Features

Starlett Simmons (right) of Five Star Cake Co. with her daughter, Kai Taalib

Entrepreneurship and motherhood: Family first

Melinda Clynes Monday, December 05, 2016

Despite all the time required to start and run a business, mother entrepreneurs often do so because it counterintuitively allows them to get closer to their family.

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

Stephen Roginson of Batch Brewing Company

A fermenting culture: Detroit food businesses harness the science (and flavor) of fermentation

Sarah Rose Sharp Monday, December 05, 2016

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.

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

Chase Cantrell, director of Building Community Value

Combating income inequality: 3 local, practical solutions to a national epidemic

Aaron Mondry Monday, December 05, 2016

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.

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

Rachel Jones, a senior at the Henry Ford Academy School For Creative Studies in Detroit

The Henry Ford Academy's senior mastery process helps students own their future

Andy Reid Monday, December 05, 2016

The Senior Mastery Process gives high school students at the Henry Ford Academy a hands-on opportunity working for a business or organization to help answer the age old question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

Midtown

Detroit's urban farms embrace green infrastructure for sustainable water use

Brian Allnutt Monday, December 05, 2016

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.

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

Can Metro Detroit's municipalities cooperate?

Ellen Vial Monday, December 05, 2016

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.

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

Lucy Carnaghi, co-owner of Rose's Fine Foods

Higher wages and split tips: Working for fair pay in the Detroit service industry

Patrick Dunn Monday, December 05, 2016

The tipping system is the cheapest, easiest legal way for restaurateurs to maintain a staff, but it also has unfortunate side-effects for that same staff. Some in the service industry, however, are rethinking the tip.

The Villages, Eastern Market, Midtown

How Detroit's public parks are using green infrastructure to prevent flooding, save money

Brian Allnutt Monday, December 05, 2016

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

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

The Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood, located on the far east side, is one of the areas most at risk for flooding and heat stress

How Detroit's climate change activists are using science to plan for a warmer city

Nina Ignaczak Monday, November 07, 2016

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.

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

Ron Gurdjian has tended bar at Tom's Tavern since "the late 70s"

In praise of the chill bar

Amy Elliott Bragg Monday, November 07, 2016

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.

Southwest, Corktown, The Villages, Midtown, New Center, Downtown

Two community benefits ordinances in Detroit set for ballot battle

Nina Ignaczak Monday, November 07, 2016

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.

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

3 regional transit systems Metro Detroit can learn from

Patrick Dunn Tuesday, October 25, 2016

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.

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

Karen Guilmette, owner of Natural Red, with three of her children

Detroit's mother entrepreneurs: these women started businesses and ended up with happy families

Melinda Clynes Tuesday, October 25, 2016

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.

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

Rain gardens to the rescue: How Detroiters are working together to protect water infrastructure

Brian Allnutt Tuesday, October 25, 2016

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.