Posts Tagged ‘Detroit’
Eight cities selected for the 2014 Community Progress Leadership Institute
Following a competitive application process, we’re excited to introduce the eight cities selected to join the 2014 Community Progress Leadership Institute (CPLI)! CPLI is our one-of-a-kind training program focused on equipping leaders with the skills they need to transform large inventories of blighted and vacant properties into community assets. (Curious? More info about CPLI.) Delegations of up to seven people from…
Read MoreHow the garden grows: A Q&A with Mark Covington
In our recent report, Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices, we share the story of Mark Covington, who, through his passion and hard work, was able to create the vibrant Georgia Street Community Collective on formerly vacant lots in Detroit. His story of how he was able to turn his passion for bettering his community…
Read MoreJust released! Our new report shares stories of placemaking in Legacy Cities
Today marks the release of our latest publication: Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices! The impetus for the report began with a question: how does placemaking apply to Legacy Cities — those former industrial hubs that are rich in historic, institutional, and other assets, but are grappling with sharp population declines? Are there good…
Read MoreDemolition the right way: Using strategic demolition to revitalize communities
Though temperatures were in the low 40’s, spirits were high when I attended the 3rd Anniversary of the multifaceted Vacants to Value program in Baltimore last month. Over the past 3 years, Baltimore’s Vacants to Value (V2V) program has rehabbed 1,500 homes and demolished more than 700. Both blight reduction strategies were on display during the anniversary…
Read MoreHistoric blight blitz is now underway in Flint, Saginaw
A historic new ‘blight blitz’ is now underway in Michigan, constituting the largest blight removal program in the state’s history. Both the state and the nation have a renewed interest in promoting urban revitalization in Michigan through thoughtfully attending to the state’s vacant, abandoned, and problem properties. Last week, the cities of Flint and Saginaw…
Read MoreProperty tax madness: Another part of the Detroit puzzle
There are many reasons that Detroit has filed for bankruptcy, and some have already been explored by others on Rooflines. Detroit’s problems have accumulated over decades, and are a paradigm of the trajectory of dozens of cities in the United States undone by suburbanization, flight to the Sunbelt, deindustrialization, and a political system that rewarded all three.…
Read MoreManufacturing may be coming back, but it won’t bring jobs
I finally got to see Detropia last week, the acclaimed documentary filmed in Detroit that’s been making the rounds of the film festivals and the indie houses. As someone who’s pretty deeply involved with Detroit, I’d been looking forward to seeing it. It turns out that it’s not really about that city at all. What Detropia’s filmmakers seem really to care…
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