2025 Fellows: Jeff Klein, FASLA, Michigan Chapter

Deputy Chief of Landscape Architecture, City of Detroit, MI
by

x

As a landscape architect and long-time resident of Detroit, Jeff Klein has spent his career leading the steady rebuilding of the city's essential public and private green infrastructure-parks, greenways, play spaces, gardens, and commons. Jeff's leadership has been pivotal in the creation and restoration of public and private space that integrate ecological and social outcomes by organizing teams and resources to optimize a project's outcome. After twenty years in private practice leading projects as an independent design-build contractor, Jeff joined the city staff at a time when it was in deep decline, parks were closed, and neighborhoods were still losing residents. Jeff was charged with rebuilding the Park Development Unit responsible for building and maintaining more than 300 city parks. His leadership skills were quickly apparent as at the end of the first season-all the swings were functioning safely for the first time in a long time-setting standards and approaches that have made it one of the most effective city units. Within two years Jeff was tapped to fill the newly created Deputy Chief of Landscape Architecture position to manage nine parks under the new Strategic Neighborhood Fund, each requiring different approaches but all involving community members, stakeholders, and leadership. Jeff also led the wildly successful detailed design, construction, and maintenance/operations establishment for the first phase of the Joe Louis Greenway (JLG), for what will be a 27-mile loop around the city. Jeff's outstanding vision, leadership, management and organizational skills, and his love for Detroit have been instrumental in the renewal of dozens of essential public landscapes that serve one of the more diverse urban populations in the world.