Buzz

National Bike to Work day gathering at BCBS

Blue Cross Blue Shield Tuesday, May 14, 2013

On Friday May 17, celebrate national Bike to Work Day in downtown Detroit by riding to a gathering of likeminded cyclists. Food and limited giveaways will be available.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will host a morning reception 7 - 9 a.m. in the outdoor courtyard of its downtown Detroit Tower headquarters.

Though registration is not required to ride, BCBS would like to know if you're coming. Go here to sign up.

Feds give final approval to 3.3-mile M-1 rail

M-1 Rail Tuesday, April 23, 2013

On Monday, the 3.3-mile circulating streetcar along Woodward Avenue received clearance to proceed from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Also, M-1 Rail President and CEO Matthew P. Cullen welcomed eight new members to the nonprofit’s board of directors and introduced Jeni Norman as Chief Financial Officer.

The FTA has completed the environmental clearance for the Woodward Avenue Streetcar Project. With the issuance of the Amended Record of Decision (ROD), the project is allowed to move forward to the next phases of design, right of way acquisition and construction. This is the last approval step under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

Now that the process for approval of the Amended ROD has been completed, the M-1 Rail organization continues to strengthen its team with the hiring of a chief financial officer and by electing eight new members to its board of directors. These announcements come about two weeks after hiring a chief administrative officer and director of governmental & community affairs.

Gilbert thinking retail ahead of M-1 dig

Detroit News Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Our favorite extravagant but hardly reckless spender Dan Gilbert is ahead of the pack again, hinting that once the M-1 is fully developed (by 2016) more Woodward corridor retail will be waiting for it.

Excerpt from the Detroit News:

And Gilbert, one of downtown's major employers and private land owners, said his group has "definitely gotten commitments" from retailers who will be ready for business when the M-1 debuts.

"That's the goal as we work behind the scene, versus just taking a rough shot of opening one (retail store) at a time here and there," Gilbert said. He would not specify which retailers have made commitments.

Since August 2010, Gilbert's portfolio of companies has moved 7,000 workers downtown.

Rock Ventures owns 15 properties and is working on buying its 16th at 1001 Woodward, across the street from Campus Martius and Quicken Loans' headquarters in the Compuware Building.

For more, go here.

'Hands on' Model D partner Mode Shift gets Freep's attention

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, November 27, 2012

In a recent story on the impact of foundations on local economics and culture, a number of Model D's partners were mentioned, including Knight and the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, both of whom lend support to the Mode Shift Move Together blog.

An excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

The most recent example is Mode Shift, an effort funded by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Knight Foundation to promote healthy lifestyles by getting people more active -- bicycling, walking and more.

The Community Foundation this year launched a new website called Wearemodeshift.org, an interactive portal that gradually will offer trail maps for bikers, information about bike-friendly retailers, and a debate forum on all manner of topics related to outdoor activity.

Read more here.

Mode Shift says 'hooray' for walkable neighborhoods

Mode Shift Move Together Tuesday, October 30, 2012

From our friends at Mode Shift Move Together, a list of the four new and permanent retail spaces being developed in West Village this spring:

Craft Work, a restaurant and bar formed by a partnership between Michael Geiger and Hugh Yarro, the restaurateur involved in Ronan Sushi in Royal Oak and Commonwealth Café in Birmingham;
Detroit Vegan Soul, a healthy soul food restaurant, catering service, and meal-delivery operation -- and Hatch 2012 semi-finalist -- owned by Kirsten Ussery and Erica Boyd;
The Red Hook, a coffee and baked goods shop;
Tarot & Tea, a tea room, bulk tea purveyor, and retail goods shop that is the brain child of Nefertiti Harris, a successful Midtown business owner.

Sounds great. Read more here.

HuffPost Detroit: 'Shack' becomes Woodbridge cycling center

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Last week's feature on Detroit's emerging bicycle economy was only the tip of the iceberg. There's a ton of non-motorized activity in town, and HuffPost Detroit is doing a fab job of reporting it. Like this one. An excerpt:

Jason Hall, Mike MacKool and Mike Sheppard are the three young men behind the building's reinvention. The trio runs an annual bike expo called Detroit Bike City, which drew 1,500 people to Cobo Hall this past March. They're also members of Bikes & Murder, a local bicycle club that sponsors a popular weekly bike ride, dubbed "Slow Rolls to Slow Jams," at the Woodbridge Pub, located across the street from the space.

Read on here.

Detroit Bus Co., other DIY startups get love from Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Yup, we check through the virtual editions of Popular Mechanics now and then, looking for Detroit content. And here it is! A nice piece on DIY startups, our speciality.

An Excerpt: In 2012, that prevailing philosophy led Inc. magazine to dub Detroit Startup City. It earned the name because of the proliferation of small-business incubators. Among these was TechShop, a national network of member-based workshops. It was another iteration of a model created by TechTown at Detroit's Wayne State University in 2003.

Read more here.

WSU takes lead on bike sharing study

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, September 25, 2012

This is the kind of phrase, from the HuffPost Detroit, we consider music to our ears: A coalition of local business and nonprofit groups is now pursuing a study to see if this type of program, which already exists in places like Denver and Minneapolis, has a future in Motown. Wayne State University and other heavyweight institution and funders are involved in talks to get it done.

Read all about it here.

Canadian investor creates bicycle manufacturing center

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, July 17, 2012

There are a lot of bikes out there, but how many are "Made in Detroit?" Not many, probably. Not yet, anyway.

But here they come, thanks to Zak Pashak, who moved down here to cycling utopia from Western Canada to open a bicycle manufacturing center.

An excerpt from HuffPost Detroit:

His target customers are people who aren't hardcore cyclists but are still interested in bikes.The model he plans on producing in Detroit will be a lightweight steel three-speed with a tire that's thicker than those used for racing bikes. The bike will come in one color -- black-- and sell for a little under $500.

Black, yes. We'll take (at least) one. See the rest of the story here.

Transcontinental interplanetary neighborhood bicycle dude

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, July 10, 2012

When a guy named Mars hit town, suddenly things got down to earth in the Detroit neighborhood just east of Palmer Park. That's where he fixes up and gives away bikes to kids in the community. We read all about it in HuffPost Detroit.

An excerpt:

"I owned my own business. I was making plenty of money. I had all my needs met," he told The Huffington Post.

However, that way of living didn't feel right to (Mars) Symons. He learned of an intentional community movement in Detroit called Fireweed Universe City, after meeting a psychedelic trance DJ who had become involved with the group. Symons decided to bike to the Motor City to check it out.

Read the rest of the story here.

Local transit visionary shares wish list

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Late last year, Neil Greenberg wrote this nifty piece for us on how he envisions rapid transit in this city and region. Now another gem, this time in HuffPost Detroit.

An excerpt:

Great transit won't happen because a cadre of powerful people say so. While high-profile support is essential, making transit work is ultimately an act of the people. Commuters. Taxpayers. Hoi polloi who couldn't hope to access smoke-filled rooms where high-stakes conversations about transit are currently taking place.

Read more here.

Detroit, bike city: HuffPost's cycling series shifts into extra gear

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, May 01, 2012

In case you're missing HuffPost Detroit's ongoing series on cycling culture in Detroit, no doubt because you're out riding in the city, don't give it a second thought. There is a lot to dig into and get inspired about.

Like his story about Sarah Sidelko, who founded a bicycle program called Fender Bender, for women and the LGBTQ community.

An excerpt: She's now in the first stages of creating a bicycle lending library for Detroit, fixing up donated, used bikes one at a time. She has 14 finished, with a plan to have 10 to 15 more restored by June for a first, trial fleet.

Check out all of the stories here.

Game on: Investors say they will fund M-1 for 10 years

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, April 24, 2012

We had a feeling that the scaled-down light rail project -- to stretch 3.4 miles from riverfront to New Center -- had too much momentum to be de-railed for long. It's certainly no done deal yet, but the fact that the private-sector group behind the Woodward Corridor line says it will pay for a decade's worth of operating costs portends well.

The story is breaking all over town at press time. We like this one by Kate Abbey-Lambertz of HuffPost Detroit.

Bike to Comerica on Earth Day, get reduced-price ticket to see Tigers

Detroit Tigers Tuesday, April 17, 2012

It warms our hearts to see the Detroit Tigers getting in the spirit of Earth Day and sustainability by offering a special ticket package for bike riding fans interested in coming to the game on Sunday, April 22.

The Tigers are playing the Texas Rangers. Good opponent. Get all details here.

Bicycle culture blooms and booms in post-motorized city

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Any and all stories about walking and biking get out attention -- especially if they are in the same headline, like this piece by David Sands in HuffPost Detroit.

Not to mention a key sentence like this: A 2012 report by the Alliance for Biking & Walking found the number of bicycle commuters in Detroit rose 258 percent over the last two decades. Yeah, man. Those are the kind of numbers we like to see.

Read more here.

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