Midtown : Features

The Motor City Mapping project captured vital information on the condition of each of Detroit's 375,000+ parcels. It may have also created a template for citywide collaboration.

Dilla Youth Day, A celebration of legendary Detroit producer J Dilla and a workshop for local kids interested in music, will take place Feb. 8, 1-8 p.m. at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

A building's visual order can have an inordinate impact on a community, which is why a number of area community development organizations have used façade improvement programs to battle blight and spur neighborhood economic development.

Three members of the Detroit Revitalization Fellows inaugural cohort are committed to continuing their work to improve the city well beyond their fellowship term.

They say you can't go home again, but three Detroit Revitalization Fellows have used their fellowship to get back to Michigan and do meaningful work in the city.

To help inform Detroiters looking to acquire vacant land, The Greening of Detroit, Michigan Community Resources, and the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights have collaborated in developing a series of workshops called "Land Forum."

A weeklong learning experience based on the connection between the two capitals of electronic music -- Detroit and Berlin -- took place last week. For your reading pleasure, Walter Wasacz, a co-organizer of the Detroit-Berlin Connection, synthesizes some of the ideas generated during the event.

On Friday, May 23, the Detroit Sound Conservancy will host its inaugural conference at the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library. DSC founder Carleton Gholz tells us what to expect.

It's no secret that young professionals have gravitated to Detroit's urban center in recent years, but what happens when they start having kids? Nina Misuraca Ignaczak spoke with some families who have made the commitment to stay and raise their kids in the city.

Satori Shakoor is a performer who believes that true stories have the power to transform people. Dennis Archambault tells us how Shakoor's stories transform audiences every month at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Midtown.

Record Store Day, a celebration of independent record stores, is happening Saturday, April 19. In preparation, record head Glen Morren tells us about a few of his favorite spots to buy vinyl in Detroit.

A career in music is not an automatic invitation to starvation and desperation. In fact, Keith Owens tells us, it can be as stable, even as lucrative, as just about anything else out there.

Matthew Lewis, Model D's new managing editor, muses about the past, present, and future of the publication.

This is Walter Wasacz's last issue as managing editor of Model D. He waxes sentimental about his predecessors, talks about what's next for him professionally and even declares the coming season "a summer of love."    

Many immigrants and refugees in Southeast Michigan left professional careers behind when they left their native countries. Global Detroit tells us about Upwardly Global, a program that helps immigrants adapt professional skills learned abroad to the workplace in Metro Detroit.