Tag Archives: sense of place

Reflecting on the first five months of On The Ground Ypsi, and the future of this little city of ours

[Ypsi community activist and Southside resident Bryan Foley, seen here in a photo by Doug Coombe taken at Parkridge Community Center, will be on a December 15 panel hosted by On The Ground Ypsilanti about “Ypsi’s rich past, and visions for a vibrant future.”] Earlier this year, the folks at Issues Media Group, having identified […]

Posted in Mark's Life, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Ann Arbor’s proposed “Ambassador” program, while laughably stupid, is the best thing to happen in Ann Arbor in a long, long time

I realize that the Ann Arbor DDA’s uniformly mocked “Ambassador” program is likely going to die on the vine, given the overwhelming backlash that we saw last week, but I refuse to just let it go. This is the first spark of life I’ve seen in Ann Arbor in a long, long time, and I’m […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, History, Ideas, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Ypsilanti Immigration Interview: Emily and Isaac Wingfield

Still trying to unravel the mystery of why people would choose, of their own free will, to move to Ypsilanti, I reached out to new residents Isaac and Emily Wingfield, and demanded that they submit to a formal Ypsilanti Immigration Interview. Here are the results. MARK: Isaac, I understand that you just recently took a […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

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 […]

Posted in Economics, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Sustainability | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Ypsilanti Immigration Interview: Erika Nelson

Earlier this winter, on one of our small Occupy Ypsi marches around the city, I met a woman by the name of Erika. She’d apparently been living here in Ypsi for a few years, but, somehow, our paths had never crossed, even though we had several friends in common. Well, over the course of the […]

Posted in History, Special Projects, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

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