Buzz

ValleytoDetroit.com luring Yahoo techies to downtown

TechCrunch Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Hello, laid-off Yahoo engineers and other tech pros looking for the next big thing, which, as we know, is a million little things. It seems many of those "little things" are adding up and multiplying quickly in the lower Woodward Corridor. And at the M@dison Building in Grand Circus Park in particular.

TechCrunch reports on attempts to woo the best and the brightest to the D. We stand behind that call to digital arms. Read on
here.

MSU proposing massive urban agriculture research project

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, April 17, 2012

This project fills the brim with possibilities. The opportunity for Detroit to become the "capital of the experimental" has long been in the forefront of our vision statement. We would heartily welcome Michigan State University, in this case, to put its resources into 100 acres of Detroit land for urban ag research that could match any on a global scale. And of course, we insist it be done inclusively with participation of local groups already working on the fertile ground.

A few tantalizing highlights in this excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

• Research efforts would include "vertical agriculture," in which food is grown inside multi-story buildings, and innovative ways to produce energy and conserve water in food production.

• If implemented, Detroit would become the key research city in a network that includes Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Nairobi and others.

• Detroit "could be the research and innovation engine" for urban agriculture around the world. The other cities "look at Detroit as the place where many of the answers will come from."

Read more in the Freep here. With additional "big-ass farm" perspective from Curbed Detroit.

'Urban Futures' provokes discussion in Lafayette Park

rogueHAA Tuesday, April 17, 2012

If an evening of exploring the role of large scale urban visions in post-industrial cities sounds like your cuppa tea -- as it is for us --- this is your weekend huckleberry.

The panel discussion "Urban Futures" in Lafayette Park will ask some pertinent questions about Detroit Modernism. Some of those questions include: Detroit’s Lafayette Park development has achieved many of the goals of Modernist planning and urban renewal, creating arguably one of the most vibrant and diverse neighborhoods in the city: does this speak to the unique conditions of Detroit? Does Detroit offer similar opportunities for avant-garde planning and large scale urban interventions today? What successes and sacrifices accompany the Modernist social agenda, and are there lessons to be learned as we seek to engage in equitable and sustainable redevelopment here and in other post-industrial cities?

“Urban Futures" is April 21. Panel Discussion: 6 - 8 p.m. Reception: 8 - 9 p.m. At Lafayette Park Retail, 1565 East Lafayette, Detroit.

HuffPost Detroit: Bus and rail system both needed for Detroit. We agree

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, April 10, 2012

We're completely in step with HuffPost Detroit bloggers' Megan Owens and Adrianna Jordan's assessment that Detroit needs light rail and rapid bus transit.

Here's an excerpt:

The fundamental reason why both light rail and buses are necessary is that they often serve different purposes and are suited for different locations. When the transit modes work together, light rail provides an urban transit backbone that is fed by buses delivering passengers throughout less dense areas.

There's more to like about this piece. Read on here.

Gilbert scores again, this time with $500K residential building on Washington Blvd

Crain's Detroit Business Tuesday, April 10, 2012

We never get tired of Dan Gilbert (or anyone else -- c'mon anyone else, step up and put down some cash on Detroit real estate) buying downtown properties. This time it's a residential building on Washington Blvd. that you've seen a million times but never guessed at its endless possibilities. Get the lowdown in Crain's here.

Richard Florida weighs in on what downtown Twitter presence means for Detroit

Atlantic Cities Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Take a look inside Startup News to get our own Jon Zemke's take on Twitter coming to Detroit here.

But before you go, take a look at what Richard Florida has to say in this op/ed from Atlantic Cities.

An excerpt:

Now with his development company, Rock Ventures, (Dan Gilbert) owns nine buildings downtown and has attracted 40 companies to those buildings all in a very short time. Twitter is, by far, his most high profile catch.

Read more here.

'Awesome' launches, starts spending money to reward talent

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, April 03, 2012

The Detroit Journal was awarded $1,000 last week by the Awesome News Task Force Detroit at a party at the Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center in downtown Detroit. Awesome also celebrated its launch at the same time.

Where did we find this awesome news? In Kate Abbey-Lambertz piece in HuffPost Detroit, that's where.

Cass Tech home to new Detroit City Futbol side

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The semi-pro Detroit City FC soccer team will open its regular season May 12 against visiting AFC Cleveland at, drum roll please, the field at downtown's storied Cass Technical High School.

Here's an excerpt from HuffPost Detroit:

The new soccer team, nicknamed "Le Rouge," will belong to the National Premier Soccer League's Midwest division and will play against teams in Cleveland and Buffalo. Organizers say home games will feature a variety of local entertainment, food and merchandise to help create a family-friendly environment that spotlights Detroit.

Read the rest of the story here.

Inc. mag calls out Detroit as innovation hot spot

Inc. Tuesday, March 13, 2012

You know the social innovation scene is pretty sweet when Inc. Magazine says the downtown tech enclave dubbed Webward Avenue is poised to become "Detroit's own Silicon Valley." We felt that exact vibe at our last speaker series event held at the M@dison so we're not caught off guard by that statement.

Read the rest of the story here.

Hey, developers: why not ask us what we want in our neighborhood?

Atlantic Cities Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Here is an idea that could not have come at a better time. It's being called real estate crowdsourcing, at least it is by the forward-thinking folks at Atlantic Cities.

Here's an excerpt: If the concept proves workable, Miller and his colleagues envision expanding it -- to other neighborhoods and other real-estate developers, other cities and even other parts of the planning process. Matching a business to a vacant space is just the first step. What if that business also wanted to gab with the local community on everything from what to put on the menu to how to design its patio to where to find the financing?

Good stuff. Read all about it here.

Citizen Effect making connections via social networks

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Earlier this year, Dan Morrison of Citizen Effect introduced himself in Model D. Now read up on his group's progress in HuffPost Detroit. An excerpt:

So what did all this work on Twitter get us? A good but not ridiculous list of 831 Twitter followers? Actually, a hell of a lot more than that. First, a launch week that made it feel like we were a much larger operation than we are (which has its ups and downs). We had two articles in the Detroit Free Press, air time on WDET, a feature on Model D, two invitations to blog on Huffington Post Detroit, blog posts on Positive Detroit, Xconomy, Detroit Half Full, The Detroit Hub, and others. Most important, social media allowed us to get physical. Over 200 people came out for our happy hour and nearly 200 people inquired about how to be a Citizen Philanthropist for Detroit4Detroit. Not bad for a few social media hacks.

Read the rest of the story here.

Brooklyn is so last year; now Detroit might be the new Austin

Culturemap Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Guess what? There is a new round of urban hipster-centric comparisons that includes Detroit in the conversation. This time the standard of cool is Austin, not Brooklyn, and cities like Asheville, Chattanooga, Burlington and, of course, Detroit are in on the chase. Or so says Culturemap.

It's not horrible. Read it here.

Like the Broderick Tower? So do we

Facebook Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We were trolling around Facebook the other day and found this page dedicated to the Broderick Tower, one of downtown's skyscraping gems. No, scratch that. It is one of the great buildings to ever rise over the North American continent -- and you can quote us on that.

Find the page, and "like" the great tower, here.

Bizarre Foods' five top moments in Detroit

Travel Channel Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Andrew Zimmern came to Detroit for a recent episode of Bizarre Foods, which airs on the Travel Channel. He visited some of our best soul kitchens, hung out with the Mower Gang, had ghost pepper pizza on Bangladesh Avenue and went to Dearborn to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

That guy puts some crazy stuff in his mouth. Check out the results here.

Model D publisher Claire Nelson takes on prosperity agenda on WJR

Michigan Municipal League Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Michigan Prosperity Agenda is a monthly radio show that challenges listeners to help make Michigan a better place to live, work and play by creating vibrant local communities.

This month's show aired on News/Talk 760 WJR and was co-hosted by executive director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League Dan Gilmartin and our own Claire Nelson, publisher of Model D. Part of the discussion was on Nelson's recent More Sexiness in the City piece.

Find the show archived here.

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