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I’m really glad I got to know Detroit this summer. I loved learning about the history of the city and how it has evolved over time. As a pillar of the midwest with a chip on its shoulder, the character of the city made it feel very familiar. The city gave ample opportunities to recognize […]

This last weekend we finally made it out to the DIA and I had a great time. I spent nearly four hours in the museum and still didn’t see everything. While I had visited the museum on a school trip before, I must have either not seen the Rivera mural or had completely forgotten about

Our trip to Belle Isle this past weekend was nice. I hadn’t yet been out to the island and going as a group was probably the best way to do it. The standout feature for me was the architecture of the aquarium, a building once again designed by Albert Kahn. His stated intent with the

As someone who is passionate about urban spaces, having an opportunity to explore Detroit has been wonderful. The DDP staff is full of people passionate about the shape of the city and how the cityscape has changed over time. It’s not uncommon for walks to include impromptu history lessons on why buildings are the way

The Parks team at DDP is an excellent example of a team with diverse skills and backgrounds and how valuable that is. I figured this post might be an opportunity to highlight some of the skills that I hope to incorporate into my own professional life. Unfortunately, I have since learned that they read these

One aspect of culture that I’ve enjoyed exploring, especially here in Detroit, is food. It seems to be an arena where the value of diversity shines and becomes physically real. While restaurants only represent a small part of local cuisine, you can learn a lot about a space from the restaurants that populate it and

I found the excerpts from How to Kill a City incredibly compelling. The book did a good job of contextualizing the current economic moment that Detroit is experiencing. It was especially relevant considering that I currently live in the 7.2 bubble that the book described. I take the Q-line to an office in the center

This summer I am working with Downtown Detroit Partnership, the non-profit responsible for many of the parks of downtown Detroit including Campus Martius, Cadillac Park, Beacon Park, and others. DDP is also responsible for the Business Improvement Zone, a partnership with local businesses to make downtown a great place to live, work, and visit. Their

Howdy y’all, I’m Keegan. I’m a first-gen college student from Grand Rapids.  I’m studying sociology with a law, justice, and social change sub-major and minors in history and American culture. I’ve also enjoyed working with policy research groups like Poverty Solutions and CHEAR on research related to police reform, poverty, distanced learning, and racial equity.