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Detroit’s Urban Beauty on Facebook
If you are a fan of unique urban photography then be sure to check out Detroit’s Urban Beauty on Facebook- an online community of some very talented people catching poignant shots throughout the city....
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“Come together. Right now. Over me”
It is about time we started investing in things that really matter. For decades, in Michigan and elsewhere, state policies have been driven by the promises, often empty ones, of future job creation....
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Navigating the Potholes of Municipal Finance Reform
I was having dinner with some friends a few months ago, and we started talking about the prospects of Amazon picking Detroit as their second headquarters. They were excited with anticipation, and...
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Placemaking, Crowdfunding and Community Engagement
This is what we had in mind. A few years back my colleagues and I were asked by Chris Miller to shepherd a bill through the Michigan legislature that would create a crowdfunding platform for the...
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Ignore the sequencing patterns of urban development at your own peril
Here are two examples of what matters in urban redevelopment. City officials and urban developers should understand that there is an important sequencing that governs redevelop cycles in under...
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UPDATE: Make that 3! 2 Great Professional Opportunities in DC, NYC and...
Here are two 3 job openings that don’t come along very often. If you are the right person for one of them, or if out somebody who is, jump on the chance. CEO. Project for Public Spaces. Direct the...
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Column: Invest in talent that drives economic growth
Please follow this link to read the Detroit News editorial that I co authored with Dan Hurley from the Michigan Association of State Universities about Michigan’s need to attract and retain talent in...
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Ten Years of Placemaking In Michigan. A Story of Achievements and Successes
My colleague Shanna Draheim authored an important report detailing the successes of placemaking efforts over the last ten years by the Michigan Municipal League and its partners- A Decade of...
View ArticleThe Living City
Like any organism, the city must receive continual nourishment to thrive and to flourish. Like a calf without milk or flowers without sunlight, cities eventually waste away without a recurrent supply...
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International Gathering of New Urbanists in Detroit
The Congress for the New Urbanism convenes this week in Detroit for CNU24. Detroit is a perfect place to see the good and the bad, the new and the old, and what works and what doesn’t in city life. The...
View ArticleState imposed oppressive funding scheme for municipal operations hurts all...
Here is an excellent article that appears in today’s Detroit Free Press from my colleague Tony Minghine, further evidence that Michigan’s system for funding cities is broken and must change. Take a...
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Increasing Home Ownership by Combating the ‘Appraisal Gap’ in Detroit
The appraisal gap is a problem in cities like Detroit. The effects of years of economic decline and depopulation continue to wreak havoc on the real estate market, despite hot markets in several...
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Futbol and crowdfunding- a ‘match’ made in Detroit
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no...
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Notes from an Amazing Urban Gathering in Traverse City
Earlier this month the Michigan Municipal League held its annual meeting in Traverse City. Home to beautiful views, a bustling downtown and an emerging cultural scene Traverse City was the perfect host...
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Walk up style housing coming to Michigan in a big way
Walkable urban places are not just a phenomenon of coastal U.S. metropolitan areas. This report demonstrates that the market desires them in Michigan—and they are gaining traction. If this emerging...
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Here is My Nominee for Best Art in an Alley. What’s Yours?
The Belt in downtown Detroit.
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Great Places, Great Spaces
Campus Martius from my seat on the southern edge I’m spending the day in downtown Detroit. The temperature is 75 degrees and the skies are blue. I’ll save you the written lecture about community...
View ArticleCongress for the New Urbanism Zeros in on Motown in New Video
“You know there’s still a part of this city that no one’s really ever going to truly get.” The following video profiles a few of my new urbanist friends and tells the story about what is happening on...
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Great People, Great Work- How We are Building Great Communities For the Future
I work with some amazing people who dance along the cutting edge of civic innovation. Below are some samples of our collective work. There are examples of city building in all of its facets- civic...
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Progress in the Mitten State
Legislators gather at Quicken Loans in Detroit Yesterday a bi-partisan group of over 20 state legislators accepted the Michigan Municipal League’s invitation to meet at Quicken Loans HQ in downtown...
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