Philip Lauri's new documentary premiers this Thursday at the Detroit Film Theatre. Here's the trailer...
After the Factory Film Trailer from DETROIT LIVES! on Vimeo.
The vision for the new Michigan
The Business Leaders for Michigan earlier this week introduced their 2012 Turnaround Plan. Get past the excessively dramatic musical score in this video overview and it sounds to me like their message drops the needle on the record.
How younger people in Toronto see transit
Good commentary from next gen Toronto thought leadership on the state and future of the city's transit-building movement. Derek Flack at BlogTO offers a little more reflection.
Hat tip to My City Lives for producing the vid.
Hat tip to My City Lives for producing the vid.
Framing Michigan's energy debate
A coalition of advocates for energy innovation in Michigan is pushing a proposal to raise the state's renewable energy goal from 10 to 25 percent by 2025, the Detroit Free Press reports. The article also reveals an interesting choice of messenger to lead the charge:
"This initiative will ultimately save lives by giving Michigan cleaner and healthier air and water, reducing asthma and lung disease, and protecting our Great Lakes," said Joyce Stein, a board member of the Michigan Nurses Association.
Toronto: Balanced and Bolder
Councillor Peter Milczyn issued a research paper (PDF) to inform bolder and more creative planning for the future of the City of Toronto. The Concillor believes his city lags behind such global cities as London, New York, Singapore, San Francisco and Melbourne. A sample of the recommendations intended to help Toronto keep pace:
- Transform active thoroughfares to car-free pedestrian boulevards, shared zones and transit malls.
- Offer land use and housing credits to developers proposing multi-use developments in transit-supportive areas to encourage a balance between employment and residential growth.
- Re-develop "dead" urban space, including alleys, passageways, parking lots, utility corridors, and other underutilized interstitial spaces as active and functional components of the urban fabric.
- Encourage the construction of iconic and identifiable buildings as gateway elements throughout the City.
- Redefine the "base building" and "middle (shaft)" elements of Tall Buildings as a "streetwall zone" and "pedestrian zone", respectively, to reinforce the defining role of the street.
- Establish maximum parking standards within a 500m radius of mass transit stations for retail, office, institutional, industrial, and public facilities.
- Establish a system of Transit Revitalization Investment Districts to encourage density increases, redesigns, and infrastructural improvements in the areas surrounding mass transit stations
- Develop a View Management Framework to support the preservation of significant views and vistas within the urban landscape.
- Develop a detailed food policy for the City to encourage the growth of an accessible, resilient and sustainable City food system.
New plan for downtown Minneapolis
The Minneapolis Downtown Council has a new 13-year, estimated $2 billion plan of action to build a "flourishing 21st century city."
- Double downtown population
- Transform Nicollet Mall into a must-see destination
- Build Gateway Park
- Create a consistently compelling downtown experience
- Establish a downtown sports district that includes a new Vikings stadium
- Lead the nation in transportation options
- Create and sustain green infrastructure
- Forge connections to the University of Minnesota
- End street homelessness
- Launch a festival of ideas
Tark Talks new Vikings stadium
Nevermind for a moment the decision about in-city or suburban stadium. (Too bad the Vikings so overtly wanna sprawl.) Let's think on facility design. According to one former Minnesota Vikings QB, an open-air stadium embodies "the culture of Minnesota."
The public opinion poll reveals Twin Citians support outdoor football too.
Detroit, never too early/late to retrofit domed Ford Field.
The public opinion poll reveals Twin Citians support outdoor football too.
Detroit, never too early/late to retrofit domed Ford Field.
Detroit's central problem is structural
MI Gov Rick Snyder reminds us Detroit's financial crisis is chronic. Time for a new approach, he says, to foster long-term change, end the cycle and focus on positive forward action.
25 year transition to knowledge-based economy?
That's about how long it took Pittsburgh, according to Michigan Future, Inc President Lou Glazer. He doesn't know if Detroit, Grand Rapids and Michigan can do it any faster.
Where there's hope...
Historian Kevin Boyle and Changing Gears compiled an abridged history of supposed Midwest magic bullets, "those quick tickets to jobs and economic prosperity."
- Seize on one key industry to grow (detroit = automobile)
- Build shiny new landmark (Flint = AutoWorld)
- The great event (Chicago = Olympics)
- Urban renewal
Are you ready for some ...
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.
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