Schools (Frost, Holmes, Stevenson), I’ve been witness to and participant in-to a certain extent- the community’s population and school growth and then contraction, and the various changes in the city’s landscape, demographics and government that have taken place over the decades. The law firm I started still operates here 40 years later. I am proud to claim my Livonia roots and look forward to the exciting changes to come as we strive to preserve what is best, improving what we can.
Kathy Bilger: Livonia is the ideal suburban model. It doesn’t pretend to be a small village or skyscraper central. No pretense. There are as many parks as restaurants. Its possible to try a different cuisine every day of the week.  Activities abound for both young families and seniors alike from sports to arts. With something for everyone, it means that families can grow with the city, people can feel comfortable at every stage of life. 
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