Proposal lays out Detroit’s transit future

A proposal aims to put all the pieces of the city's transit puzzle together.Excerpt:Initially, hybrid bus routes would be established along the major roads, including connecting downtown Detroit with Detroit Metropolitan Airport via Michigan Avenue, with M-59 via Gratiot, and with Pontiac via Woodward. The plan also proposes to immediately increase the frequency among existing bus lines and improve the roadway. The transit plan would then connect proposals already in the works, including the $371 million, 8-mile-long Woodward Avenue Light Rail Transit already approved by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, with an estimated construction date of 2011. A separate privately funded-plan along a 3.4-mile stretch of Woodward in downtown Detroit is making headway under Hertel's leadership, with likely backing from major business leaders such as Mike Ilitch and Peter Karmanos. A commuter line over track used by Amtrak would connect Ann Arbor with Detroit's New Center, with a potential trial run beginning in 2010. Read the entire article here.

Detroit ranked 31st most sustainable city in America

Sustain Lane, a web site about sustainable living, ranked Detroit 31st most sustainable city in the U.S. out of 50. Detroit has some way to go, yes, but it was noted for being on the upward trend of being a sustainable city and is expected to climb in the coming years.Excerpt:America’s “Motor City” is bearing down on the sustainability throttle: the city’s green engine is heating up and has propelled it up twelve spots in SustainLane’s 2008 rankings. What’s fueling Detroit’s upswing? First and foremost, adaptive reuse of land abandoned from decades of suburban flight. Detroit boasts a thriving community garden network growing on vacant land across the city.Read the ranking profile here.

Detroit designer Katerina Bocci takes her collection to NYC’s Fashion Week

Detroit designer Katerina Bocci was invited back out to NYC's Couture Fashion Week after last year's showing. With her, she not only took her outfits and ideas, but Detroit as well.Excerpt:Bocci came to Couture Fashion Week last year and was invited back. She agreed, but with a caveat: "I'm bringing Detroit with me." They balked — most designers use local talent — but Albanian-born Bocci quelled fears by replying, "I will promise you a beautiful show."Why bring Detroiters when it'd be so much cheaper and easier to hire them in New York?"I like my energy following me," Bocci says. "I believe in supporting businesses around town. I want to promote Detroit. This is where we pay taxes, our mortgages — I want to tell New York that fashion is from all over the world."Read the entire article here.

Transit bill’s passage could bring billions in investment, thousands of jobs to area

The bill, House Bill 6114, would create a tax incentive that would promote "transit-oriented development" around light rapid transit stations. Of course Detroit doesn't have those yet, but the city isn't that far off. So, local business and community leaders are urging Michigan legislature to pass this now to get ahead of the game and developments going.Excerpt:Dallas, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Charlotte, N.C., are among the major U. S. cities that, in recent years, have created thousands of jobs and attracted billions of dollars in new developments and redevelopments by building and expanding light rail systems. The transit systems are credited with sparking the construction of new apartments and condominium units, restaurants, office buildings, retail stores, cafes, movie theaters, centers for the arts, and much more. Development around transit stations and systems is called ” transit-oriented development.” Specifically, House Bill 6114 would create geographic “transit revitalization investment zones” around rapid transit stations. As commercial and residential development occurs in the zones, the resulting growth in property tax revenues would be used to fund the operation, maintenance or infrastructure of the transit station and related facilities.Get more information here.

Motown vs. Detroit Rock City, Digital City debates

Digital City, an AOL affiliated pop culture Web site, looks at the past and present of both Motown and Detroit's rock scene and decides which musical moniker is most apt. One question, though: Why can't it be both?Excerpt:Detroit has an incredibly rich musical history. But all that music gave Detroit two distinct identities: Motown & Detroit Rock City. During the 60's and 70's Berry Gordy's Motown Records opened up in the Motor City and made it the worldwide capital of R&B and soul music. Over the years, Detroit has also given birth to several rock and roll legends. So which sound defines the Motor City today? We took a look at the past and present of Detroit's music scene to figure out if it's really a Rock City or if it's forever linked to the Motown sound.Read the entire article here.

Movie about Detroiter who fought a corporation getting nods

You can thank the late Dr. Robert Kearns, a former Wayne State University engineering professor, for your intermittent windshield wipers. Of course, no one really knows that. But the new film "Flash of Genius" looks to refresh everyone's memory. The movie follows Kearns, played by Greg Kinnear, and his battle with the Ford Motor Company over the patent rights of his invention. The film, though shot in Toronto, is completely based in Detroit (despite Kearns' move to Maryland in 1971).Excerpt:Working in the basement of his Detroit home near 8 Mile Road and Greenfield, he came up with a prototype and demonstrated it for Ford Motor Co. engineers in a parking lot in 1963. Kearns was initially cautious, but granted them a closer look when they agreed to go into business with him.Kearns envisioned a family-run operation in which he would manufacture the wipers used in Ford cars. When Ford suddenly pulled out of the deal, he was stymied. Later, he discovered that Ford and also Chrysler were introducing Kearns-style intermittent systems on their models beginning in 1969.Kearns began suing for patent infringement in 1978, first against Ford and later Chrysler. His first trial wasn't granted until 1990. By the final trial in 1995, he had received nearly $30 million in compensation, though still with no admission that the auto companies had willfully stolen his invention.Read the entire article here.

‘Today Show’ broadcasts from Campus Martius; MLK high school band plays

NBC's "Today Show" broadcasted live from Campus Martius Thursday morning. The show came out as part of its four city "Battleground State" tour, which had already made stops in Philly, Tampa, and Williamsburg, Va. Co-host Ann Curry said the Detroit crowd was by far the largest out of the four cities.Excerpt:Weatherman Al Roker wandered around, introducing the Martin Luther King High School marching band doing, appropriately, the Temptations' Smokey Robinson-written hit "Get Ready." Roker also judged a coney dog contest between American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island, and fell in love with the ham sandwiches from Lile's Sandwich Shop in Dearborn. "What's not to like about downtown Detroit?" Roker said, sweeping his arm around the park as the morning sun peeked through Detroit's skyscrapers. "It's clean, it's bright, you've got flames!" He waved over at the park's two towers with flame-lit torches. Read the entire article here.

‘Change is what Michigan has to be about,’ MEDC chief says

Change is the key word in this historic election year. And change is all around us. From shifting industries here in Detroit, to forging a new economy in the region, to new mayors and presidents and energies - change is everywhere. Michigan needs to adopt this attitude of change, too, if it wants to grow and shed its old skin, says MEDC Chief James Epolito.Excerpt:"We definitely have to change the way we think about ourselves," James Epolito, CEO and president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., told an audience who had gathered in Warren to attend the Michigan Economic Solutions Summit. "Change is what Michigan has to be about."When it comes to regaining confidence, Epolito lauded the state's film industry incentives, which are expected to lead to the production of 67 movies in Michigan this year."It's bringing a lot of pride back," he said. "Our biggest problem is that people just don't know us.Read the entire article here.

Model D TV: Woodbridge Pub starts pouring, bringing neighbors together