Featured Stories

Making performance art accessible: Ryan Myers-Johnson and Sidewalk Festival for the Performing Arts

Walter Wasacz Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Detroit's emerging experimental and alternative artists will showcase their work at the Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts happening August 2 at Old Redford's Artist Village. Urban Innovation Exchange shares this profile of Ryan Myers-Johnson, the festival's founder.

Arts, Brightmoor, Building Communities, Detroit, Performing Arts, Sense of Place

The glorious potential of cities; or, How eight square blocks can change the world

Claire Nelson Tuesday, July 29, 2014

"The city is essential. The potential is glorious. And eight square blocks can change the world," writes Claire Nelson, director of Urban Innovation Exchange.

Building Communities, Detroit, Music, Public Policy, Redevelopment, Transformational change, Urban Leadership

Model D's top stories of 2014 so far

Model D staff Tuesday, July 29, 2014

2014 has gone by so fast that we thought it would be worthwhile to take a look back on our most popular stories to date.

Detroit

After 25 years, Grandmont Rosedale provides a template for community development

Amy Kuras Tuesday, July 22, 2014

For a quarter century, Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation has worked towards its mission of preserving and improving the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhoods. Its efforts are bearing fruit.

Building Communities, Detroit, Development, Move to Detroit, Placemaking, Sense of Place, Urban Leadership

Grandmont Rosedale

Building a better future for Detroit's black LGBTQ community

Amy Kuras Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Since 1994, KICK! and its founder and executive director Curtis Lipscomb have filled a unique role in local LGBTQ advocacy efforts by focusing on the intersection of LGBTQ and African American identity.

Building Communities, Detroit, LGBT, Social innovation, Urban Leadership

University Commons - Palmer Park

Global Shapers re-shapes visitors' perceptions of Detroit

Joshua Etim Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Many attending SHAPE North America 2014 came to the Detroit thinking about cars and bankruptcy. They left with a whole new respect and admiration for the city.

Detroit, Move to Detroit, Sense of Place, Social innovation, Social Networking, Urban Leadership

Action sports in Detroit: A year after the X Games bid

Jeff Waraniak Friday, July 18, 2014

“We were able to take over an abandoned lot and build a BMX park with the city skyline in the background. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in Chicago or L.A.” Just in case the folks from the X Games didn’t already know, it doesn’t happen in Austin, either.

Building Communities, Detroit, Lifestyle, Sports

Downtown Detroit

How the rise of electricity transformed urban life in Detroit

Amy Elliott Bragg Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The culture of innovation that sprang from a single lightbulb.

Detroit, Energy, Public Policy, Transformational change

After 25 years of growth in the city, the Greening of Detroit comes of age

Matthew Piper Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Over the last 25 years, the Greening of Detroit has planted 82,000 trees, helped hundreds of Detroiters develop career skills, and changed the way we think about sustainability in the city.

Detroit, Education and training, Green, Placemaking, Sustainability, Transformational change

Summer weekends in the suburbs: A guide for Detroiters

Patrick Dunn Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Enough of this "I'm too cool for the suburbs" nonsense! We know there's plenty happening in the city this summer, but there's lots to do around the region, too. Our partners at Metromode have put together a few ideas for ways to spend weekends beyond Detroit's city limits.

Detroit, Food and Drink, Lifestyle, Sense of Place

Popps Packing: An old meat packing plant becomes a driving force in Hamtramck's creative community

Walter Wasacz Tuesday, July 15, 2014

When Graem Whyte and Faina Lerman bought a former Hamtramck meat packing plant in 2007, they didn't anticipate it becoming a catalyst for neighborhood growth and redevelopment.

Arts, Building Communities, Detroit, Entrepreneurs, Performing Arts, Placemaking

Hamtramck

Where industry and ecology collide: The future of the lower Rouge, Detroit's other riverfront

Dennis Archambault Tuesday, July 08, 2014

In Southwest Detroit, industry, ecology, and history collide where the Fort Street Bridge spans the lower Rouge River. The Fort Rouge Gateway Project is an effort to showcase this uniquely Detroit geography and bring people closer to Detroit's less-heralded riverfront.

Blue/Green Infrastructure, Detroit, Great Lakes Stewardship, Green, Placemaking, Sustainability

Southwest Detroit

Dive bars, cocktails, and the soul of a city: A conversation with "mixographer" David Wondrich

John Notarianni Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Cocktail historian David Wondrich recently named Detroit "Bar City of the Year" in Esquire magazine. He sat down with Model D and talked about how Midwest cities are "much more alive than people in New York and San Francisco give them credit for" and why "bars without old people in them are boring."

Detroit, Food and Drink, Lifestyle, Nightlife , Placemaking, Sense of Place, Transformational change

Detroit City FC edges closer to first place, trails Lansing United by one point

Jeremy Summitt Tuesday, July 08, 2014

As Detroit City FC heads into the final week of the regular season, Le Rouge are within striking distance of first place.

Detroit, Detroit City FC, Sports

Downtown Detroit

Healthy Detroit redefines the role of the park in Detroit neighborhoods

Dan Jones Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Nicholas Mukhtar and Healthy Detroit are working with communities to create "HealthParks," which combine typical park amenities with food systems, preventative care clinics, doctor screenings, and outdoor fitness systems.

Building Communities, Detroit, Education and training, Placemaking