Downtown : Features

Fermentation is an ancient form of preservation that's being popularized for its unique flavor and health properties. Many food businesses in Detroit are likewise finding new uses for this old technique.

Metro Detroit has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the nation, which is a huge problem for the region's future prosperity. But there are positive, incremental steps Metro Detroiters are taking in their communities that can make a real difference.

Detroit's urban farms are using green infrastructure to reduce their water costs. Along the way, they're helping to improve the city's stormwater system.

In the wake of a narrow defeat for regional transit, Ellen Vial explores how we might learn from regional cooperation in Pittsburgh and the Twin Cities.

Detroit's parks are testing grounds for new green infrastructure projects that are changing the way the city manages its stormwater runoff.

As Detroit's climate changes, scientists are working to inform policies that will help the city both mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions and increase its resiliency in the face of a warmer, wetter future.

With the announcement of the closing of St. Cece's, a quintessentially chill bar, Amy Elliott Bragg makes a case for the chill bar and lists her favorites. 

Two bills on this year's ballot could establish a community benefits ordinance in Detroit. Nina Ignaczak delves into what that might mean for the city and the differences between the two. 

Open Streets Detroit closed 3.7 miles of road to vehicular traffic and opened it to people. Jessica Meyer recaps what took place during those two exciting days. 

We checked in with experts in three very different American cities—Cleveland, St. Louis, and Los Angeles—to gather lessons as our own transit system takes shape.

In the first of a three-part series looking at the challenges of being both a mother and entrepreneur, Melinda Clynes writes about women seeking financial independence in business.

Detroiters must deal with a new drainage fee to help pay for water infrastructure. Fortunately, an innovative program will help residents reduce those fees, while also soaking up water on their land and helping their neighbors.

The documentary, which follows six people working or owning startups in Detroit, presents both the joys and challenges of running a startup. 

Since founding the company in 2008, Ellis-Brown been named one of Forbes' "30 Under 30" in the manufacturing industry and her beverages are now available in Meijer and Whole Foods stores across the Midwest.

In the second installment of our series on Detroit's foreclosure crisis, David Sands looks at the organizations and people developing innovative solutions to keep people in their homes.