Jefferson East Executive Director Joshua Elling sits at the helm of an organization that is taking the lead in redevelopment on Detroit’s east side. Many east side Detroit residents know that growth is coming to their neighborhoods. One unbridled advocate of that growth is Jefferson East, Inc., or JEI, an organization not only heavily involved […]
It was the late Eighties, and the neighborhood just to the south of where John George lives in Old Redford was feeling the pinch of the crack epidemic. “We didn’t want to be part of an expanding problem but part of a solution,” he says. It came a little too close to home – literally […]
Fixers. The city of Detroit is loaded with them. Ask any city resident to tell you about a person or group that’s changing their neighborhood and you’ll quickly discover that there is a lot more activity going on than makes the headlines. Without much fanfare and, oft times, less than adequate support, these change agents […]
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, […]
Detroit’s historic ball field will soon boast bedrooms and businesses as a result of a $4.375 million Michigan Strategic Fund loan. With the funding, a few lucky Detroiters will have the opportunity to move into the 111 multifamily units scheduled for development and shop at small, locally-owned businesses located in the 26,000 square feet of […]
Every neighborhood needs more local problem solvers. And, for some, new arrivals are anticipated soon. Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) is making a national push to lift 13 urban communities through an AmeriCorps program hoped to develop and deploy neighborhood change agents. A $3 million investment has been devoted to dispatching 165 AmeriCorps members, including 14 […]
Mayor Mike Duggan promises a “city for everyone.” But getting from “here” to “there” in a city that has more than 10,000 homeless and a whopping one third of residents living below the poverty level is admittedly going to be a challenging task. In order to be successful, Duggan must bridge the gap between the […]
The topic of metro Detroit senior living hits close to home, literally, for Tahirih Ziegler. Aside from her professional charge as executive director of Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), she has a mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s and lives in a nursing facility. What Ziegler’s mom has in common with many local seniors, healthy […]
More Detroiters are sharing the city’s wealth. A devoted core of civic leaders, residents and community-minded professional developers are bringing investment to areas in need of the same nurturing other parts of the city – namely downtown and Midtown – have received. Plans are underway to stabilize core neighborhoods that are already densely populated and […]
Detroit is a city of opportunity, innovation and investment. We can become a leader in urban revitalization’s best practices if we can commit to providing inclusive housing options for all Detroiters: our long-time residents, recent transplants, and especially the community’s most vulnerable. But there’s a formula for success. Implementing multi-dimensional housing solutions and strategies to […]