When it comes to rebuilding Detroit, many groups in the Motor City have been happy to dig right in and get things done. A drive down one of the city’s major arteries reveals new shops, restaurants, condominiums and apartment buildings, a visual delight for residents inside the city border and beyond. Parts of Woodward, Livernois, […]
The tentacles of community redevelopment and reorganization reach further than the average Detroit resident might suppose. A recent Live6 event in the Livernois and McNichols area was proof positive of that. Live6, the planning and development nonprofit organization, held Speakeasy, the latest in its monthly community dialogue series. Its aim is to bring together neighbors […]
When young couples come to Detroit searching for the perfect Tudor in Green Acres or a Victorian house in Corktown they often face bidding wars, bringing prices up to the edge of their budget. “What makes the city appealing is its beautiful housing stock, its strong neighborhoods and that edgy sense of community,” says Austin […]
This column begins a monthly series featuring the insights of Austin Black II, founder of City Living Detroit, a full-service, real estate brokerage firm based in Detroit. One of the city’s leading brokers, Black has earned praise for his success at increasing homeownership in city neighborhoods and surrounding areas. This month he shares insight about […]
Freshly written corporate checks are only part of what’s needed to answer the call from Detroit neighborhoods that are among the last to experience new investment. Strategies including sustainability, market research and community support are the formula for effectively matching finances with housing and business initiatives that reflect resident interests, experts say. Among the challenges […]
No welcome wagon awaited the family that moved onto Parkside in 1968. One of just three black-owned homes on the block, it became not only a place to eat and sleep, but a sanctuary for four small children’s safety against harassment outside. Frequent vandalism made the message even more clear: Myla Perkins and her family […]
About four years ago the Hardest Hit Fund Demolition program was announced in the Fitzgerald neighborhood on Turner Street next to Maggie Lee’s Community Center. I was asked to speak in front of the press to welcome everyone to the neighborhood and talk about how the program would create change the community needed to make […]
There are certain things Marvin Beatty keeps to himself when he shops in the suburbs. One of those things is his zip code. A common corporate practice requires cashiers to ask patrons for information that locates a retail customer base. The problem for Detroiters shopping outside the city, Beatty says, is sharing data about how […]
Although he’s not a local native, Dr. Antoine Garibaldi is on familiar ground. Hailing from New Orleans, the University of Detroit Mercy president has family in the Detroit area and a background of scholarship that supported black Michigan youth during the 1990s. Today his ongoing challenge is to lead a campus of 5,000 in the […]
New investments are popping up in Detroit’s neighborhoods, and we want to keep you up to date on where they are happening. If you take out the Michigan State Fair redevelopment project, the total investments currently in the pipeline for District 2 come to approximately $78 million. You can find it all here in “The […]