Mark Maynard | Michigan Avenue

1,000 seed bombs for Water Street!

By Mark | March 31, 2013

As I was walking my dog around Ypsilanti’s 38-acres of depressingly-barren downtown real estate known as Water Street yesterday morning, it occurred to me that it might be fun to pick a day sometime soon and encourage everyone in Ypsilanti to come out and plant sunflower seeds together. And, in a fit of inspiration, I […]

Posted in Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged brownfield, commons, flowers, gardening, gorilla gardening, guerilla bio-remediation, Lisa Waud, phytoremediation, Pot and Box, seed, seed bombing, seedbombs, slingshots, sunflowers, teraforming, toxic waste, trebuchets, Water Street, Water Street Redevelopment Project, wildflowers | 40 Comments

David Landrum on the launch of Two James…. the first distillery in Detroit since Prohibition

By Mark | January 31, 2013

As you may have heard, a new distillery will soon be opening in the Corktown section of Detroit, not too far from where our friend Lisa Waud will be opening the new flower shop I told you about a few days ago. From what I’m told, it will be the first legal distillery to operate […]

Posted in Detroit, Food, Local Business, Locally Owned Business | Also tagged absinthe, Acetaldehyde, Acetone, American Liquor Company, bootlegging, bourbon, Cafe Felix, Calvados, Camp James, Canada, Chattanooga, cider vinegar, cocktails, Colorado, Corktown, Corktown 500, David Landrum, David Pickerell, Detroit River, Distilled Spirits Producer, Dry Fly, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurship, Ethanol, Farm to Bottle, Fred McLaren, Frederick Myll Co., George Washington, Hiram Walker, Lake St. Clair, Leopold Brothers, liquor, Lisa Waud, Makers Mark, martinis, Mercury Bar, Methanol, Milk & Honey, Mount Vernon, Peter Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Portland, Pot and Box, prohibition, Purple Gang, Robinson and Aronheim, Rodney Dangerfield, rye whiskey, Sasha Petraske, scotch, smuggling, St. Clair River, Stone House, Thornsby, Todd Leopold, Two James Distillery, Volstead Act, Washington State, whiskey | 21 Comments

Lisa Waud on her plans to expand Ann Arbor’s Pot & Box into the thriving entrepreneurial hotbed that is Detroit’s Corktown

By Mark | January 17, 2013

A few days ago, Linete and I foud ourselves in Detroit, without kids, poking around Corktown. The plan was to get something warm to drink at Astro Coffee, but it looked too crowded. Linette peaked in, through one of the fogged-up windows, to see if there was space for me. (She can fit most anywhere. […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, entrepreneurism, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2520 Michigan Avenue, absinthe, Andy Didorosi, Astro Coffee, Bureau of Urban Living, Canine to Five, City Bird, Claire Nelson, Cliff Bell’s, cocktails, Corktown, Dave Landrum, Detroit, Detroit Bus Company, Detroit Farm and Garden, Detroit gas stations, Downtown Home and Garden, Emily Linn, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurship, Felch Street, flowers, friends who do cooler stuff that I do, Gallery 555, gardening, Green Dot Stables, Hatch Detroit, Helen Harding, Honor & Folly, Hugh, ice cream truck, indy retail, Izzy’s, Jean Henry, Joe Posch, Katherine Yates, Le Petite Zinc, Lisa Waud, Liz Blondy, Mercury Bar, Model D, Mudgie’s Deli, new ideas in retail, Open City Detroit, Paper Street, Pete Bailey, Pop-up for the Holidays, pop-up retail, Popular Mechanics, Pot and Box, Rachel Parke, retail in Detroit, Rooselvelt Park, scotch, Slows Bar BQ, Small & Mighty, St. Cece’s, Stagger Lee, The Sugar House, Two James Distillery, urban gardening, Valentine's Day, Xavier’s, YEP, Young Entrepreneurial People | 24 Comments

Amanda Edmonds on the future of Growing Hope and this weekend’s big fundraiser

By Mark | October 11, 2012

As I’ve mentioned here before, one of my favorite local non-profits is the urban farming education and advocacy organization Growing Hope. And, as they still have a ticket or two available for the big fundraiser this weekend at their new Michigan Avenue facility, I thought that now might be a good time to check in […]

Posted in Agriculture, entrepreneurism, Environment, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Bona Sera, Brandon Johns, canning, Chefs in the Garden, Cleveland, co-ops, Enterprising Health, farmers market, food justice, food preservation, food security, food stamps, Garden Leadership Training, Grange, Growing Gardens, Growing Hope, healthy food access, hoophouse, International Public Markets Conference, place making, Project for Public Spaces, snap, social entrepreneurship, solar, urban agriculture, urban food system, urban gardening, winter farmers' market, Wolverine Diner | 9 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, 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, 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

Tag Archives: Michigan Avenue

1,000 seed bombs for Water Street!

David Landrum on the launch of Two James…. the first distillery in Detroit since Prohibition

Lisa Waud on her plans to expand Ann Arbor’s Pot & Box into the thriving entrepreneurial hotbed that is Detroit’s Corktown

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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