I have really enjoyed our Tuesday seminars, and I think they have been a critical part of the program. They bring up current issues in Detroit, and it is great to hear about them from people who are so closely working to come up with solutions. We all get a lot of exposure to issues very pertinent to the areas we work in and the topics our organizations center around, but these seminars are important for us to hear about what is happening in the rest of the city.
I thought the Gil Pentalosa lecture/panel was fantastic. It touched on many extremely pertinent topics in urban planning and how they can be applied to Detroit, topics in which I am extremely interested.
I also enjoyed Amy Krings’ presentation about her research into CBAs in Southwest Detroit concerning the bridge agreement as well as the most recent presentation from Food and Water Watch and the People’s Water Board. These are such important issues in the city right now, and it can be hard I think to discern what is really happening based on all the competing narratives and media portrayals.
I too enjoyed Amy Krings’ presentation as it was extremely relevant to my current project. It was interesting to hear her opinions on the agreements and I have found that those in the real estate business agree with her opinions about their feasibility (which is somewhat discouraging).