Japanese-esque bullet trains aren't exactly right around the corner but in the past month some interesting and encouraging developments transpired in the ongoing saga that is mass transit in Michigan. Why should you care? Well, transit by no means is a panacea to all of what ails Michigan, but it is an essential tool to creating the strong urban cores that Michigan lacks.
As long as Michigan fails to offer vibrant downtowns or other traditional commercial districts with distinct experiences we'll struggle to appeal to a significant segment of the mobile work force and more importantly we’ll continue to shortchange ourselves both economically and in terms of quality of life
Starting in a few weeks there is going to be a monthly radio show on WJR 760 Am radio dedicated to rethinking the role of Michigan's cities and their importance to our economic future. Let's Save Michigan has been asked to help them fill a regular segment on the show by highlighting individuals and organizations working to recreate Michigan's cities. Help us by telling us your story!
A couple painful truths; things could have gone better for Michigan in 2009 and we're a week in to 2010 and you've probably already abandoned your New Year's resolution. To those two points here are some real personal actions we can all take in 2010 to make things better for our communities and the state we all love so much.
For our on-going Making Michigan series, a friend of ours submitted one of her favorite places, Detroit's Dakota Inn. The Dakota Inn Rathskeller is a German beer hall family owned since 1933. Opened by Karl Kurz, a worker at Ford's Highland Park factory, it has been for generations a venue for merriment and German sing-alongs and an anchor institution in a neighborhood that has seen better days.
A call to action this last weekend before Christmas: Avoid the insanity of the malls and visit your local downtown or main street. It'll help your community and may just reaffirm your faith in humanity.
Ann Arbor non-profit 826michigan is ready for the season with a zany holiday window display and plans for a big New Years bash. The organization provides elementary through high school students with after school tutoring sessions, writing workshops and additional educational programming, and their fundraising events have a reputation for being unique and inventive.
The general public needs to start questioning Lansing's economic development efforts. As in why do we subsidize the construction of fake main streets while real ones languish?
For this week's installment of MAKING MICHIGAN we look at an antique store and deli that have brought new life to a Sears tire shop that had sat abandoned for decades in downtown Flint.
Arts and cultural institutions of all shapes and sizes add to the rich fabric of a city and ultimately their viability. Increasingly young people are moving to cities that offer them the highest quality of life, even more so than where the job openings are located. Here is a quick look at the unique cultural and artistic opportunities an average weekend produced.
In advance of Thanksgiving in our weekly segment, MAKING MICHIGAN, we highlight Ann Arbor's People's Food Co-op. More than just a quaint, local grocery store, the People's Co-op is an anchor business in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown and a source for healthty living and community pride.
While some optimists trumpet Michigan's urban cities as a "blank canvases" or as laboratories to create and make a name for oneself others are drawn to them for the sense of community that has been forged out of the decline of city services and institutional support in the wake of the recent recession.
In our new segment called Making Michigan, each week we are going to highlight the businesses, public places and orginizations that make our cities unique, more livable and in their own small way make Michigan a better place. We'll start off with one of my favorite places to spend a Friday or Saturday night, the Redford Theatre of Detroit.
East Lansing was recently named by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “Best College Towns to Start a Business.” EL resident Julielyn Gibbons tells us how she was able to take that leap to quit her job and start up a new company, i3 Strategies, with the help of the city's Technology Innovation Center.
Influential voice in land use debates Genesee County Treasurer Daniel Kildee talks with Let's Save Michigan about the "shrinking of Flint" and what the Genesee County Land Bank is doing to improve conditions in Flint, Michigan. Kildee founded the Genesee County Land Bank to address poor land use, population decline and abandonment in and around Flint, Michigan. The Land Bank obtains and manages residential and commercial properties with the intention of improving conditions. Kildee, an outspoken figure in land use debates, shares his thoughts on Flint and reshaping the city's design.
National chains are ingrained in our lives, and in certain cases offer things that local stores cannot. But we need to examine how we spend our money and see in what ways we could spend our money as wisely as possible to create more desirable cities. A 2008 study of Grand Rapids and surrounding Kent County, found that if residents were to redirect just 10 percent of their total spending from chains to locally owned businesses, the result would be $140 million in new economic activity for the region, including 1,600 new jobs and $53 million in additional payroll.
An Ann Arbor resident weighs in on the importance of walkability and how proposed transit plans would add to the desirability of the region.
A Detroiter that has been utterly ambivalent to Grand Rapids takes in ArtPrize and develops a long overdue appreciation for the Furniture City and the power of art to bring a city to life.
Lansing's dysfunctional and disjointed approach to alternative modes of transportation is rooted in its unwillingness or incapability to acknowledge the fact that there are people that can afford a car but would prefer to not to use one. And Michigan's lack of a comprehensive alternative transportation system impedes our competitiveness with the likes of Boston, Chicago, and New York, regions that are doing a hell of a lot better at attracting the young professionals that are going to shape the 21st century.
Thanks to the first anual Art Prize, the streets of Grand Rapids are coming alive and the city is transforming itself into an art destination. Here's a look at how the competition came to be.
According to the last US Census, 2/3 of college graduates between 24 and 35 chose where they wanted to live before they looked for a job.
Nearly half of Michiganders between the ages of 18-34 say they would visit downtown Detroit more often if there was a better transit system in place.
46% of Michigan's college graduates are leaving the state within a year of graduation.
Ann Arbor offers more than 200 unique dining experiences.
Each year Detroit’s peak-time commuters spend an average of 52 hours sitting in traffic congestion, which wastes 34 gallons of gas per person.
Michigan’s metropolitan areas account for 88% of the state’s gross domestic product and are home to 89% of the jobs.
Traverse City’s walkable downtown boasts more than 150 boutiques, galleries, and restaurants.
Detroit has the second-largest theater district in North America, after New York City.
Every $1 invested in public transit returns around $6 in local economic activity.
Cheers! Michigan ranks 6th in the nation in the number of brewpubs and microbreweries.
