One dream, many voices: the battle to redesign Detroit

The Christian Science Monitor made Detroit the subject of an exhaustive cover story on the struggle between the city's power players -- union heads, city officials, neighborhood leaders, and more -- to create a plan for right-sizing both the city's landscape and services it provides to citizens. This article digs beyond the cliches to provide a balanced look at the varied interests and stakeholders involved in Detroit's immediate plans for renewal, from the Mayor's office to the one-acre urban farm.

Excerpt:

Evidence of that small-town environment is the escalation of urban farms in Detroit that are repurposing empty lots. There are 875 urban farms and community gardens operating throughout the city, a network of which is providing affordable, pesticide-free food at neighborhood farmers' markets, restaurants and retail outlets, according to Detroit Works Project data. Green growth is everywhere – from small tomato plantings in a patch of a corner lot on a residential street to large orchard tracts planned by John Hantz, a local businessman who plans to build "the world's largest urban farm" in Detroit.Read the rest of the story here.