Mark Maynard | city planning

As Ysilantians set out to rewrite their City’s quarter century old Master Plan, they assess what’s working, what’s not, and their shared vision for the future

By Mark | March 14, 2013

The people of Ypsilanti are currently going through the process of rewriting the City’s Master Plan. The exhaustive undertaking, which has been constructed in such a way as to incorporate the input from as many community members as possible, is already well under way, but, over the coming months, there will still be ample opportunities [...]

Posted in History, Ideas, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Anne Stevenson, Ave Maria, Bee Roll, burritos, charette, Desmond Miller, D’Real Graham, EMU. College Place, form based code, Leigh Greden, manufacturing, Michigan Planning Enabling Act, Murph, Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, Pete Murdock, Phil Hollifield, Richard Murphy, Ricky Jefferson, roundabouts, Teresa Gillotti, Vice, VIsteon, Water Street, Water Street Redevelopment Project, Ypsilanti City Master Plan, Ypsilanti vice district, zoning, zoning ordinance | 30 Comments

Jeff Speck on the “walkability dividend”

By Mark | January 7, 2013

I hesitate to post one more article about how great Portland is, as doing so just makes me feel that much worse about this state in which I’m currently trapped, but I just happened across a short interview between Richard “I speak for the creative class” Florida and Jeff Speck, the author of the new [...]

Posted in Observations, Other, Rail, Uncategorized | Also tagged Big 3, bike lanes, Border to Border Trail, bulldoze the suburbs, car culture, CEOs for Cities, creative class, fringe suburbs, Joe Cortright, mass transit, New Urbanism, Portland, Richard Florida, suburbs, urban growth boundary, urban planning, walkability, Washtenaw Biking and Walking Coalition, Ypsi-Ann, Ypsi-Ann Interurban | 7 Comments

The possibility of a farmers market on Ypsilanti’s Water Street

By Mark | November 26, 2012

Over the course of the past week or so, I’ve posted twice about the 38-acre vacant lot at the heart of downtown Ypsilanti commonly referred to as Water Street. In the first post, which was written in response to news that Family Dollar had expressed interest in building on the site, I outlined my objection [...]

Posted in Ideas, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Amanda Edmonds, business incubators, business models, CDC, Community Development Corporation, dollar stores, Eastern Leaders, economic development, Family Dollar, farmers market, food entrepreneurship, food hub, food stamps, funding, Growing Hope, healthy food access, International Public Markets Conference, Jean Henry, John Knott, kitchen incubator, Michigan Farmers’ Market Association, national chains, North Charleston Noisette, season extension, Smith furniture building, sustainable urbanism, visioning, Water Street, Water Street Redevelopment Project | 28 Comments

Agenda 21… Are America’s city planners in on the United Nations plot to enslave us, and force us onto bicycles?

By Mark | November 26, 2012

There’s only one thing people on the far right hate more than the United Nations, and that’s the United Nations setting international guidelines for sustainable development. I learned this a few days ago, while listening to a special episode of Glenn Beck’s radio program about a secret UN initiative to deal with the looming threats [...]

Posted in Environment, History, Observations, Other, Politics, Predictions, Rants, Uncategorized | Also tagged 1984, 1992, Agenda 21, Alabama, ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, anti-environment, Arizona, bike lanes, Chip Rogers, competing visions for the future of America, concentration camps, Conference on Environment and Development, conspiracy theories, corporatocracy, Delphi, deregulation, dyptopia, Earth Summit, Emmeline, fear mongering, Field Searcy, Georgia, Georgia State Senate, Glenn Beck, global climate change, Global Warming, Harriet Parke, mass transit, mind control, paranoia, rationing, regulation, Republican National Committee, Republican platform, RNC, sprawl, suburbs, survival seeds, tea party, the collapse of the Republican party, the future of America, The Handmaid's Tale, the hijacking of the Republican party, the threat of Socialism, traffic circles, United Nations, urban sprawl | 26 Comments

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 [...]

Posted in Architecture, Sustainability, Ypsilanti | Also tagged architecture, Border to Border Trail, brown field, Cathy Duchon, 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 | 33 Comments

Tag Archives: city planning

As Ysilantians set out to rewrite their City’s quarter century old Master Plan, they assess what’s working, what’s not, and their shared vision for the future

Jeff Speck on the “walkability dividend”

The possibility of a farmers market on Ypsilanti’s Water Street

Agenda 21… Are America’s city planners in on the United Nations plot to enslave us, and force us onto bicycles?

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

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