Sovereign Soles, new shoe store, opens in Harmonie Park
The Paradise Valley District at Harmonie Park has netted one more retail amenity in Sovereign Soles, a new shoe boutique on E. Grand River. Proprietor Nedra Merriweather holds a job […]
Downtown Detroit
Staycation: Take a Break in Detroit
Stop. Don't go anywhere. Staycations are the big travel, or un-travel, trend. We love this idea. Spend a quality weekend with someone you love in Detroit, and actually go to all those places you were meaning to check out but didn't have time. We offer some ideas on how to make it happen.
Detroit rail line closer as senate passes key components of plan
Legislators passed key components to Detroit's potential $103 million private rail line backed by billionaires Dan Gilbert and Roger Penske.Excerpt:The proposal, pushed by billionaires Dan Gilbert and Roger Penske, would use $103 million in private money to build the street-level rail line looping between Hart Plaza and Grand Boulevard in the New Center area. Its 12 stops would include major businesses, theaters, ballparks, museums and hospitals. "It has the potential to be a model for creating mass transit in Michigan," said Sen. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Read the entire article here.
Engineering Society of Detroit promotes film industry jobs
It can't be stressed enough: More movies mean more jobs. The Engineering Society of Detroit has taken that to heart.Excerpt: Job opportunities in the film industry were the focus of the Engineering Society of Detroit's "Hollywood Comes Home: How Films can Re-Engineer Michigan's Economy," program Wednesday at ESD's headquarters in Southfield. The growing number of films being produced in Michigan means job opportunities, said Bob Brown, co-founder and managing partner of Purple Rose Films, a Farmington-based film company. "All of you have skills that are utilized," he told program attendees. "Thinking outside of the box is one way to get started, because we have lots of talent here." Read the entire article here.
Funk Night declared America’s Best Party
One of Detroit's best dance parties, Funk Night, just became America's Best Dance Party, according to all those who voted at PAPERMAG, a New York-based pop culture magazine.Excerpt:In an uncharacteristic move, we here at PAPERMAG decided to look beyond our safe little New York lives and chose to celebrate nightlife on a much larger scale by including "America's Best Party" in the roster of People's Choice categories at this past Sunday's Nightlife Awards. The people, as they say, have spoken, and after an online voting competition, deemed Funk Night, Detroit's monthly throw-down, the best party in America. Read the entire article here.
Can steel revival be model for Detroit, NYTimes asks
The New York Times looks at the similarities between the steel industry in Pennsylvania and the auto industry here in Detroit and how the Motor City may be able to learn a thing or two from it.Excerpt:If they were allowed to go under, their partisans warned, the consequences would ripple through the economy at a cost too high to bear. The old saying, “As steel goes, so goes the nation,” was as much a threat as a boast.The Detroit automakers are using the same argument as they seek a $25 billion bailout from Congress. “What happens in the automotive industry affects each and every one of us,” a General Motors Web site declares, warning that the consequences of a shutdown would be “devastating.”Yet steel’s savior was not the government bailouts it ardently sought but exactly what it so long tried to avoid: bankruptcy. Only when the companies failed were they successfully slimmed down and retooled into smaller but profitable ventures. As debate continues over what, if anything, should be done for G.M., Ford and Chrysler, the steel industry may offer a model.Read the entire article here.
Metro Airport rail station chosen for the Detroit to Ann Arbor commuter line
The commuter line between Detroit and Ann Arbor took another step closer by choosing a Metro Airport station in Westland. Other stops already include Amtrak stations in Detroit, Dearborn, and Ann Arbor, as well as a yet to be determined stop in Ypsi.Excerpt:Planners working on a commuter rail service between Ann Arbor and Detroit have chosen a location in Westland for a station to serve Detroit Metro Airport. The decision on the airport station is the latest step toward a proposed beginning of service in October 2010. The station would go on Wayne County-owned property at US-12 and Henry Ruff Road, said Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.Read the entire article here.
Rosie O’Donnell vows to help Detroit, turn Cass Tech student into star
Rosie O'Donnell is in town, and she wants to save us.Excerpt: "It reminded me a lot of when I went to New Orleans in some capacity," O'Donnell told Local 4 in an interview. "Well, I have to say, Detroit is a pretty close second to that natural disaster and it's shocking to me that I didn't know just how bad it was and that America doesn't know. Before we save the auto industry we need to save Detroit." Like many filmmakers who now chose to film in Michigan because of the state's incentives, O'Donnell said it was both the tax breaks and the city's ambiance that drew her in. "It turned out that the setting and the feeling of Detroit, that's exactly the vibe and the feel of the film," O'Donnell said. Read the entire article here.
Man Behind the Creative Class Stats Shares Ideas on Detroit
Some straight-talk from the man who crunches numbers for Creative Class guru Richard Florida. He shares some thoughts about how a city like Detroit can be the one that pulls away from the pack.
