Old doesn't mean it can't be green. Many notable buildings and historic rehab projects are taking old spaces and putting in innovative, sustainable systems in them -- from City Hall to the Green Garage.
Old and green is what the The Peace Tree Group does. The development and real estate company makes affordable, energy efficient housing a possibility for many Detroiters.
Detroit is and has long been a pizza town -- nobody does Sicilian style like we do. Ah, but now there's a new crop of gourmet pizza places in the city, challenging and surprising our tastebuds. We brave this new world, for you. Tough job, we know.
GM's presence at the RenCen has been felt throughout the city, and even though the ailing company is ailing, it's not expected to leave Detroit.Excerpt:What visible progress Detroit has made this decade -- and there has been some -- has been largely because of GM's presence in the RenCen.GM was a key driver in a massive makeover of the Detroit riverfront. The company also brought its OnStar unit and 1,500 employees of Electronic Data Systems into the RenCen.Read the entire article here.
The Detroit public schools need some help and this new initiative to shrink classes may be the answer for some schools.Excerpt:"It's an opportunity for the secretary to meet with students at a school that is in the process of being transformed from a classic large comprehensive setting into one which follows proven principles aimed at ensuring student success in small schools with specific focuses," said district spokesman Steve Wasko. Kristen McDonald, senior program officer for education at the Skillman Foundation, said the model being used in Detroit is different from other schools' initiatives that attempt to create smaller learning communities within big buildings. Read the entire article here.
The Infrastructurist, a web site about rebuilding America's infrastructure, picks up on the ribbon cutting of the Dequindre Cut.Excerpt:In Motor City, land of disused structures, an overgrown old rail line has been excavated and turned into a spanking new bike thoroughfare. While, technically, it is more a “greenway” than a “freeway,” there are entrance and exit ramps and multiple lanes separated by yellow lines. (Perhaps to make disused auto executives feel comfortable riding on it, now that they have plenty of free time to explore their community?) The ribbon cutting ceremony, which took place yesterday, fell conveniently into National Bike Week. Though in recent weeks the path had already been seeing some action from pedestrians, stroller-pushing parents and, um, “graffiti artists” according to the Detroit Free Press. So the great battle of use vs. abuse is now underway.Read the entire article here.A cute excerpt from a Chicago Tribune article offering the phonetic spelling of Dequindre:The $3.25 million Dequindre (duh-QUIN'-der) Cut Greenway officially opened Thursday after two years of construction. Read the entire article here.
The basketballing businessman Dave Bing beats the incumbent policy man Ken Cockrel Jr. Bing will only serve seven months until the next election in May (in which he will seek re-election) and Cockrel goes back to being Detroit city council president, relieving Monica Conyers of her duties, although he could run again in May. Follow all of that?Excerpt:"In the 42 years that I've been here, I still dream. I dream that this city can be what it was before I even got here." He added: "If you've got the right values system, regardless of how poor you are or what kind of background you come from, you can succeed. That's what I want to make the people here understand." Read the entire article here.
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