The Detroit News Regional Hub Blog

Born into Ford: A high-school student's perspective

7/13/2010 1:56:49 PM

“Yes, of course I want to come back to Detroit and work for an auto company after college,” I told a perplexed neighbor at my high-school graduation party. A little background might help. At the height of the Roaring Twenties, my great-grandfather, living in Rhode Island, was an unemployed immigrant from Quebec. Desperate and looking for a way to achieve the American Dream, he turned to the “Paris of the Midwest” for hope. In a letter to Henry Ford, my great-grandfather said he was a hard worker and wanted to come to Detroit for Ford's new $5-a-day jobs. Ford wrote him back and hired him; my family planted its roots in Detroit.

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Detroit: The Return of the Repressed (Bicycling Culture)

6/30/2010 3:16:18 PM

Visiting the ghostly motor city these days is an eye-opening and surprisingly inspiring experience. The city has fallen from more than 2 million residents a generation ago to around 800,000 today. A great deal of the land area where homes and factories once filled the blocks are now expansive vacant lots, masquerading as greenways in this wet June, filled with grasses and wildflowers. Some of these vacant lots have been converted into urban farms, but the larger majority is simply empty, reverting to some version of nature. Wild pheasants skitter across the vacant lots while songbirds, from bright red cardinals to brilliant yellow finches, fill the trees and bushes with their cheerful sounds.

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Inside/Out: an Art Show at Belle Isle's Conservatory

6/16/2010 9:16:07 PM

A few months ago, I visited Detroit's Belle Isle Conservatory for the first time. Walking through the lush, foliage lined paths, the elegance and unique quality of the space struck me. For all its allure, however, it seemed quite underused and overlooked on the cultural map of Detroit landmarks. These notions, combined with a long standing interest in how environment shapes personality, led to the idea to organize an art show on location. With support from the Belle Isle Conservatory Board, contributing artists Myles Marshall, Katrina Wojtan, and I have created an event we call “Inside/Out.” Through this show, we offer local artists a chance to create and display work for this offbeat setting.

The opening for the show takes place on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Partially inspired by the transient nature of art from artists like Andy Goldsworthy, the event will only last three hours. Starting at 5pm and ending around 8, Inside/Out will create a dialogue between 31 local and national artists whose works explore the relationship between identity and environment. Through multiple mediums including painting, sculpture, video, and music, artists discuss and dissect the correlative run between space and self. Jeffery William Thomas (of Gardens), Citizen Twain, Tapes on Tape, and Milou will play music, while the Belle Isle Conservatory Board provides h'ordeuvres for our guests. We will charge a $5 cover, and donate profits to the Belle Isle Conservatory Board for the development and preservation of this beautiful, distinct Detroit landmark.

Immigration is key to building a 'Global Detroit'

6/8/2010 11:29:16 AM

My grandfather, Morris Tobocman, emigrated from eastern Poland to Southwest Detroit (next to the fire station at Dix and Central) to pursue the American Dream. He probably found early 20th Century Detroit a suitable home for an entrepreneurial laborer looking for a home where he could chose whether or not to practice his Judaism, how to express his political views, and, perhaps most importantly, a place where he could earn a decent living.

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Be it radical or not, change is coming to ailing Michigan

6/5/2010 12:23:33 PM

John Rakolta, a conservative Republican corporate CEO, is not the first person you'd think likely to echo the message of Bob Dylan's 1960s anthem "The Times They Are A-Changin'." But that's exactly what Rakolta did Wednesday during the opening session of the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac policy conference.

"Change is coming to Michigan," Rakolta declared, after reciting an apocalyptic list of the state's failures in the past decade and citing both Barack Obama's election as president and the conservative Tea Party movement as signs of an impending uprising -- not just in Michigan, but in the nation.

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Creating a more global Detroit

5/26/2010 2:14:08 PM

"Nothing is more powerful to remaking Detroit as a center of innovation, entrepreneurship and population growth, than embracing and increasing the immigrant populations and the entrepreneurial culture and global connections that they bring and deliver."

So concludes Steve Tobocman, the former majority floor leader of the Michigan House of Representatives, a third-generation Detroit immigrant, and author of a new study called "Global Detroit."

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‘Eds and meds' may build stronger Detroit

5/24/2010 7:46:51 AM

Last week, we published our annual Private 200 list — the largest privately held companies in Southeast Michigan ranked by revenue. Leading the pack — at least for now — are General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group L.L.C.

Should those automakers go public, Penske Corp. — at $16 billion in 2009 revenue — would return to the No. 1 status it held on this list for many years.

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Finally, a breath of fresh air for Detroit

5/20/2010 3:49:04 PM

I’m starting to think Detroit has weathered the economic storms of the past few years and is slowly beginning to move on. Things are feeling better around here. Instead of constant fretting about government loans, bankruptcies and foreclosures, we’re talking about paybacks, profits, and small upticks in home sales. Instead of being caught up in the squabbles of a truly dysfunctional City Council and the ridiculousness of four-a-year mayoral elections, we have a new City Council and a duly elected mayor who seem to actually want to work together for the good of the city and outlying counties who also want to work with them. Instead of worrying about the next shoe to drop we’re thinking about the next Detroit to emerge,and what it’s going to take to get there.

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The three best things about Detroit

5/19/2010 9:13:40 AM

It is important to have facts to balance any conversation about downtown Detroit and the Michigan region. This is not to hide anything at all, just to present all sides of the story.

The January-February 2010 Intellitrends study on Detroit, which I alluded to in my last blog, collected results from more than 2,000 people, 829 of which were SE Michigan residents. And of those SE Michigan residents the top three things that the locals liked most about the region were:

    1. Sporting events and sports teams
      2. Entertainment (arts, music and museums) and;
      3. Up-north Michigan.

Models of loyalty to the city

5/17/2010 6:56:57 AM

Detroit is hemorrhaging people at a clip of 15,000, maybe 20,000, a year as its population heads south of 800,000.

And it's the city's working- and middle-class people who are leaving, folks who are the backbone of any city's economy. Left behind are residents who are increasingly poor and unable to provide the tax base for such basic services as transportation and public schools.

Five Ways Michigan Can Become a High Tech and Life Sciences Powerhouse

5/14/2010 7:22:31 AM

Although I have lived in the Boston area for more than half my life, I grew up in the Detroit area and still have strong connections to my alma mater—the University of Michigan. I serve on the Board and Leadership Council of the Life Sciences Institute at U-M. In that capacity, I have kept in touch with the Michigan biotech culture. In my opinion, Michigan is poised to make significant contributions to the 21st century economy. Here are my responses to “What are five things that entrepreneurs and innovators in Michigan can do to reinvigorate their regional economy?”

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Detroit Can Create Gardens of Good or Evil

5/12/2010 11:33:27 AM

Good or evil: which will Detroit choose?

City planners owe Detroiters an answer, a roadmap to future.In my limited experience, seduction is infinitely more attractive means of achieving ones goal than the use of brute force. I was reminded of the power of seduction as an instrument of urban planning by my friend and colleague Judy Johncox who recently visited the mysteriously romantic and historic city of Savannah, Georgia.

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I am young Detroit

5/3/2010 6:10:50 PM

I was raised here in Detroit, so Detroit is my home. I think the stronger Detroit is politically and the more active and engaged Detroit residents are in local and state politics can help our state and city emerge from this economic downturn. For years political wrangling has dampened the collective voice of Michigan’s cities, and increasing number of underrepresented citizens in Michigan’s urban centers. Michigan Forward is a non-profit think tank I founded to research, educate and empower cities like Detroit and residents on public policy and how it effects them.

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Roaring into Motor City

4/29/2010 9:16:07 PM

A city plagued by problems; Detroit is on the up-swin. Being a huge car buff, Detroit is kind of like Mecca to me. I write a weekly car review column and it seems that the cars I tend to most enjoy are the ones that I have the lowest expectations for. After seeing daily national news stories about Detroit you would have thought that it was a zombie-infested nuclear wasteland. This is of course extremely far from the truth and I had a wonderful time in Detroit getting to experience not only the auto culture, but their vast arts and culture.

Detroit must stand up to slanted reporting

4/25/2010 8:04:59 AM

Enough is enough. The "Dateline NBC" report "Detroit: A City of Heartbreak and Hope," which aired last Sunday, is yet another story that focused almost exclusively on the most extreme examples of the daunting social and economic challenges the city faces. We, as leading organizations in our region, have reached our breaking point and demand a more balanced look at our city and region.

Use 'Dateline' piece as a call to action

4/22/2010 11:31:15 AM

The sad fact is it's true.

NBC's "Dateline" brought TV cameras to Detroit and showed the nation the worst that they found here, when everyone, full of Sunday supper, was watching.

Calling Out The ‘Dateline NBC’ Hatchet Job On Detroit

4/22/2010 11:22:12 AM

Detroit is a city with growing pains and I’ve yet to see anyone who denies that truth. At the same time, Detroit is also a city with evidentiary hope and promise which continue to inspire those who are working tirelessly in the city for the betterment of us all.

So when “Dateline NBC” announced that it would air a one-hour special on Detroit, “America Now: City of Heartbreak and Hope,” about one of the most misunderstood cities in the nation, some of us held our breath and wanted to give the all-knowing reporter, Chris Hansen, the benefit of the doubt.

New website shows kid how to get to college

4/18/2010 9:37:21 AM

by Nolan Finley
The Detroit News

My mother wanted me to go to college. My father wanted me to be a plumber. Had he been around to watch me fix a dripping faucet by removing both the sink and countertops, he likely would have been in rare agreement with mom. Though they had different views of my vocational aptitude, my parents, neither of whom went to high school, knew my success depended on attaining a marketable skill.

Diverse leaders take responsibility for finally educating Detroit's kids

4/8/2010 10:37:29 AM

A decade ago it was reasonable to ask whether low income and minority (predominantly big city) kids could learn what is needed to do well in today's increasingly knowledge-based economy. There were few open enrollment urban schools anywhere in the country getting good student achievement. No more!

An open letter to Tiger Johnny Damon's wife: Detroit's got class

4/6/2010 9:34:38 AM

Dear Mrs. Michelle Damon,

On behalf of the residents of Detroit and Michigan, as well as Tigers fans everywhere, let me welcome you and your husband, Johnny Damon, to the Motor City, America's best sports town.