The Detroit City Futbol League has been a mainstay of amateur soccer in the city, and done so with a lot of Detroit flare. We revisit the league's inaugural year, 2010, with a video from the archives.
As a part of our "10 Years of Change" series, we revisit this piece from 2008 in which Terry Parris, Jr. reflects on his experience of going carless for a month in the Motor City. What he learned might surprise you.
Organizations like RecBoys, Mpowerment Detroit, KICK, LOCS, SPICE, and Ruth Ellis Center; and events like Hotter Than July, Fierce Hot Mess and Macho City are helping to change the social queerscape in Detroit. Terry Parris Jr. reports.
Which neighborhood will reign supreme in the inaugural Detroit City Futbol league championship, the Copa Detroit? We find out this Saturday, July 31, on Belle Isle. Find out more about the league in this week's Model D TV video. Vuvuzelas optional.
What does Youngstown look like on the ground? That's what you all want to know, right? Or, at the very least, you urban planners out there. Youngstown is very much like Detroit. Yet it's considerably smaller. The blight isn't noticeable in the heart of downtown, but drive five miles in any direction and you'll find it. There is a place, less than a mile from Youngstown State University, called Smoky Hallow. There are considerably more tires on an 18-wheeler than houses in this neighborhood. Go east and a little north to the Eastside of Youngstown and it's pretty much just infrastructure where houses should have been built, but never were. And, in most cases, were built but were burnt down. Go west and south and you'll end up in Youngstown Westside, where images of Livonia will flash across your eyes. Cross Mill Creek Park, going east again and you'll end up in Youngstown's Southside. The Southside, home of former middleweight boxing Champ Kelly Pavilk, is very much like Detroit's Eastside. It's vacant, blighted, poor, predominately black. Vacant city blocks are dotted with houses, half of which are blighted. North of that is downtown. Downtown is vibrant, a place for a drink, a show, a bite to eat. There isn't much living density, mostly banks and bars and restaurants, but it doesn't stop people from coming down and enjoying Youngstown's universal neighborhood. What this means is that Youngstown isn't just one blighted, empty community. Just like Detroit isn't just the Packard Plant or emptiness and blight. To give you the whole picture (quite literally) here's three insights into different parts of Youngstown.
Youngstown is like Detroit's Mini Me. The small, Ohio, former steel-belt city has seen disinvestment, a quickly shrinking population, vacancy and blight. Youngstown's leadership, however, has engaged the community and created a definitive plan to turn the city around. They are thinking big by acting small.
Shrinking Youngstown, Ohio, hasn't figured it all out, but they've got a smart, purposeful plan to make the city leaner, more nimble and ultimately stronger. The Youngstown 2010 plan has given the city tools to reinvent itself. Detroit could learn a thing or two.
"This is going to be awesome," Hamtramck economic development director Jason Friedmann tells writer Terry Parris Jr. during their 37 minutes in the city within the city. Read on to find out if he's talking about the master plan, new businesses, redevelopment projects, bike trails, or what lies ahead on the creepy stairwell they are walking up.
Robin Scovill lives in L.A. He's not a Detroiter, but when he started investing in the city, he got a little Detroit in his veins. He's now out to make profits, yes, but he wants to build a better Detroit while he's at it.
Laurent Diemunsch is not a fancy pants, big time real estate mogul. But the French airline employee had a few Euros to invest and saw potential in Detroit. "I can see what this city can become," he says.
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