Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
This resilience and continued drive of Detroiters makes the city the prime location to implement Green New Deal reforms. A national dialogue about the Green New Deal cannot ignore its application on the local level, Onwenu says, especially around reframing how outsiders have touted the city’s revitalization.
Devita Davison exemplifies many Strong Towns principles in her work to help grow the local economy, test new ideas in a chaotic but smart manner, and make the best use of Detroit’s land and resources—all with an eye toward equity and racial justice. Here is her story.
Grace Lee Boggs died on Monday, October 5, 2015. We hope that this article, originally published in 2011, helps readers to remember her work.
Facing an estimated $18 billion in debt, Detroit has become the largest U.S. municipality to file for bankruptcy.
Detroit’s Motown legacy has put the spotlight on the vulnerability of the American car culture. Despite an oil shale boom and years of money printing US oil demand has hit a wall.
For me, Detroit is both a fascinating and scary place. Fascinating because it is a glimpse into America’s future and scary because the future is grim.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “Detroit?”
Here’s why you should care: Better, locally grown food. Public health. Job creation. Cleaner, safer places to shop.
Detropia stirs anxiety and disorientation among its viewers through poignant visuals of the desolate and denuded cityscape blended with the accounts of Detroiters. But what are we to learn from this surfacing of collective dread?
On Dec. 10, 2012, hundreds of Detroiters lined up outside of The East Lake Baptist Church, braving the cold for the last of a series of public hearings on “the Hantz Woodlands deal.” At stake was the “largest speculative land sale in the city’s history”: 140 acres comprised of 1,500 lots of city land. Local multi-millionaire John Hantz wanted to turn this plot into a large timber farm that would be, as he promised, “Detroit’s saving grace.” But the hundreds of residents waiting outside had another idea of what saving the land could mean: They wanted the city to sell individual vacant plots at affordable prices for people to plant community gardens.
I always avoided Detroit. I expected to be depressed by seeing a once-grand place battered by economic disinvestment and all-for-the-auto urban planning. But in visiting the city for the first time, I saw examples of perseverance and creativity that stirred my soul.
