Buzz

The Alley Project creates public art space on far Southwest side

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Looking at problems to provide hints for solutions is a smart way to look at community. This is even smarter: Looking at the assets a community might provide and leveraging that social capital. The Alley Project (TAP) didn't mushroom up magically, although there was a strong community base for it to begin with. It evolved in a partnership of participatory design.

We couldn't agree more with those words by Lee Schneider in HuffPost Detroit. Read on here.

Atlantic Cities takes notice of Detroit Bus Co.

Atlantic Cities Tuesday, March 20, 2012

If it's about transportation and it's in Detroit, we're all over it lately. Not to mention, we're always on the hunt for stories on transit region-wide, statewide and, well, all over the planet. So long as it presents solutions to a plethora of issues back home.

Like this story we found in Atlantic Cities. Read about the Detroit Bus Company here.

Winter Music Conference party raises funds for Youthville

Resident Advisor Tuesday, March 20, 2012

At Need I Say More, an afternoon after-party at the upcoming Winter Music Conference in Miami, DJ and all-round good guy Danny Tenaglia is heading a lineup that is donating the proceeds of the event to Detroit's Youthville. Imagine that. How cool. No doubt the artists' relationship with longtime Youthville mentor and international DJ star Mike Huckaby played a part.

Resident Advisor has the scoop.

Place is what you make it

Let's Save Michigan Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Find an underutilized space in your community. An alley, a pocket park, a vacant lot. With a group of neighbors, friends, business owners, or other community members, create a plan and design for turning that underutilized space into a community place.

The best part: there is potential funding at the end of your project.

Let’s Save Michigan will award up to three prizes, ranging from $500 to $1000, to partially or fully fund your project. Your community will be more attractive, more welcoming, safer, and more economically successful.

Get more details here. Look for a feature next week that aims to entice you even further.

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.

GOOD knows what's good: Detroit on list of cities where art is booming

GOOD Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sure, there is nothing especially novel about Detroit being on a list of cities experiencing an artistic boom. But let's not get too cozy or cocky and stay gritty and productive. It's nice to be on GOOD's radar, that's for sure.

Read the rest of the story here.

OCD hackerspace gets some love from Detroit Yes!, Metro Times

Detroit Yes! Tuesday, March 13, 2012

We've been fans of OmniCorpDetroit before the Eastern Market hackerspace even had a name or a permanent space. We've seen some of the crazy-good work produced there for the annual Maker Faire. And have even been impressed with stuff that never made it out the door. That's how good these creative people are.

Check out this nice spread in Detroit Yes! here. And in the Metro Times here.

Spring forward march at St. Paddy Day parade in Corktown

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, March 13, 2012

About 3,000 people were expected to participate in the annual parade that spanned several blocks along Michigan Avenue, said Mike Kelley, president of the United Irish Societies and co-chairman of the parade. That number jumped to over 65,000 because of unseasonably warm spring-like temps in Detroit's Corktown.

“The crowd is huge,” Kelly said.

That's an excerpt from the Detroit Free Press. Read the rest of the story, which includes a slideshow with plenty of shamrock green, 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.

Great Dane Jan Gehl weighs in on placemaking

Economics of Place Tuesday, March 13, 2012

While hanging out on the Economics of Place website, we spotted this gem:

Danish Architect Jan Gehl is one of the giants in the field of building communities around the human scale. His work is renowned around the world and his thoughts and ideas are sure to inspire even the most jaded of urbanists. It is about a half hour video, but well worth the time.

Yes, it certainly is. Read the rest of the story and watch the video here.

Corktown innovators get 'buzzed' on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe'

MSNBC Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The top of our Monday morning is given a rousing head start whenever Detroit doers get their due in the national media. This time during a caffeinated discussion on how innovation is changing the social landscape and putting juice into the economy in Michigan and Ohio. With a special focus on what's happening in Corktown, around the intersection of Michigan and 14th St. and beyond.

We've got video. Watch it here.

Empowering Detroit's powerless with design

New York Times Tuesday, March 06, 2012

We're always happy to dig up press on Veronika Scott, who was featured in our recent IdeaLab speaker series in Ann Arbor. This time the words attached to her good deeds come courtesy of the New York Times. Here's an excerpt:

Having graduated this past December, Ms. Scott has now founded the Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit company, where she is training and paying recently homeless women to produce the coats for those living on the streets. Already they have made 275 coats -- 100 of which have been given to homeless people in Detroit and two of which Ms. Scott gave to Occupy Wall Street supporters she met while visiting New York this winter.

Read the rest of 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.

Tigers fans brave rain, snow and heavy wind for tickets

Detroit News Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Hey, this is the sort of late-winter news we love hearing: Nearly 1,000 people waited outside Comerica Park to buy individual game tickets for the 2012 season. The tickets, which were also available online and by phone, went on sale at 10 a.m.

Play ball here.

Student-journalist imagines new life in historic Detroit buildings

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 06, 2012

We get excited when student-journalists bust out into the local spotlight. We found this one by a Detroit architecture loving student Chris Zadorozny in HuffPost Detroit. An excerpt:

With the recent push of hotels in the city now, including the Westin Book-Cadillac, the DoubleTree Fort Shelby, and the soon-to-be-renovated David Whitney Building into an Aloft Boutique hotel, this could work again. Yes, the Marriott at the Renaissance Center is right down the street, and most of the high-end visitors stay at the Book-Cadillac, the views could entice many to stay.

Read on here.