Downtown Detroit

Garage rock ‘Godfather’ Jim Diamond talks Detroit, music, White Stripes

Considered the Garage Rock Godfather, Jim Diamond sits down for a Q & A with a Phoenix writer and talks Detroit music.Excerpt:UP: I'm pretty sure you're going to scoff at this question too, but I've always thought there's a certain energy in Detroit that produces great music of every type, and successful music . . . There are so many cities the size of Detroit -- I mean, you look at a city like Phoenix, it's a lot larger than Detroit -- that never put out that many successful acts.JD: Yeah, that's true. I always think it's, like, Detroit is really easy to live there, and it's kind of like there aren't a whole lot of rules and the rent isn't expensive, so people have time to screw around and play music, and it's pretty easy. And I've said this before a million times: People there always have a really good knowledge about musical history, for whatever reason. Like there are a lot of really big music fans. And no one's really concerned about making it there. I guess they have this really downtrodden spirit like, "Fuck this. We're not going to make it; let's make music." So once they get back and think they're not going to make it, that's when they probably make better music.Read the entire article here.

Selling Homes in Detroit: It’s About More Than Just the Benjamins

Are out-of-state speculators the only people buying and dilapidated homes the only thing selling in Detroit? Are Detroit real estate agents' fortunes all but lost? Nope.

Traveler/blogger spends the day in Campus Martius

A travel blogger spends the day in Campus Martius and posts an in depth piece on the public square.Excerpt:As the City didn't have the financial resources, this was the only way Campus Martius could be built and maintained. The model drawn on was New York City's Bryant Park, also redeveloped and maintained by a private non-profit corporation. Twenty million dollars was raised from Detroit corporations and private foundations. The result, an attractive, well-used, open space (opened in 2004, and expanded in 2007), managed by the Detroit 300 Conservancy.It's an interesting question whether one of the key downtown open spaces for a wide range of events should be developed and managed by a private entity, even if it's a non-profit with the best interests of the city at its heart. But that's the reality of 21st century America, at least in fiscally-strapped cities, where the only money available to invest comes from the private corporations (motivated by civic values, a desire to preserve the value of their own corporate assets, or perhaps some combination of the two).Read the entire post here.

The bottom-up process is the key to renewal, revival, Richard Florida says

Richard Florida is that creative class guy. Some agree with him, some don't. Wherever you fall on Florida, he does make some good points in his piece in the Atlantic that Detroit should pay attention to.Excerpt:The most successful shrinking strategies, like Pittsburgh's, are not top-down affairs driven by all-knowing governments, but organic, bottom-up, community-based efforts. While Pittsburgh government and business leadership pressed for large-scale urban renewal - stadium-building, convention centers, and more far-fetched schemes for local mag-lev trains - its real  turnaround was driven by organic, bottom-up initiatives. Community groups, local foundations, and non-profits - not city hall or business-led economic development groups -  were the driving forces behind neighborhood stabilization and redevelopment, university-based economic development, water-front revitalization, park improvements, and green building among others.  This kind of bottom-up process takes considerable time and perseverance. In Pittsburgh's case, it took the better part of a generation to achieve stability and the potential for longer-term revival. All of which brings us back to a big question: What about people versus place strategies? I agree with Glaeser: people must be the priority. Especially in tough economic times, public investment should flow toward people. Early childhood investments, as James Heckman has shown, are the most important, longest-running and highest-paying investments we make.Read the entire article here.

Movement drew record crowds

Movement packed downtown again, this time with record levels.Excerpt:Concert organizers Paxahau announced today that Movement 2009, the Detroit electronic music festival, brought 83,332 people to Hart Plaza during the three-day Memorial Day Weekend.“Movement 2009 was an overwhelming success on so many levels,” said festival producer Jason Huvaere. “People loved the lineup of performances we were able to put together this year. Our sponsors and vendors really stepped up this year despite the tough economy. The recycling program surpassed last year’s totals for collected items. And we had great weather the entire weekend, which definitely contributed to the record breaking turnout.”Read the entire article here.

Ex-TV anchor becomes Detroit’s 1st openly gay council candidate

Former TV-anchor Charles Pugh is the first openly gay candidate to run for city council. Excerpt:"I think there will be people who grumble about it and some people who may stray away from voting for me because of that, but I think Detroiters already know me. I believe Detroiters are open-minded, hardworking people who really do accept people who are different."I'm focused on bringing a level of class and dignity and respect for the job that Detroiters want." Read the entire article here.

‘Home Is More Than Our House’: WDET’s coverage of facing Detroit’s mortgage crisis

WDET and Model D have partnered to focus on Detroit's foreclosure crisis and different ways people and neighborhoods are dealing with the issue. This week WDET reporter Zak Rosen will produce a piece on the citizens on the North End of Detroit are teaming up with the Greening of Detroit to reclaim 134 abandoned lots. Look for his work on the WDET "Home is more than a house" blog here. Next week Model D will take a look at how realtors are selling homes in Detroit to Detroiters.

NYT blogger: They came to work in the Promised Land of Detroit

A Detroit community activist leader remembers Detroit, contemplates its future.Excerpt:My theory about the Detroit gene pool is this: Everywhere in the country and in the world, people left their beloved homelands to try their luck in this cold, faraway place where all you had to do was be willing to work. Whether one came from the segregated South, post-revolutionary Mexico, Europe, Kentucky or the Virginia mines, everyone who came here was ready to work. And there was plenty of work to go around.This was an amazing place, a Promised Land, where with nothing but hard work — not political connections, not silver-spoon wealth — one could buy a house, a car, even two, raise a family and take vacations. Anyone could earn an honest day’s pay. The union contract protected every worker from the tyranny of nepotism, favoritism, racism, sexism, and every other evil -ism that has ravaged society since the beginning of time. Of course it was not perfect, but it was a lot better than it would have been without the Battle of the Overpass, the Flint Sit Down, the Ford Hunger March, and countless other battles our parents and grandparents told us as bedtime stories.Read the entire article here.

Clean Downtown, 2-1-1 On the Go get $1.69M grant