Downtown Detroit

Model D TV: Rosa Parks Transit Center

Oooh, look at all the pretty tensile structures. The stunning Rosa Parks Transit Center is the subject of this week's Model D TV. Producer/director Tom Hendrickson talks with one of the project's architects about the look and function of the new transit hub.

Back to the City: Stylista Piper Carter Sees a Fresh Detroit

Internationally known fashion photog Piper Carter has traveled the world with her camera for almost two decades. Family brought her back to Detroit, but once here she's discovered a city far cooler than she expected.

Rosa Parks Transit Center featured in architecture blog

OK, the post is a bit architect nerdy but there are some interesting photos of the Rosa Parks Transit Center, some good information about it, and the comments are predominately positives.Excerpt:FTL developed a design approach that uses flowing canopies to create an active visual space and naturally day light space which challenges the conventional notion of roof where the membrane both hovers 50 ft in space, and in other areas brought to ground and to act as a giant water collector. To create rhythm, the proposed scheme was broken down into seven repetitive bays, each approximately 110' long and 50 ft wide. Each bay is comprised of two trusses, an A frame and fabric which is pulled down, transforming the roof into a wall and encompassing a courtyard.Read the entire post here. And don't forget to check out the comments.

Could Detroit’s future hold more bikes, trains and farms?

Mother Nature Network made Detroit its destination of the week. As it says in the piece, Detroit hasn't yet cracked the top ten lists of green cities in the nation... but if you look closely, Detroit might have the most potential out of any of them. They only thing is we have to do is nurture it and let it grow.Excerpt:Committed to socially and environmentally responsible business practices, strengthening local community, and, above all, making incredibly delicious breads, muffins and other baked goods, the Avalon International Bakery has emerged as a beacon of deliciousness in downtown Detroit. The bakery opened in 1997 in Cass Corridor, which at the time was notorious as Detroit's skid row. These days, the restaurant is a neighborhood fixture, serving more than 500 customers daily.   Avalon is joined by the neighboring Cass Corridor microbrewery, Motor City Brew Works, as well as other sustainable restaurants and food organizations, including the Golden Gate Cafe and Slow Food Detroit.   Local and organic produce seekers can head to the Wayne State or Clarkston farmers' markets, or make a pilgrimage to the famous Detroit Eastern Market, the largest historic public market district in the United States. Founded in 1891, the market hosts 150 farmers and vendors from Michigan, Ohio and Canada. Shoppers can find everything from fruits and vegetables to cider, cheeses and baked goods.Read the entire article here.

DSE @ Grand celebrates one-year anniversary with renovation and expansion of product mix

Council by Districts passes first test, delivers 10,000 more signatures than required

The Council by Districts movement is likely to get a vote in the November election. Though the signatures required still need to be verified, the group turned in nearly 10,000 more than required.Excerpt:A movement to have a Detroit City Council elected by district, instead of the current at-large configuration, appears to be headed for the November general election ballot.Detroiters for Council by Districts delivered boxes containing more than 38,000 voter signatures to the Detroit City Clerk's Office on Tuesday afternoon.With only 29,000 signatures required to place the proposal on the ballot, Mildred Madison, president of the League of Woman Voters Detroit, said the number of signatures collected shows "that the people want representation in their areas."Read the entire article here.Short post about how Detroit is moving toward districts similar to the Boston system in a Boston Blog here.

Recycling, urban farming ideas for Detroit to close its ‘green gap’

Detroit City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. has been leading efforts to close Detroit's "green gap" by putting forth an agenda through the council's Green Task Force, which he leads. Within that agenda are plans for recycling and urban farming.Excerpt:Rick Bowers Jr., who heads up Cockrel's sustainability office, said a green agenda has huge potential. “If it were in the mayor's office, this green agenda could be pushed along more quickly, but it can be just as effective from the City Council standpoint,” Bowers said. “The ultimate future will be determined by whoever is mayor and whether they will adopt it. The value of it is not only helping the environment, but helping the image of the city that is in need of repair and rejuvenation.” Donele Wilkins, executive director of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group, said a reputation for green investment can be part of a better city. “A greener, cleaner city can bring us out of the ashes and make us a national model,” she said.Read the entire article here.

Arts and politics mag Guernica goes in depth on Detroit’s urban farming movement

Guernica finds Detroit chock full of visionaries and urban farming.Excerpt:There are more visionaries in Detroit than in most Rust-Belt cities, and thus more visions of a community rising from the ashes of a moribund industry to become, if not an urban paradise, something close to it. The most intriguing visionaries in Detroit, at least the ones who drew me to the city, were those who imagine growing food among the ruins—chard and tomatoes on vacant lots (there are over 103,000 in the city, sixty thousand owned by the city), orchards on former school grounds, mushrooms in open basements, fish in abandoned factories, hydroponics in bankrupt department stores, livestock grazing on former golf courses, high-rise farms in old hotels, vermiculture, permaculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, waving wheat where cars were once test-driven, and winter greens sprouting inside the frames of single-story bungalows stripped of their skin and re-sided with Plexiglas—a homemade greenhouse. Those are just a few of the agricultural technologies envisioned for the urban prairie Detroit has become.Read the entire article here.

Jeff Wattrick: Don’t Demo Detroit’s Future

Jeff T. Wattrick, the former project manager of The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy, says the long-term cost is too high when the city chooses demolition over preservation. The city needs to take the long tail view and has bigger fish to fry in the short-term, he says.