The Detroit News put together a nice photo gallery documenting the best of Detroit’s historic downtown art deco architecture.
From the Penobscot Building to the Book Cadillac Hotel, many of Detroit’s oldest buildings have withstood the test of time while others have received thorough restorations.
Check out the gallery here.
Jim Schaefer and John Gallagher write in today’s Free Press about the increasing amount of positive press being given to the city of Detroit by national media outlets. Could the tide be permanently turning finally?
Yes, the narrative seems to be changing. Those outside of Detroit are finally starting to come around and realize what many of us already knew.
But, here’s where the biggest challenge begins, at least I think so. Because, for so long Detroit has been the underdog, the hopeless city, the forgotten town that always had to prove itself.
Now that we’ve finally gotten the attention we deserve, we can’t simply declare victory because we’re nowhere near the finish line. Truth is, there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. There’s still unemployment, there’s still a failing public school system, and Detroit’s population is still not where it should be.
But at least now, the rest of the country, and maybe even the world is watching, and maybe now they’re more willing and eager to root us on than tear us down.
And what sparked this latest wave of affection from afar? Growing signs of a rebound. And the same thing that so often draws the national spotlight: our sports teams. With an almost perfect storm of success, the undefeated Lions, the Yankee-killing Tigers and winning seasons for our two big college football teams are once again driving the deconstruction, reconstruction, explanations and excuses of an underdog town.
Check out some of the coverage the D has received recently:
Wall Street Journal - Detroit Sees Signs of Turnaround…
USA Today - Detroit Rising
Read the whole story here.
Heading into mid-October with two winning sports teams, Detroit seems to be getting all kinds of attention lately.
But it’s not just the Tigers and Lions that are garnering all the national spotlight and headlines. Many writers and journalists around the country have been drawing deeper (albeit similar and a bit cliche at this point) connections between the city’s sports teams and the city itself.
It’s a familiar theme: our winning sports teams represent the unyielding hope, undying pride and overwhelming optimism the people of Detroit never seem to lose.
Yes, it’s a familiar theme that has been played out before, (I wrote about it many times) but it doesn’t mean it isn’t still very true.
These days, people think about Detroit a little differently.
A new spirit is heard in the euphoria for its professional sports teams: The Tigers are in the American League Championship Series, while the Lions are 4-0 for the first time since 1980 — and playing on Monday Night Football for the first time in a decade.
Read the whole story in today’s edition of USA Today here.
Biking through the city of Detroit?
Sure, some would never dare to venture out into the city on two lowly, human-powered wheels, but then again, many more than you probably would expect are.
It turns out that the Motor City is becoming increasingly more friendly to bicyclists and the 10th annual Tour de Troit is a prime example with more than 4,500 bicyclists taking to the streets this weekend.
Tour de Troit, which began and ended at Roosevelt Park, offered two ride options Saturday morning. A 22-mile slow-paced, police-escorted ride allowed bicyclists to go at their own pace as they explored the city. The Metric Century was a 62-mile ride for 250 of the more experienced riders.
Detroit now has more than 40 miles of bike-friendly lanes with more scheduled to be built and although the amount of bike commuters in the city—about 1,200—pales in comparison to places like New York or L.A., biking in the city is on the upswing.
That community has helped spur construction of a growing network of bike lanes on some of the city’s main streets, including Michigan Avenue. Detroit has about 40 miles of lanes, and more are scheduled.
Despite its reputation as the Motor City, many cycling enthusiasts see Detroit as being built for bikes, with flat, wide roads and a relative lack of motor traffic.
Check out the full story from the Detroit News here and take a look at pictures from this weekend’s 2011 Tour de Troit here in Freep.
A few weeks back I finally had the pleasure and opportunity to meet the woman behind one of the most successful Detroit blogs on the web. Becks Davis created Detroit Moxie back in 2008 and since that time it has taken off and gained a huge following.
In any case, shortly after our meeting, Becks had asked if I’d be willing to write a guest piece for Moxie about my experience working as an intern in the D this summer. And of course, I jumped at the chance!
Below is a little exerpt, you can check out the full post here.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit over the top when it comes to rooting for my hometown Detroit. And funny thing is, for quite a few years now, I knew I loved and supported the city, but unfortunately had never spent enough time in it to fully understand it and all of it’s complexities and it’s inevitable quirks.
Every year right around this time, Crain’s Detroit Business publishes their annual “Living & Investing in the D” magazine packed with tons of awesome info about all of the cool things going on in the city. From fantastic people and entrepreneurs to new businesses and housing projects, if you weren’t already convinced Detroit was worth investing in before you read, you’ll be hard pressed to not feel that way afterwards.
Being an intern and all over at Crains for the summer, I had the opportunity to produce all of the multimedia content for this year’s series. It was an absolute blast going all over the city meeting incredible visionaries and essentially getting a front-row seat to what living and working in the D is really like.
Some highlights from the 2011 issue:
Entrepreneur creates ‘hostel’ environment
Plus, be sure to check out all the multimedia content as well. Below is one of the videos I worked on exploring the buzz in Midtown.
Production by Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business
USA Today recently put together a list of what they deemed to be the 10 best urban neighborhoods for exploring. Low and behold, Detroit’s own Corktown, a neighborhood I’ve gotten to know very well over the past couple weeks, made the list.
Being Motown’s oldest neighborhood, USA Today said the area is one the rise with young, new artists, musicians and professionals. My personal favorite stops along Michigan Avenue Slows BBQ and the new Astro Coffee shop also get a shout-out.
Other neighborhoods to make the list included Wicker Park in Chicago, South Lake Union in Seattle and the Fremont District in Las Vegas.
Check out the full story here.
And Crain’s Detroit was first with the story! This past Friday El Guapo Mexican Grill opened for business on the corner of Randolph and Monroe street in downtown Detroit. The corner is a prime location backing up to Greektown and just blocks from the financial district and Campus Martius Park.
While other food truck operators in downtown Detroit have set up shop without permits, Anthony Curis and Doug Runyon, co-owners of El Guapo, made dozens of trips to City Hall to find a path to legality.
Check out the full story here and my video with El Guapo’s co-owener Douglas Runyon below. Ladies and gents, this is definitely the start of something fantastic for food culture the city of Detroit.
Production by Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business
Eastern Market is now open during the week on Tuesdays through the end of September!
Production by Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business
