Downtown Detroit

Tweet of the Week: What’s a ‘hot dog burger van’? And congrats to the ’09s

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June 9, 2009

The word on the Tweet (ha ha ha) was and continues to be Tiger Stadium. It's staying up, it's coming down, some kids think it needs to stay, some kids want to bring it down. Regardless of your position, it's going to be sad to see a giant vacant lot on "The Corner." But, let's not dwell too much. For crying out loud we have to find a Tweet of the Week... So, wading through the Stanley Cup smack talk, more GM news, and, like I said above, Tiger Stadium talk, here are a few runners-up that piqued my interest. @TheMsKellyJo: Fun fact: in 1980 the city of Detroit presented suddam [sic] Hussein a key to the city It's true... here's a Detnews article. I guess we all make mistakes, right? @pstenser: Just landed in Detroit, does the weather take cues from the economy here? No, @pstenser, the weather doesn't. That's scientifically impossible. Just ask Chuck Gaidica. He knows. @WendyLAnderson: Detroit sports make me really proud of this city! Right on, Wendy. Keep rooting for the home team. @EatingDetroit: There is a lot to love in our great city #Detroit. Add family & friends to some affectionately prepared food = *good life* It's true. And it's good to be reminded that we have a lot to be thankful for here -- especially if you're lucky enough to have loved ones nearby. @colutd1937: detroit only has a hot dog burger van Really? ONLY a hot dog burger van? Where exactly IS this van? And what is a "hot dog burger?" Is this where EatingDetroit gets that affectionately -- prepared food? @appstory: #Detroit: Delighted by new Eastern Market Community Garden next to our building. Kudos to Eastern Market Corporation and landlord Bob Heide. Kudos to ALL our community gardeners in town (and we like the one appstory's talking about next to the FD Lofts). Thanks for keeping Detroit green and growing. Congrats to these runners-up, but the winner is this little ditty: @LoveLaTia: wishes I was in Detroit to see my '09s graduate from Cass today! That's really sweet, LaTia. We wish you were here too. After all, we should all be congratulating Detroit's '09 graduates. They deserve some serious respect for their hard work and recognition as the future movers and shakers of the city. Keep up the good work, graduates. Tweets compiled by Model D intern Rachel Harkai.

FilterD’s own Walter Wasacz gives XLR8R his two cents on Movement

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June 2, 2009

The city was abuzz with life according to FilterD Editor Walter Wasacz. He reviews the 2009 Detroit Electronic Music Festival for XLR8R -- a music, culture, and technology mag.Excerpt:While Adam Beyer slashed, crashed, and burned it up on the Beatport Stage, Steve Bug, François K, and Carl Cox upped the ante on the nearby Vitamin Water Main Stage with even louder, but more varied programs that included rhythms broken and beautifully beaten, disco basslines, and cheeky references to pop and jazz. At the same time, Detroit titan of dub tech-house fusicology, Mike Huckaby, rocked slow and easy on the Made in Detroit stage, situated in an underground cavern beneath the riverfront's Hart Plaza, where all official action was. On top of it all, a cluster of after-parties kept the weekend rolling virtually non-stop, for five days (beginning with the Prodigy at Friday's official pre-party, though topped by a sold-out Sunday post-midnight river cruise featuring Luciano, Loco Dice, Carl Craig, and Stacey Pullen). Choices, so many choices. Wherever you stumbled, it seemed, a party was ready to bust out underfoot.Read the entire article here.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh Redux: Feathers Fly On and Off the Ice

By Terry Parris Jr. and Elaine Labalme

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General

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June 2, 2009

Well, here we are again. Wings vs. Penguins for the Stanley Cup. Time to check in with our friends -- or, in these times, frenemies -- at Pop City in Pittsburgh and see if they've got anything to cheer about. (Probably not the scores of games 1 and 2. Ha ha.)

Detroit’s economic hardships have been community motivators

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June 2, 2009

The USA Today does an in depth piece on Detroit and how the negatives of the city are being used as positives for change. Excerpt:"It's never going to be the same city that it was, but maybe it will be a better city," says Mary McDougall, a Detroit native and executive director of Operation Able, a group that trains older displaced workers. The city's believers say Detroit has resilient residents who will work hard and make changes to help it rebound. "Detroit isn't dying," says Harold Schwartz, 60, who was laid off by an auto-parts supplier. "Too many people love the city to let that happen." Officials and activists see the collapse as an opportunity to remake the city and shift its manufacturing workforce from cars to emerging industries. "We've always dealt with adversity," says Olga Stella, vice president for business development at Detroit Economic Growth.Read the entire article here.

These Detroiters Will Stay If …

By Chris McCarus, Marvin Shaouni and Clare Pfeiffer Ramsey

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June 2, 2009

Why do you stay? What will keep you here? When GLUE asked the question and threw a party in Midtown, Detroit, we stayed around for the answers. Listen, watch and learn.

Moving from Motown to Cowtown

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June 2, 2009

Will Detroit get back to its agrarian roots? It's time to explore the idea, see what we come up with.Excerpt:In its early years, under the French, Detroit was, in fact a collection of “ribbon farms,” along the riverfront, only 2-4 acres wide but running back as deep as 80 acres. This layout was practical for the 18th Century in the New World, because it gave residents neighbors within walking distance plus access to water and to the river, which was at the time the major avenue for transportation.It wouldn’t work today, of course, because Cobo Hall and downtown and other things are in the way. But with Mayor Dave Bing exploring the idea of clearing sparsely populated stretches of the city and consolidating residential areas, maybe it’s time to start thinking about what kinds of farms would work best in a new, agrarian Motor City.(Oops, that name might have to go. Maybe Detroit can become "Crop City.")Read the entire article here.

Cigarette girl is staple for Detroit’s bar scene

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June 2, 2009

It's not 1940 but that's no matter. It hasn't stopped Detroit's cigarette girl, Gwen Joy, from making a living as if it were 1940.Excerpt:If you've been hitting the night spots in Detroit or Hamtramck, you may have seen her: a tall, willowy, mini-skirted figure striding on 4-inch heels, balancing an over-stuffed tray hanging from a strap around her neck. She's Gwen Joy, Detroit's own version of a classic 1940s cigarette girl. You may not hear her sing out, "Call for Phillip Morris," or coo, "Cigars, cigarettes, Tiparillos," like her counterpart in the 1964 TV commercial, but you will see her kitschy tray full of gum, candies and tobacco products. And she takes her wares seriously, stocking her customers' favorite sweets and keeping her cigars fresh in a humidor between sales forays. Read the entire article here.

A little light rail news: It’s moving forward

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June 2, 2009

Detroit's light rail system is inching closer and closer. The M-1 rail, the 3.4-mile route, reached an agreement to collaborate with the city with the hope that it will connect to the much larger rail line that is proposed to run up Woodward.Excerpt:Leaders of a $125 million light rail project said Thursday they have reached an agreement to collaborate with the city on a three-mile plan to link city riders in a local transit system.The privately funded M-1 Rail, an approximately 3.4 mile, 12-stop route from Hart Plaza to Grand Boulevard, would be the "first phase" of a Detroit Department of Transportation's proposed $371 million project. That plan, the Detroit Transit Options for Growth, calls for a light rail to extend from Grand to Eight Mile, said Matthew Cullen, M-1 project president and CEO."We were always going to make sure we were compatible," he said of the transit plans. "We're totally motivated to be linked up with them. It is really an important step in having a real regional rapid transit system." Read the entire article here.Read see a rendering of the rail system and read the Freep article here.Another article about light rail from Crain's Detroit Business here.

Web site helps Detroit visitors find couches to surf, give them an ‘in’ to the city

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June 2, 2009

The web site couchsurfing.com can help connect Detroit to the rest of the world and give visitors an "in" to the city.Excerpt:The 24-year-old resident of the Corktown neighborhood shares her passion for the Motor City with visitors from around the globe whom she meets through couchsurfing.com.Doerr, who works as grants and contracts manager for the Wayne-Metropolitan Community Action Agency, loves to play tour guide for the guests she meets through the social network."A city like Detroit has so much to offer, but it's not user-friendly. ... You've got to have an in. Couch surfing is that in," she said.Couch surfing connects people who need a place to stay with those who can offer lodging at a great price -- free. But the mission of the site and its more than 1.1 million users is to create connections, build friendships and generally make the world a better place -- one couch at a time.Doerr, along with dozens of others, will do just that this weekend as part of the Detroit Couch Crash 2009, a series of events organized by the local couch-surfing community to showcase Detroit.Read the entire article here.

Iowa’s Grinnell College launches urban experiment in Detroit

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June 2, 2009

Iowa's Grinnell College, in partnership with Lawrence Tech University, will spend 10 weeks in Detroit studying how the city is reinventing itself.Excerpt:Beginning Sunday, two students from Grinnell College in Iowa will spend 10 weeks in Detroit this summer, learning how the region is responding to the challenges of the economic crash. These two women could have done summer internships elsewhere, so what is so appealing about Detroit? This is an opportunity for them to see, first hand, how Detroit reinvents itself, now that it is going through what economist Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction,” in which innovative people in business, government and the social sectors struggle to replace institutions that have failed....In his commencement address at Grinnell last week, New York Times correspondent and author Thomas Friedman asserted that the baby boom generation had made such a mess of the economy that the current generation of students must become known as the “Re-generation,” a role that fits perfectly with the innovative goals of the Detroit Social Innovation Project. Friedman asserted that no other era has been filled with so little certainty but so much opportunity. His latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, may be a great place to start for Detroit’s and America’s Re-generation. We hope to learn from your experience in this important effort.Read the entire article here.