Category Archives: Sustainability

The U-M architects charged with envisioning Ypsilanti’s much anticipated recreation center share their designs, and discuss why this “new civic anchor” is so important to the future of the city

By Mark | September 26, 2012

As I think most of you know, a team of University of Michigan architects and their graduate students were approached some time ago and asked to envision what a new Water Street recreation center might look. Having completed their design concepts, they will be presenting their work to the citizens of Ypsilanti at SPARK East […]

Also posted in Architecture, Ypsilanti | Tagged architecture, Border to Border Trail, brown field, Cathy Duchon, city planning, community building, community facilities, Craig Borum, Eastside Recreation Center, economic development, emerald necklace, flooding, Huron River, Huron River greenway, Jen Maigret, MAde studio, Maria Arquero, Michigan Avenue, Olmstead Brothers, our fragile downtown business ecosystem, PLY Architecture, public space, recreation center, Riverside Park, Robert Marans, sustainable urbanism, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, trees, University of Michigan, urban form, urban planning, walkable downtown, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, Washtenaw County Parks Commission, water management, Water Street, Waterworks Park, YMCA | 39 Comments

WISD Superintendent Scott Menzel on the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts

By Mark | July 15, 2012

A few days ago, I posted something here about the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts. Well, what I’d written was apparently brought to the attention of Scott Menzel, the superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. Scott asked for an opportunity to clarify a few things concerning the proposed merger, […]

Also posted in Education, Michigan | Tagged Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, budget cuts, Chapelle, charter schools, civic involvement of students, community gardens, consolidation, curriculum, discipline, dismantling of public education, EAA, Early College Alliance, Eastern Leaders Group, Eastern Michigan University, education reform, Educational Achievement Authority, Emergency Financial Manager Act, Emergency Financial Manger, Emergency Manager, Great Start Readiness Program, Head Start, Houghton Mifflin, Lead and Learn, Maria Cotera, mentorship, Muskegon Heights, New Tech HIgh School, persistently low achieving, PLA, privatization, public education, School Aid Act, school budget, school calendar, school vouchers, Scott Menzel, social justice, STEMTech, student court, United Way of Washtenaw County, urban agriculture, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Willow Run Community Schools, WIllow Run high school, WISD, Ypsilanti Area Community Fund, Ypsilanti Public School Alliance, Ypsilanti Public Schools | 14 Comments

Two Frenchies on what they love about Detroit’s “Do It Ourselves” culture, and why they’re making a film about it

By Mark | July 12, 2012

A few months ago, I received a nice note from two French filmmakers, who, for some reason, had stumbled across my site and liked it. Their names were Nora Mandray and Hélène Bienvenu, and, as I’d come to learn over the course of subsequent emails, they had been living in the the area for some […]

Also posted in Art and Culture, Detroit | Tagged Arthur K. Peters Memorial Travel Grant, Beaubien, bikes, Caspar David Friedrich, Centre National de la Cinématographie, cities, community, community coming together, decent human community, decline, Detroit je t'aime, Detroit Soup, DIO, DIY, documentary film, Fender Bender, film making, France, French Film Institute, Fulbright scholars, generation Y, Grace Lee Boggs, hackers, Hantz Farms, Hungary, ingenuity, Kickstarter, La Croix, Lafayette, metaphors, Nora Mandray, Packard Plant, parables, Paris, Paris Institute of Political Studies, post-industrial era, Recycle Here, Romain Meffre, Romantism, ruin porn, self-reliance, soup, the Detroit situation, the future of American cities, the lessons of Detroit, the parable of Detroit, UCLA, urban farming, urban food system, urban living, urban renewal, utopias, Yves Marchand | 21 Comments

Operation Foggy Monocle

By Mark | July 8, 2012

In the wake of a global warming-related rant that I posted a few days ago, it occurred to me that nothing is likely to change, at least not in a substantive way, until the men at the top begin to feel the same oppressive, painfully searing heat that the rest of us have been feeling […]

Also posted in Environment, Global Warming, Special Projects, Uncategorized | Tagged air conditioning, call to action, crazy ideas that just might work, direct action, global climate change, Global Warming, Mark's art ideas, Mark's big ideas, Operation Foggy Monocle | 10 Comments

BALLE founder Judy Wicks on the origins of Urban Outfitters, the birth of the Localist movement, and the necessity of local ownership

By Mark | June 23, 2012

Recently, while in Grand Rapids, I had the occasion to meet Judy Wicks, the founder of the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, and the woman who, ten years ago, brought the Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE) into being. Since the meeting, we’ve been chatting by way of email… Here’s the interview. MARK: Having […]