Features

Blossoms against blight: Hamtramck's Flower House opens this weekend

Patrick Dunn Monday, October 19, 2015

Event planner Liz Andre-Stotz was a little surprised last year when her florist friend Lisa Waud called her and several others with a "crazy idea": buying a house for the express purpose of filling it with flowers.

Hamtramck

Resident Teronto Robinson speaks with a colleague at the Thea Bowman Clinic, a partner of the DMC

How Detroit anchor institutions are developing local talent

MJ Galbraith Monday, October 05, 2015

Through a handful of programs, local anchor institutions are getting Detroiters ready for the jobs of the future.

Jarrod Bell leads a workout at CrossFit BMW

Detroit gets tough: Fitness culture on the rise in the city

Aaron Mondry Monday, October 05, 2015

In recent years, a handful of gyms have opened in Detroit, each offering a unique style of training while contributing to a growing fitness culture in the city.

Corktown, Midtown, Downtown

Life after elephants: Detroit's entrepreneurial awakening

David Egner Thursday, September 17, 2015

The New Economy Initiative's executive director writes about how NEI helped change economic development in Michigan from hunting "elephants" to building a network of support to foster entrepreneurship, small business growth, and innovation – from grass roots to high-growth.

Midtown, Downtown

Looking back on a decade of growth in Detroit's urban ag movement

David Sands Thursday, September 17, 2015

As we celebrate a decade of publishing in Detroit, we look back on the growth of the city's urban agriculture movement in recent years.

Corktown, Midtown, Downtown

People enjoying the Michigan Avenue parklet

Can a short-lived parklet be the start of a major transformation of Michigan Avenue?

Matthew Lewis Thursday, September 17, 2015

Existing just over a week, a parklet in front of Astro Coffee in Corktown was dismantled by MDOT workers over Labor Day weekend. Will its short life help inspire the long-term transformation of Michigan Avenue from a car-centric thoroughfare into a people-centric Main Street?

Corktown

Detroit, one man, one month, no car

Terry Parris Jr. Thursday, September 17, 2015

As a part of our "10 Years of Change" series, we revisit this piece from 2008 in which Terry Parris, Jr. reflects on his experience of going carless for a month in the Motor City. What he learned might surprise you.

Woodbridge, Hamtramck, Southwest, Corktown, Palmer Park / University District, The Villages, Lafayette Park, Grandmont Rosedale, Eastern Market, Midtown, New Center, Downtown

Transparency is an overriding theme of the downtown Y's architecture

10 Years of Change: Giving the downtown Y its due

Matthew Piper Thursday, September 03, 2015

Bold and forward-looking when it opened in December 2005, the Boll Family YMCA continues to lead by architectural example as the central business district burgeons around it.

Downtown

While it builds out a home in Detroit, Katoi gets up and running in Ann Arbor

Patrick Dunn Thursday, September 03, 2015

Katoi, a Thai eatery which started as a Detroit food truck, recently opened a brick-and-mortar location in Ann Arbor while a permanent Detroit restaurant is under construction.

Corktown

Paulette Auchtung, planetarium coordinator and staff astronomer at the Michigan Science Center

Inspiring curious minds: Detroit women in STEM

Allie Semperger Thursday, September 03, 2015

Detroit grows stronger with contributions from women in science, technology, engineering, and math fields.

Midtown, Downtown

Detroit does Grand Rapids: Activi-Tree is heading to ArtPrize, and it needs your help

Matthew Lewis Thursday, September 03, 2015

Activi-Tree is much more than a cool space made from a hodgepodge of repurposed (celebrity) garbage and artwork – it's a space for sharing ideas and building relationships. And you can help program it when it heads to ArtPrize.

New Center

Remembering Colin Hubbell, a developer, champion, and friend of Detroit

Clare Pfeiffer Thursday, September 03, 2015

You may not have known Colin Hubbell, but his mark on Detroit's greater downtown endures 7 years after his death. Enjoy this remembrance that former Model D managing editor Clare Pfeiffer wrote when Colin passed in August 2008.

Midtown

Summer in the City ends season by painting huge mural on Crowell Community Center

Model D Thursday, September 03, 2015

On Friday, August 14, the forecast called for rain, but that didn't stop 1,200 people from showing up at the Crowell Community Center in northwest Detroit to put in an honest day's work as a part of Summer in the City's annual Finale Friday.

Grandmont Rosedale

10 Years of Change: An argument against widening I-94

Tommy O'Flynn Sunday, August 23, 2015

In June 2013, Tommy O'Flynn urged Model D readers to oppose dated plans to expand I-94 where it runs through Midtown. Since then, the Michigan Department of Transportation has scaled back those plans, though dozens of buildings are still threatened.

Midtown

Parjana's Greg McPartlin and Andrew Niemczyk

Detroit company poised to revolutionize how cities manage stormwater

Samuel Molnar Sunday, August 23, 2015

Parjana's Energy Passive Groundwater Recharge Product has the potential to revolutionize the way cities manage stormwater by increasing the efficacy of green infrastructure and alleviating burdens placed on aging sewer systems.