Not mentioned in this WIVB-TV clip about a meeting last night in Buffalo is that the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp reportedly also engaged Fred Kent, founder and president of Project for Public Spaces. Kent, who recently introduced the idea of "lighter, quicker, cheaper" redevelopment that's become the activist battle cry, will help the city establish a market place in the historic district and and otherwise advise waterfront redevelopment.
Great Lakes cities in the wake of recession
Brookings today released its Global MetroMonitor, which measures the performance of the world's 150 largest metropolitan economies before, during and after the Great Recession. Surprisingly, Detroit and Cleveland are singled out for their "significant rebound." Here's how, according to the report, metros across the greater Great Lakes ranked globally in the 2009-2010 recovery:
44. Minneapolis
46. Detroit
49. Cleveland
62. Cincinnati
81. Columbus
82. Chicago
83. Milwaukee
120. Buffalo
128. Rochester
129. Pittsburgh
137. Indianapolis
44. Minneapolis
46. Detroit
49. Cleveland
62. Cincinnati
81. Columbus
82. Chicago
83. Milwaukee
120. Buffalo
128. Rochester
129. Pittsburgh
137. Indianapolis
Green Alleys in Chicago
Architect Janet Attarian, who directs the Chicago Dept of Transportation's Streetscape and Sustainable Design Program, describes the city's green alley initiative. 130 down. Approx 13,000 to go.
(via the McGraw Hill Construction's Video Library)
(via the McGraw Hill Construction's Video Library)
Real rail talk on Wisconsin radio
A call-in show with ordinary people hashing out Wisconsin's high-speed rail controversy. Listen to the podcast here.
A supporter mistakenly refers to "light speed rail."
An opponent suggests the "dadgum thing" will never secure funding.
Scott Rogers, co-chair of the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition, and the show's principal guest, offered this final thought:
A supporter mistakenly refers to "light speed rail."
An opponent suggests the "dadgum thing" will never secure funding.
Scott Rogers, co-chair of the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition, and the show's principal guest, offered this final thought:
Proverbs says it's not good to have zeal without knowledge. So if you feel strongly about this study it and learn as much as you can.
Thanksgiving from Detroit 2010
The General thanked the nation. The Kid rocked the nation. The Lions bored the nation.
The play by play...
The play by play...
"Modern" streetcars arrive in Grand Rapids, MI 1926
This is a promotional video for the Grand Rapids Railway Company, whose aim was "to make your service the best in the United States." They succeeded for a while, building an advanced urban transit system for the era that was eventually dismantled. This PR video, however, could use Charlie Chaplin and the City Lights Orchestra.
(via @StreetcarGR. Also, hat tip to the Grand Rapids Historical Commission and the Grand Rapids Public Library)
(via @StreetcarGR. Also, hat tip to the Grand Rapids Historical Commission and the Grand Rapids Public Library)
Big ideas for downtown Madison
The draft Downtown Plan (PDF) for Madison, WI recommends 10 'big ideas' to focus on for the next 25 years:
- Reconnect downtown to Lake Mendota and Lake Monona
- Establish building standards that maintain "dramatic" and "postcard" views of the skyline and Capitol
- Build a new transportation center near Monona Terrace
- Improve transportation connections to, through and around downtown
- Promote sustainability via higher building density, mixed use and multi-modal transportation
- Strengthen the identity of individual neighborhoods and districts
- Embrace the preservation of historic structures
- Identify large sites for redevelopment and infill and adopt policies that stimulate investment there
- Reenergize the Mifflin area
- Transform an underutilized downtown block into a 1.75 acre public park
Carmageddon
The mega-trends, as summed up at Economics 21, seem to favor dynamic mobility providers over one-trade car companies.
Part of the longer-term problem facing GM and the U.S. automobile industry more broadly is that while automobile sales in emerging economies are increasing robustly, they are decreasing in the mature economies of Europe, North America, and Japan. Aging populations, deleveraging households, higher gasoline prices, denser metropolitan areas, and the advent of sharing platforms like Zipcar have dampened demand, and many if not all of these trends are likely to accelerate.(via Reihan Salam at National Review)
Great Wall of China ... in Wisconsin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Photographer Michael Sears recently published this photo, from the Kohler Design Center, to cover a story about the advancement of toilet technology at the Wisconsin-based company.
Studio Gang's bird nest
Between hints to drive a Ford, Margaret Cavenagh, managing architect at Studio Gang, the Chicago-based firm that designed the wavy Aqua skyscraper, talks through the elegant design solution for building a transparent birdwatching center that birds won't fly into.
(via GOOD)
(via GOOD)
Michigan cities plead and beg
The latest signs of the increasingly dire budget mess facing Michigan communities...
In a letter to outgoing Governor Jennifer Granholm, the attorney for the City of Hamtramck argues that the right to declare bankruptcy, and finally work around rigid union contracts, is critical for his and other financially distressed cities to achieve fiscal stability.
In a letter to outgoing Governor Jennifer Granholm, the attorney for the City of Hamtramck argues that the right to declare bankruptcy, and finally work around rigid union contracts, is critical for his and other financially distressed cities to achieve fiscal stability.
Some so-called experts pretend that it is some great mystery why governmental units like Detroit Public Schools, Ecorse, Highland Park and Hamtramck are chronically underfunded. But there is no mystery. The "experts" do not want to confront the reason that stares them in the face: These governmental units cannot afford their labor contracts and state law gives them almost zero flexibility to do anything about that fundamental fact, especially where revenue projections do not pan out due to unforeseen circumstances. Instead these experts rely upon the canard that these units are broke because they are run by incompetent crooks. While some of these governmental units have suffered from isolated issues of mismanagement and corruption, the problems are much, much bigger than that.In a letter to churches, schools and other nonprofits, the Mayor of the City of Mount Clemens took hat in hand and asked organizations that typically receive donations to give them:
One of the most challenging dilemmas the City faces in trying to balance its budget each year is that 42 percent of the property in Mount Clemens is tax exempt. These properties receive the same services as the tax paying properties which places a tremendous burden upon the 58 percent of property owners that pay taxes......The City is asking tax-exempt properties to consider playing a part in helping to support our municipal budget.
Columbus Pride
In the New York Times Style Magazine, Tim Murphy reports that Columbus is emerging as "a Midwestern gay mecca." The city, Murphy explains, has a welcoming spirit, strong social networks and "gayborhoods" where a significant segment of the population is gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. Although "the town's most fashionable young man" exclaims Ohio's capital still lacks the cosmopolitan appeal of the big city:
Columbus isn't awful if you find your niche to plug into. But it can be tough. It's very Abercrombie-cornfed-jock-I-eat-at-Max-&-Erma's-and-Bob Evans. Some of the older gay men are a little more sophisticated.
What about GM's closed factories
Paul Clemens argues that, despite "New" GM's successful stock offering on Wall Street, "Old" GM's ruins will continue to haunt Main Street:
For General Motors, divided into its “Old” and “New” halves, there’s an inescapable paradox: the only possible route to future profitability is to create, through plant closings, monuments to past unprofitability.
It’ll be fun, for a day or two, to look at the scoreboard, and to see what G.M.’s shares are going for: $26? $29? $33? $35? The numbers on the exchange will change; it’ll be great, and a welcome, temporary relief from the numbers, still difficult to comprehend, of jobs lost and plants closed. Soon enough, though, we’ll have to go back to watching what’s actually happening on the field, where there’s still a blowout in progress, with the home team way behind, and no one, seemingly, with the foggiest idea what to do about it.
Losing LeBron
Pitch for a promising documentary about LeBron's first season in Miami, as told by Clevelanders.
The filmmakers, both from Boston, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money and make the film. They hope to raise $10k to cover production costs and buy 50 flip cams for select Cleveland participants to generate content for the production. Donate here. This could be real interesting.
The filmmakers, both from Boston, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money and make the film. They hope to raise $10k to cover production costs and buy 50 flip cams for select Cleveland participants to generate content for the production. Donate here. This could be real interesting.
Twin Cities metro mistakes
Myron Orfield explains in MinnPost why the Metropolitan Council, a regional planning agency, has struggled to fulfill its mission of guiding "efficient growth" in the Twin Cities area:
The council decided for whatever reason not to consider job clusters when reviewing cities' comprehensive plans. Before, under the older councils, the plans were disapproved if new jobs weren't clustered in areas where jobs already existed.
But starting in about 1994, they began to see the rules less as regulation than as a kind of public relations. They took regulatory structure and made it just happy talk. They wanted everyone to be happy together.
The local comprehensive plans had always been negotiated between local governments and the Met Council. But starting in the '90s, they were just rubber-stamped.
Another important thing that happened came in about 2001 when they decided to open up a huge area near the edge for two-acre residential lots. They basically got rid of the MUSA line [the Metropolitan Urban Services Area, a kind of growth boundary] and discontinued the principle that development had to be orderly and contiguous. That was a big mistake.
The council said basically that the remedy for getting too fat is to loosen your belt.
Carbon Dioxide dynamics
Dr. Harvey Bootsma explains the scientific effort to understand whether the Great Lakes are a source of, or a sink for, carbon. Turns out those invasive species can be useful.
via Chicago Tribune
via Chicago Tribune
GM ROI
After GM's CEO rung the bell on the NYSE, President Obama held a press briefing to say, among other things, that American taxpayers stand to make money on the company's IPO. I'll watch the mail.
RAX ready for launch
The Radio Aurora Explorer, or RAX, satellite launches tomorrow from Kodiak, Alaska. It's designed and built by University of Michigan students and the primary mission is to study how plasma irregularities way out in space affect communication signals between Earth and orbiting satellites. Selfishly, I hope this knowledge some day supports innovation that eliminates dropped cell phone calls.
Buffalo matters
An advertisement for The Queen City produced by the Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau. Football fans will appreciate the analogy from Eric Walker of PUSH Buffalo:
Buffalo is a city of fighters. Anybody who knows the Bills history knows we won't give up no matter how long the odds are. We are a Thurman Thomas city. Keep those legs moving and eventually something's going to happen. The yards come. Inch by inch.
Great Lakes water budget
In the latest Inside Muskegon podcast, Dr. Al Steinman, one of the region's most respected aquatic ecologists, talks about the International Upper Great Lakes Study, which has the incredibly complicated task of determining how to best manage lake levels in the largest system of fresh surface water on Earth. He also explains why - much to the chagrin of many beach front property and boat owners - stable water levels are bad:
Some people want to have stable water levels so they can predict what's going to happen. I would argue that's a disaster for our coastal ecosystems. The coastal wetlands need fluctuating water levels - highs and lows - in order for the vegetation to grow over time in a dynamic way. Those wetlands help provide habitat that make our Great Lakes such an important fishery, commercially and recreationally. The trouble is humans keep moving into areas where they want stable water levels, or hardened shore lines, and that basically decimates our natural ecosystem. You cant have both.
Scrambling in Toronto
The City of Toronto recently established its third pedestrian scramble. City Councillor Kyle Rae explains why.
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