Buzz

Study: Greater downtown growing in wealth, diversity

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, February 19, 2013

A report published today and to be shared with investors, developers and city planners, found that greater downtown residents are wealthier than Detroiters at large, but less affluent than the average for the full populations of cities such as Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, which some see as prime examples of successful urban rebirth.

John Gallagher of the Freep has the scoop. An excerpt:

(Data Driven Detroit's Kurt) Metzger pointed out that things are changing so rapidly in the areas that the report may already be slightly dated. For example, gains from the Live Downtown and Live Midtown incentive programs that have bought hundreds of new residents who work for participating businesses into the area in the last two years are not fully captured in this report.

Read the rest of the story (and the full report) here.

Hostel Detroit edgy art tour gets noticed by Michigan Public Radio

Michigan Radio Tuesday, January 29, 2013

We found this dandy report on the Michigan Radio site, and thought "it's about time that Hostel Detroit and its general manager, Michel Soucisse, some more love.

An excerpt:

One of (Soucisse's) guests is Chloe Dietz, a student who goes to school in Portland, Oregon who grew up in Brooklyn, Michigan. She’s on a cross country tour by train. Another guest is Jonathan Dowdall who is an artist from Canada.
Dowdall says Detroit’s art scene drew him to the city.

“Detroit has always had a mythical presence in my mind and I’ve always imagined it a certain way. I really wanted to come here and see on the ground what it was like, in particular street art,” Dowdall says.

Our first stop on the trip is an outdoor street art project on the East Side of Detroit called the Heidelberg project created by artist Tyree Guyton.

Read on here.

Batch nano-brewers looking for some startup cash

Indiegogo.com Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Late in 2012, we featured a news item on an intriguing business idea in Corktown -- the city's first nano-brewery. Like most cool indie commercial projects, it could use some seed money.

An excerpt:

Turns out, opening a brewery is pretty effing expensive. And while banks are tripping over themselves to lend money to startups like this, we thought we'd take our efforts right to the people: our friends, family, and community.

We feel you. Read more here.

Pot & Box coming to former Michigan Avenue gas station

Curbed Detroit Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Social entrepreneurial whiz kid Andy Didorosi, founder of the Detroit Bus Company, has a dandy new renant for a foreclosed gas station he bought at auction. It's Lisa Waud, an Ann Arbor-based biz whiz in the process of relocation to Detroit. Sounds like a groovy collab in the works.

Excerpt:

Lisa's goal is to get Pot & Box open near the end of the year, though patrons looking for a taste of what's to come are very much in luck. She's teaming up with Andy to host venders from all across Detroit for a Valentine's Day Market at the gas station. Pot & Box will be selling flowers (Lisa mentions an old ice cream truck she's repurposing for the task) while merchants like City Bird will set up under a giant tent out front.

Read more in Curbed Detroit here.

Watch fresh music video, as Eminem joins 50 Cent in Detroit

Curbed Detroit Tuesday, December 04, 2012

It might have been a bit noisy and bright at a video shoot last month at the Michigan Central Station (an elsewhere). But it was worth it, we reckon, when we saw the product featuring homeboy Eminem, and 50 Cent and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.

An excerpt from Curbed Detroit:

Remember how 50 Cent and Eminem woke everybody up with their helicopter last month? That was because they were shooting a music video for 50 Cent's "My Life," the third single off of his next album, Street King Immortal. Although the album won't drop until Feb. 26, "My Life" and its music video were just released this week. The footage features 50 Cent, Eminem, and Adam Levine (of Maroon 5) singing/running/sitting in various Detroit locales, most notably Michigan Central Station. Take a look at the video here.

And read the rest of the story here.

Forbes weighs in on 'Another Detroit is Happening'

Forbes Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Freelancer Tamara Warren attended a recent Corktown summit and penned this stylish report for Forbes.

An excerpt: Detroit is a fascinating backdrop as a metaphor for America -- its hidden cultural gems, its industrial revolution legacy, the fortitude of diligent business owners and its stark and vivid displays of neglect. But what made this visiting group different was the caliber of insight offered by the attendees whose list of accomplishments is nothing short of outstanding.

Well said. Read on here.

Curbed digs for news at Transformation Detroit event

Curbed Detroit Tuesday, September 18, 2012

We don't care what anyone says we love seeing Curbed Detroit breaking stories no one else does, like this piece that includes a few juicy teasers about what is happening and when in Corktown (or is that Corktown Shores?):

Take a look here.

Slows' Yardbird to face off for best U.S. sandwich in August

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Here what Adam Richman said on his Travel Channel food show last week about what is now one of America's most talked about sandwiches:

"(It's) a sandwich to be savored. It's unlike any sandwich found anywhere," Richman said during the episode, adding that the Yardbird will be moving on because of the "depth of flavor and special blend of seasoning."

The Travel Channel series, which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, has scheduled the finals -- a national battle where the Yardbird will face nine other regional winners -- for Aug. 15.

We'll get some carryout from Slows and be tuning in.

Check out the rest of the story here.

Core77 blogger hits Detroit, swoons over people and place

Core77 Tuesday, July 31, 2012

We were trolling for Detroit media love when we chanced upon this beauty of a blog. Not much more introduction needed.

An excerpt:

True to form, DC3 introduced me to Peggy Brennan, co-founder of the Green Garage. The converted Model T showroom serves as a demonstration of down-to-earth sustainability (no pun intended), as well as a business incubator (everyone incubates these days) and an advisor on integrating sustainable practices for any interested member of the community. Brennan and her husband, along with 200 volunteers, spent two years designing how to best renovate the showroom and looked to the Passivhaus for inspiration. With 19-inches of insulation and triple-glazed windows, the Green Garage only costs $300 to heat for a year.

Read the entire travelog here.

Next step forward for urban ag: soil remediation

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, July 31, 2012

What to do when you want to farm in the city but the ground needs a little help to get well? Soil remediation might be the answer, reports David Sands in HuffPost Detroit.

Ann excerpt:

"This is all very experimental," he said, "We figured it was a decent spot and it was a safe place to practice, he said. "We'll have things like bonesett, like yarrow and goldenrod and perennial sunflowers, which are all dynamic accumulators of different toxins."

Those plants remove hazardous materials such as heavy metals from the ground and hold them in their bodies, making it easy for people to dispose of dangerous substances through incineration or placement in a special landfill.

Read it all here.

Vice: Phil Cooley one of "most interesting men" in U.S.

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, July 24, 2012

We love Vice, we love Phil Cooley. It makes sense the two would get along so famously.

An exceprt:

"We always felt that in order to have a healthy, long-term sustainable buisness we need a healthy community surrounding us," Cooley said. "So I was able to then use the monies we made from Slows, to hopefully help others in the community. We started working in public spaces, helping other small businesses get open, just because I could."

Read on and watch the video here.

Corktown gets front page love in the News

Detroit News Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Nice to see a major feature on one of our neighborhood gems -- Corktown -- in one of the Detroit dailies. So what if we were there first -- about seven years and a month or two earlier. But who's bragging? Love the deep(ish) dive and the awesome quotes. Kudos.

An excerpt:

Among the new business owners are Jason Yates and Deveri Gifford, who opened a breakfast spot, the Brooklyn Street Local.
The Canadian couple chose Corktown after staying at Hostel Detroit and realizing the neighborhood was "the perfect spot" for their restaurant.

Fellow business owners have been overwhelmingly supportive.

"It's a collaborative effort, rather than competitive," Yates said. "It's fun because we're all doing this at the same time."

Read on here.

Edgy Detroit Beautification Project explodes with color and controversy

Detroit News Tuesday, June 26, 2012

This story in the Detroit News confirms what we knew already -- that the street art that went up on Detroit and Hamtramck buildings this spring is radically beautiful and that the idea was hatched by a Hamtramck-based group called Contra Projects.

An excerpt:

Hamtramck officials and property owners were so accommodating to the Beautification Project that most of the murals went up there first. It's part of the city's plan to spotlight its artistic side, head off illegal graffiti, and, perhaps grab a little of the global cool Detroit has been enjoying on the international art stage.

Jason E. Friedmann, Hamtramck's director of economic and community development, said the town has long been an art haven for creative types, but that side hasn't always been visible to outsiders.

"We're trying to get our underground creative thing out in the open to underline that this is part of what Hamtramck is all about," he said.

Well said Jason, well said.

Read on here.

Dave Mancini talks Supino, and "infectious Detroit spirit," in GQ

GQ Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Chef Dave Mancini takes us on a tour of his favorite food places, including the Sunday Dinner Company on the East Side and Pupuseria Y Restaurante Salvadoreno in Southwest Detroit. Totally awesome piece in GQ. Go here for more awesome.

That buzz you're hearing is coming from Corktown's Beehive

Detroit News Tuesday, May 15, 2012

In 2011, Chris Handyside penned this great piece on Detroit's Beehive Recordings and its founder Steve Nawara.

Here's another, by Detroit News' columnist Donna Tarek. An excerpt:

(Nawara) wants to expand the hive's reach to record Detroit's Latin, Middle Eastern, Polish music to be an accurate representation of the sounds of the city. He already has recorded Finlay's sister Tamara singing the Russian folk songs she grew up with.

In Nawara's concept, the "record" or MP3 is not the product, it's an advertisement for the product, which is the musician, his/her concerts, merchandise, and publishing rights.

"Music wants to be free," Nawara says. "The natural state of music is free. You play it; it enters the atmosphere. That's it."

Love it. Read on here.

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