DCBRP 2015

During this past week a few program participants and I decided to play soccer on Belle Isle. Having not been to Belle Isle in quite some time (I’m guessing around 7 years), I was interested to see how the micro-island had changed. Upon arriving I could tell that much had changed from the formerly unkept, […]

I have been developing an interest in urban planning recently. So when we went to hear from Gil Penalosa, the Detroit Future City keynote speaker, I was fascinated by everything he had to say. He presented great approaches such as ‘8 to 80,’  and ‘Pedestrians first.’  His lecture made me realize that I have always underestimated the importance of

As much as I love to socialize during the school year I do like to take time for myself and just observe the world around me. Practicing self awareness and understand is something I take very seriously when I am not enrolled in classes. Things and life in general get very fast paced while classes

One might think that most of my Detroit experiences are from my placement, since I spend most of the day there. Actually though, not much happens at the office. The first experience of this program that stood out to me was the scavenger hunt from our second group meeting. Here we are, almost two weeks

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a training on Restorative Conferencing. Restorative Conferencing is one of several different methods to restorative practices. Based on the practices of the indigenous people of New Zealand known as the Maori people, this model focuses on resolving conflict and promoting healing, community building and accountability in the

It’s difficult, if not totally impossible, to pick just one experience outside of my placement to write about. I’ve been having a lot of fun enjoying many of the exciting things Detroit has to offer, and there’s rarely a dull moment during my time here. Aside from getting to know the other people in the

The first week of the program I went on a walk with a few other people in the program and stumbled upon “The Source Booksellers”, a little shop tucked away in the row of stores on Cass between Canfield and Willis. It specializes in non-fiction books, which as a pretty nerdy kid, I thought was

Growing up as an only child, my three older cousins were like my sisters. One of the best parts of being in the city this summer has been living only two blocks away from the one closest to me in age, Miranda. She has lived here for about 5 years, since she moved down to

A few weeks ago, I was at Eastern Market with my friend Maddie. I made a purpose to seek out this certain tea vender due to the fact that I was running low on her delicious Jasmine Green Tea. (Oh no!) After searching through the abundance of fruit, vegetable and bakery stalls, we finally encountered