Downtown Detroit

Detroit Today talks with French filmmaker about his Detroit documentary

WDET's Detroit Today chats with French filmmaker Florent Tillon about his documentary "Detroit Wildlife."Excerpt:We'll also chat with French filmmaker Florent Tillon.  Last year he made the short documentary Detroit Wildlife, which focuses on how nature seems to be reclaiming the post-industrial world.  Now, he's back in Detroit working on a larger feature project on the abandonment- and community- of Detroit. Listen to the program here.

Eat Detroit: City’s first Restaurant Week coming in September

Detroit is a sports town and a music town and definitely a food town. From where the Coney dog started to pizza to Polish in Hamtramck, there are a lot of options here. So, why not celebrate them.Detroit Restaurant Week will take place in September. It'll be a ten-day event where participating restaurants will offer a minimum three-course meal for $27.Get more information here.

Community Groups Fight the Mortgage Crisis on the Home Front

With crisis comes change, and in Detroit, community development corporations are changing how they do business. In some areas, the neighborhood organizations' missions have shifted more toward what they need most right now: protecting their neighborhoods by fighting off foreclosures and filling vacancies.

Brave New Voices: Passing the Mic to a New Generation of Detroit Slam Poets

Brave New Voices gives talented Detroit teens a stage, a mike and an opportunity to find their voices and become part of the city's slam poet scene.

$7.1M in stimulus funds directed to wharf at new Port Terminal

Detroit has become a favorite test site for urban revival

Detroit has become a point of interest for not only urban decay but also urban revival.Excerpt:Studying Detroit and its problems appears to be a growth industry.This spring and summer, the British Broadcasting Corp. and the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service were filming documentaries about the plight of Detroit and the city's hopes for a revival. A gaggle of other documentarians and journalists were doing the same.Local experts say Detroit has achieved something unique. It has become the test case for all sorts of theories on urban decay and all sorts of promising ideas about reviving shrinking cities."It's unbelievable," said Sue Mosey, president of the University Cultural Center Association, who has been interviewed recently by two separate PBS crews and an Austrian journalist writing about Detroit."All of us have been inundated with all of these people who somehow think that because we're so bottomed out and so weak-market, that this is this incredible opportunity," Mosey said.Read the entire article here.

Could pay-as-you-ride bikes work in Detroit?

Bike sharing systems in Detroit? Nope, not yet. But, hey... you never know. We're getting more and more bike friendly each year. Well, maybe not friendly, but there are definitely more cyclists out there than five years ago.Excerpt:An important element of sustainability is environmentally conscious forms of transportation, like rail, of which Portland has been a great advocate. Now, the city hopes to further encourage another popular green form of transportation: bicycling. Portland is without a doubt seen as a bike-friendly city and was awarded the platinum-level award as a bicycle-friendly community – the first large U.S. city to be recognized as such—by the League of American Bicyclists. The city is researching a bike rental system that, if carried through, could make it even easier to travel and commute around the city. Portland transportation officials are currently studying other systems in place around the world to see if bike sharing would be a worthwhile project to pursue in Portland. Washington D.C. currently has the only bike-sharing system in the United States and other cities like Denver, San Francisco, and Chicago are also interested in rolling out their own.Read the entire article here.

Rosa Parks Transit Center could be spark for more improvements

The Rosa Parks Transit center may bring about more improvements to downtown and Detroit's transit world.Excerpt:With Michigan’s largest intermodal transit center now in place, the Detroit Department of Transportation and Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation should finally finish work on establishing a joint information line and printing joint schedules and route maps for major lines like Woodward, Gratiot, Jefferson, Michigan, Grand River, Fort and Van Dyke. Other changes that should have happened long ago include transfer passes between buses and the People Mover, and joint purchasing by SMART and DDOT of fuel and other products.Local and state shotcallers, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Mayor Dave Bing, dedicated the $22.5-million center this morning at Michigan and Cass, including 15 bus bays for city routes and space for connections with the suburban bus system, Transit Windsor Tunnel buses and a taxi stand. It’s a sleek, fresh-looking structure, encased by aluminum-framed windows with restrooms, a cashier station for bus fares and information, security booths, 24-hour video surveillance and a transit police office. Outside, under swooping canopies, riders will sit on benches and read arrival times on electronic signs. Unlike many structures in downtown Detroit, this one is open and inviting.Read the entire article here.

Check out these short videos by the City Council and Charter Commission candidates

The key to a healthy Detroit is strong leadership and that starts with smart voters. Check out the videos and educate yourselves on who's running for City Council and Charter Commision. Read the entire article here.