Barry Sanders! ESPN had the former running back intro Monday Night Football with a statement about the Lions and the City of Detroit.
Resetting the Cleveland waterfront
In an interview with Civic Commons, Cleveland Plain Dealer Architecture Critic Steven Litt explains the hope for a new day on the Cleveland waterfront...
"For the first time in recent history, the Port [Authority] is accepting responsibility not only for the lakefront but for the river, and realizing that the positive forces of economic development in The Flats can't be unleashed until the big infrastructure problems are solved."
How to put young people to work?
Minnesota Public Radio put the question to Harvard's David Gergen and Duke's William Darity this morning. Good dialogue:
Informative live chat discussion logged here.
Informative live chat discussion logged here.
What Detroit can learn from Brooklyn
Kay Hymowitz writes that in the 1990s "Brooklyn came awfully close to becoming an East Coast Detroit. But it didn't for three major reasons."
- Policing reform to dramatically reduce crime
- Rezoning fallow industrial neighborhoods to allow mixed use redevelopment
- The influx of a new generation of college-educated people who prefer urban living
Kasich's Energy Sermon
Ohio Governor John Kasich preaches at his energy summit, and Ken Paulman of Midwest Energy News provides the comedic commentary.
Jon Stewart interviews Fmr MI Gov Granholm
Wisconsin's new front door
Milwaukee unveiled a long range plan (pdf) to rebuild its downtown lakefront. Parks Director Sue Black captures the aspirational nature of the work:
In planning for the future of the lakefront we have a tremendous opportunity to do something spectacular for the State of Wisconsin, for Milwaukee County, and for the City of Milwaukee - but most importantly for our citizens and visitors to this fantastic resource. This area is considered to be the most heavily used recreational land in Wisconsin. Let's get this done right and with a sense of urgency and pride.
Michigan's refreshing Rick Snyder
Excerpts of the Governor's discussion with the Detroit Free Press about his budget proposal and philosophy.
13,000 angry union fans...
... piled into the Wisconsin Capitol building to holler about Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget, which would reduce public worker pay and bargaining power. Wisconsin is some $3.6 billion in the hole for the 2011-13 budget.
With imagination we'll get there
Mike Madison pinpoints a Rust Belt reinvention challenge tougher to solve than the rust:
What holds the Rust Belt back, perhaps necessarily and inevitably, isn’t really the challenge of clearing brownfields and attracting new firms and residents. It is the challenge of history and culture that frames how one can imagine the future.
Rust Belt chic is hip, to be sure, but it’s also all we’ve got, for now. Can you imagine a broadcast of Monday Night Football in Pittsburgh that does not feature video of steelmaking? Yet no steel is made in the City of Pittsburgh today, and only a modest amount of steel comes out of the region as a whole — nearly all of it specialty steel, not the giant pieces that framed bridges and skyscrapers.
Who knows what Pittsburgh might become, even if it might become anything more than it is right now. But Pittsburgh has to find a way to put steel in its place, metaphorically speaking.
Tweet of the week
@MT There are not any plans to erect a statue to Robocop. Thank you for the suggestion.
Tough times Toronto
Ironically, Mio Pupazzo's rant against biking appears on Toronto's MetroActive network. It all reminds me of these hilariously ridiculous clips of the city's now Mayor Rob Ford.
City talk
David Brooks writes about the Splendor of Cities from Chicago's mayoral campaign trail:
Chicago has its problems: it suffers under one of the biggest debt loads in the country. But it has thrived because it has had good leadership, a constantly updated housing stock, a good business environment and an ethos that attracts talent and celebrates blunt conversation.
Hottest fires make the hardest steel
Plenty of good ads during the Rust Belt Bowl yesterday. If you're bullish about the rise of Michigan and the greater Great Lakes region, this was the best one...
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