July 2015

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/special-reports/2015/07/01/quicken-loans-blight-dilemma/29537285/ The Detroit News recently released a special report that implicates Dan Gilbert’s company, Quicken Loans, in Detroit’s struggles with blight. Gilbert is seen by many as one of Detroit’s “saviors.” He is sometimes credited with single-handedly reviving downtown. Though he has not been without controversy, he is still regarded as much more of a […]

While doing research for my job, I came across the article “Planning Appropriately For Our Future” by Meagan Elliott. It is an after-thought to a gentrification panel that was hosted by Model D, and in the piece Elliott reflects on the differences between physical and cultural displacement. Physical displacement, which is usually the only type of displacement associated

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/03/detroiters_fight_once_again_to.html This article gives a good briefing of what is going on in Southwest Detroit but it fails to speak to the soul of the people. In this deal proposed by the billion dollar Moroun family want a property swap so that they can build an additional bridge span between the United States and Canada.

I can tell that this is going to be a relatively long blog post- due to my strong stance on this issue. As I continue my education, I have noticed flaws in U.S. society and the government policies that allow these flaws to occur. In particular, America’s broken prison system infuriates me. Throughout this summer,

48217: Life in Michigan’s most polluted ZIP code One of the most memorable and haunting experiences I’ve had so far in this program was on a “toxic tour” where I witnessed children play mere yards away from a steel factory. A few politicians and I were shaken up seeing people going about their daily lives

This week we were asked to respond to an article about the city of Detroit. I immediately thought of responding to an article written by Mitch Albom. He is a sportswriter for the Detroit Free Press, but is also famous for writing the books Tuesdays With Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and

In this article ( http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/03/30/detroit-blight-tickets/70700698/ ) the city issues a plan that may seem to be a no brainer, to start dealing with blighted houses and businesses, ticketing. It is known that in Detroit many property owners do not take care of what is there, which has lead to the tremendous amount of blight in the

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/07/02/detroit-public-schools-deficit-spikes/29620019/ After reading this article, my confidence is somewhat deflated about the future of Detroit. Everywhere I look there are new construction sites, businesses, and busy bodies! Many positive and wonderful places to visit. However, the public school system in Detroit is failing slowly, but surely.The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) system is accumulating further debt

Moroun companies pay off $156K in Detroit city fines This article appeared in the Free Press around a month ago, and I remember my supervisor had Damaris and I read it the day after it was published. Matty Moroun is a hot topic all over the city right now, especially as he attempts to acquire land

Wayne County to auction 30,000 homes in the fall; A third of them are still occupied The above article asks questions about the effectiveness and justness of foreclosing occupied homes. Many of these homes will sell for less than their delinquent tax owed, and those that don’t sell will almost certainly become blight, costing many