Buzz

Let's argue for more walkable streets, shall we?

Atlantic Cities Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Walkability is always part of the Detroit conversation. But it jumped to the front of our thoughts last week when we were at the intersection of W. Vernor and 14th attempting to cross the street from the Mercury Burger Bar to Slows, Astro and Sugar House on the north side of Michigan Avenue.

This is arguably the coolest block in the city, one of the coolest in the state, celebrated from coast to coast as a model of urban redevelopment.

But the length of the traffic light signal, which has to go through at least a couple of cycles to accommodate auto traffic from multiple directions, made it a long, long, long wait. As we waited, cars race passed at highway speeds.

We were all able-bodied walkers and able to get across before the signal changed. But we're not sure the lady in this story, using a walker, would be able to manage it. And that's a problem, Detroit road engineers.

Check the piece out from Atlantic Cities here and keep the argument for walkability going full force. We plan to.

Atlantic Cities takes notice of Detroit Bus Co.

Atlantic Cities Tuesday, March 20, 2012

If it's about transportation and it's in Detroit, we're all over it lately. Not to mention, we're always on the hunt for stories on transit region-wide, statewide and, well, all over the planet. So long as it presents solutions to a plethora of issues back home.

Like this story we found in Atlantic Cities. Read about the Detroit Bus Company here.

Freep editorial: New RTA would be hub for critical transit projects

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A new regional transit authority would coordinate all transit service in southeast Michigan, including a number of transit initiatives and agencies, the Detroit Free Press says in an opinion piece this week.

That includes high speed bus transit, light rail on Woodward from downtown to New Center and commuter train service from Detroit to Ann Arbor.

Let's get it done. That's our opinion. Get all the details here.

Americans want walkable neighborhoods, not big houses

GOOD Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Thank you, people of the USA. We put our faith in you once again. We are ecstatic to hear that a healthy percentage of our fellow Americans want walkable over wonky. Wonky as in the McMansion movement that characterized the last two decades.

We hold our tongues and say no more. As usual GOOD has the goods. Read on here.

D3's proposal for council districts, weighs in on bus rapid transit

Data Driven Detroit Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Yes, that's right, we have a full court press on to try to drive the correct decision in creating reasonable and equitable Detroit City Council districts. Read Free Press editor Stephen Henderson's take here.

In its current newsletter, Data Driven Detroit asks these three vital questions about the Detroit City Council district options created by the City Planning Commission:

1. Are any neighborhoods or historic areas split between two or more districts? If so, residents and community organizations must rely on multiple Council members to represent their neighborhood. That makes it more difficult to hold any single member responsible for that neighborhood issues.

2. Are any neighborhoods grouped into districts with distant or dissimilar neighborhoods? If so, the focus of that district’s Council member will be divided between neighborhoods with significantly different interests and concerns.

3. Are any place-based long-term public or private investment areas split between two or more districts?If so, businesses, investors, and government programs must rely on multiple Council members to support their interests. Splitting investment areas makes impact more complex, difficult, and harder to demonstrate.

Read the entire report here. After you dig into that, check out D3's report on another pressing issue, bus rapid transit.

Alliance for Biking & Walking releases 2012 benchmarks

Alliance for Biking & Walking Tuesday, January 31, 2012

This report shows that increasing bicycling and walking are goals that are clearly in the public interest. Listen up, Detroit:

Where bicycling and walking levels are higher, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes levels are lower. Higher levels of bicycling and walking also coincide with increased bicycle and pedestrian safety and higher levels of physical activity. Increasing bicycling and walking can help solve many serious problems facing our nation.

Many of us know this already. But not all. Read the entire report here.

DC3 helps grow collective voice for Detroit creatives

Detroit Creative Corridor Center Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The Speakers Bureau is an initiative by the Detroit Creative Corridor Center to help establish a voice for Detroit’s creative community. This collective voice is that of many people and businesses who demonstrate forward progress in the city.

All of these individual entities have worked with or work alongside the DC3 in Detroit. Maybe they’ve participated in the Creative Ventures Program or consulted with the DC3 staff on a location for their business. Whatever the case, this is the story of Detroit’s forward movements through our lens. Read all about it here.

Detroit Revitalization fellows announced

Wayne State University Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program is a partnership between Wayne State University, the Kresge Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation and the Skillman Foundation that brings together talented professionals in Detroit. They will participate in a program combining two years of full-time employment with executive development-style education, networking opportunities and professional coaching and mentoring.

See the list of fellows here. We'll follow this story as it develops.

Wheelhouse pops up at Compuware HQ downtown

Detroit Regional News Hub Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Co-owners Karen Gage and Kelli Kavanaugh say they have always wanted to operate their Wheelhouse Detroit bike shop year round. The next best thing is a pop up shop in a great location. And it doesn't come much better than the Compuware Building, across from downtown's Campus Martius.

It's now open through Christmas Eve. Get all the info you need to go shopping here.

Cruise ships make new port a travel destination

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Some skeptics questioned the logic of Detroit's new Public Dock and Terminal, which opened at a $21.5 million cost this summer on the banks of the Detroit River. According to this new story in the Freep, the new dock is already paying off in an influx of well-heeled tourists. The number of cruise ships planning stops at the Dock in 2012 is 13 -- a massive increase from the two ships who anchored in Detroit in 2011. At least 2,500 luxury tourists bound for the Great Lakes will set foot in the city next year.

Excerpt:

"What's terrific about the new dock and Detroit is the proximity to the upper part of the Great Lakes," said Chris Conlin, president of Great Lakes Cruise Company in Ann Arbor, which markets the cruises. "I believe the new port in Detroit is the reason the Yorktown is sailing out of Detroit and not Windsor or Toronto."

Anchors away here!

Tour De Troit helps make Detroit more bike-friendly

Detroit News Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Close to 4,500 bikers made the Motor City a two-wheeled adventure course for a day on Sept. 24; choosing a police-escorted 30-mile jaunt through Detroit's streets or a whopping 62-mile slog from the tour's home base at Roosevelt Park (check out Tour De Troit wrap-ups from the News, Freep and MLive).

Tour De Troit's explosive growth (it drew less than 50 cyclists for its first outing in 2002) mirrors the bicycle's increasing popularity as an accepted form of transportation in the D. A growing network of greenways and bike lanes, wide avenues and more tours have helped grow cycling by 192 percent in the past ten years.

Excerpt:

"(Riding a bike) shows the city on a human scale, and you see a lot of detail that you wouldn't see when you were in an automobile," said Bill Lusa, 37, director for the tour. Lusa, who lives in Woodbridge, uses his bike to commute to places around the city. "It's not always about smashing the system and ending the automotive hegemony," he said. "It's about having fun and being in slightly better shape."

More available here.

Urbanized: new doc on cities' future contemplates the D

Urbanized Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A new film on the role of cities in modern living will make a stop in Detroit on its global tour of premieres.

Gary Hustwit's new documentary, Urbanized, received rave reviews (and several spontaneous bursts of applause) during its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The flick features a shot of Detroit, as seen from the People Mover, in the trailer -- and it's coming to Detroit Oct. 11 for a showing at the Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA (buy your tickets here).

Excerpt:

Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities.

Peep the trailer here.

Rollerblade Project puts a new spin on Detroit wheels

Detroit Rollerblade Project Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tight shorts, fannypacks and crashes involving leashes, pets and light poles have all contributed to rollerblading's often dubious reputation. But in Detroit, the blank canvas for all dreams, a tight-knit group of skaters have built a community (check them out at detroitrolling.com) around mastering this four-wheeled pasttime.

Photographer Michelle Gerard spent 18 months depicting the tricks, innovation and camaraderie of the city's skater gangs -- she's now raising money through Kickstarter to host a gallery show. Gerard says she wants to showcase the fact that, hey, rollerblading can actually be cool. By the looks of her images, she's onto something.

Click here to check out Gerard's blog, or contribute to her Kickstarter.

Rustwire: Do major foundations wield too much power over Woodward transit?

Rustwire.net Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Perhaps the biggest issue in bringing mass transit down Woodward Avenue is a disagreement over whether the trains should run down the middle or the sides. Proponents of rail stations along Woodward's sides see real estate profitability and retail options; while, as this video shows, running passenger transit down the center of M-1 is safer for commuters. Transit advocacy group Transport Michigan agrees -- as do we at Model D, incidentally.

The heads of major foundations, like Kresge Foundation's Rip Rapson, are also getting in the mix -- private donors like Kresge will pay for 20 percent of the light rail price tag. Below, the blog Rustbelt.net debates whether public policy decisions are the right place for private foundations.

Excerpt:

Investors like Rapson weren't elected by the people of Detroit. He came to Detroit a few years ago from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis. He lives in some fancy suburb outside Troy. But as the Wall Street Journal points out, private individuals like Mr. Rapson are wielding a lot of power in Detroit. They are threatening to dictate the terms of a project that will nonetheless be funded 4-1 by public money.

Read the editorial here.

Place blogger tightens focus on Corktown's Michigan Avenue

Economics of Place Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Economics of Place is the blog of Dan GiImartin, the executive director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League. He's also an urban thinker with an eye for the small, oft-unnoticed changes that can make "places" out of streets and buildings. Here's a great example: Gilmartin examines the width of roads in vibrant urban neighborhoods like Toronto's Queen Street West and Washington DC's Adams Morgan. His conclusion? At nine lanes wide, the sheer size of Michigan Avenue hampers Corktown's energy and possibility, creating, as he writes, "a faceless drive" for motorists to speed through.

Excerpt:

Similar neighborhoods in cities across the world are seeing communities reinvigorated because of these simple strategies. More of it needs to be done in places like Detroit and elsewhere. It makes an urban neighborhood cheaper to maintain, better for business and more fun to be around.

Read more here.

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