Detroit

The "food deserts" problem is receiving heightened attention following the release of the USDA's locator map. But this analysis relies on the suspect premise that suburban supermarkets are superior to small, walkable urban foodsellers.

May 10, 2011 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Cities like Detroit can find the funds and initiative to make downsizing work by identifying as many stakeholders and potential partners as possible, writes Alison Bates, who thinks that "right-sizing" is the right move for the city.

May 9, 2011 - Alison Bates

Officials in Detroit have demolished 3,000 buildings over the course of the last year, a goal set by Mayor Dave Bing.

May 5, 2011 - Associated Press

A personal rapid transit proposal called "SkyTran" might be a smart choice for Detroit, according to this article.

April 23, 2011 - The Detroit Free Press

As Detroit shrinks, a team of consultants and city officials are faced with the daunting task of reforming a city that is largely full of holes.

April 6, 2011 - The New York Times

Volunteers in Detroit recently performed a community cleanup in an unlikely location: the old Tiger Stadium.

April 6, 2011 - The Detroit Free Press

The head of a patent law firm that employs 40 in suburban Detroit explains that his growing business may need to leave the state because it can't recruit talent to the region. Andrew Basile Jr. writes that the problem is "poor quality of place."

April 5, 2011 - Rust Wire

Residential segregation has not gone away since the era of "white flight", says Prof. Thomas J. Sugrue of the University of Pennsylvania. New Census numbers confirm that African-Americans still get shunted into poor neighborhoods.

March 28, 2011 - The New York Times

Detroit's population plunged by 25% over the last decade, according to census figures - the largest decline of any major city in American history.

March 23, 2011 - New York Times

TIME Magazine called Toni Griffin a "star urban planner" as she was hired in March of 2010 to head up the downsizing of Detroit. But as The Architect's Newspaper reports, one year later Griffin is mysteriously AWOL.

March 16, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Enjoy this detailed demonstration of Detroit's Light Rail Proposal, using rap and LEGOs to communicate the message that light rail in the center of the road is better than then on the sides.

March 11, 2011 - YouTube

Despite what seemed to be a drained post-industrial condition in the 1970s, Seattle has been growing. This post looks into why.

March 9, 2011 - The New York Times

A grassroots online campaign has already raised more than $50,000 to build a statue of the science fiction character RoboCop in Detroit. The effort's organizers call it an art project with the goal of urban regeneration.

February 18, 2011 - The Detroit Free Press

The Urban Land Institute recently awarded Campus Martius Park in Detroit the 2010 Urban Open Space Award for helping to rejuvenate the historic city center.

February 11, 2011 - UrbanLand

James Griffioen debunks the myth that his hometown is in want of grocery stores.

January 29, 2011 - Urbanophile

The city of Detroit is increasingly characterized through imagery of its abandoned and decaying buildings. This piece from The New Republic says it's time to stop.

January 24, 2011 - The New Republic

The city of Detroit is considering a plan to close nearly half of its public schools and greatly increase its class sizes.

January 18, 2011 - The Detroit News

Amid talk of downsizing and abandonment, a new surge of young investors has been moving into Detroit and revitalizing its economy.

January 11, 2011 - The Detroit Free Press

The state of Detroit is alarming, particularly in its continued dependence on cars, but there is hope that the city could reinvent itself as an ecological metropolis, says Jeffrey Kenworthy of the Curtin University of Technology.

January 10, 2011 - Jeff Kenworthy

This slideshow from The Guardian looks inside some of Detroit's historic and decaying buildings.

January 3, 2011 - Guardian