Mark Maynard | urban renewal

On The Ground Ypsi panel on the future of Ypsilanti

By Mark | December 16, 2017

For those of you who weren’t able to trudge across the frozen tundra to attend last night’s On The Ground Ypsi panel on the future of Ypsilanti, where former State Representative David Rutledge asked questions of Lynne Settles, Bryan Foley, Decky Alexander, and me, I thought that I’d share the video. Here’s hoping, if you […]

Posted in History, Mark's Life, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged black business districts, Bryan Foley, Concentrate, David Rutledge, Decky Alexander, development, gentrification, investing in the future, Lynne Settles, On The Ground Ypsi, the future of Ypsilanti | 15 Comments

Richard Florida visits Ann Arbor, advocates for affordable housing, warns “When places get boring, even the rich leave”

By Mark | April 25, 2017

Richard Florida, the man credited with popularizing the belief that the so-called “creative class” is the primary driver of urban redevelopment, was in Ann Arbor yesterday to address a regional economic forum hosted by Ann Arbor Spark. As I didn’t take very good notes, and don’t have the time this evening to provide anything even […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Art and Culture, Uncategorized | Also tagged Ann Arbor SPARK, Brexit, cities, creative class, demographics, Donald Trump, economic development, economic inequality, economic segregation, Elmira, gentrification, inclusive urbanism, Jane Jacobs, luddism, Martin Prosperity Institute, mass transit, Michael Shuman, populism, re-urbanization, Richard Florida, Rob Ford, service industry, shifting national demographics, tax the rich, the arts, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, the gay, The New Urban Crisis, The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality Deepening Segregation and Failing the Middle Class—and What We Can Do About It, The Rise of the Creative Class, things that are boring, threats to the middle class, urban planning, urban redevelopment, wealth inequality, why don't the rich see the big picture | 29 Comments

Lee Azus on how urban renewal remade Ypsilanti’s Southside

By Mark | February 25, 2016

Almost five years ago now, I interviewed a new transplant to Ypsi by the name of Lee Azus as part of our ongoing Ypsilanti Immigration series. Azus, a former San Francisco bookstore owner, as you might recall, was anxious to hit the ground running and really get to know this community which he had chosen […]

Posted in Architecture, History, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged ABC-Polk Brothers Recreation Center, Arbor Manor, Arborland, black business districts, blight, Bobby Franks, Brewster-Wheeler Recreation Center, Brown Chapel, Chicago, Currie's barbershop, Dan Boatwright, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eastern Michigan University, Elliott Currie, eviction, fair housing, Federal Housing Administration, Gault Shopping Center, Great Migration, Harriet Street, Harry S. Truman, housing, Housing Act of 1949, Housing Act of 1954, housing discrimination, Lee Azus, Leopold and Loeb, Mattie Dorsey, mortgages, murder, Paradise Valley, Parkridge Community Center, Parkridge Urban Renewal Area, poverty, racism, recreation centers, redevelopment, segregation, slums, subsidized housing, Tulsa, Tulsa race riot, World War II, Ypsilanti Business and Professional League | 6 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 […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Detroit, Sustainability | Also 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, utopias, Yves Marchand | 21 Comments

Tag Archives: urban renewal

On The Ground Ypsi panel on the future of Ypsilanti

Richard Florida visits Ann Arbor, advocates for affordable housing, warns “When places get boring, even the rich leave”

Lee Azus on how urban renewal remade Ypsilanti’s Southside

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

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