Place

The New American Dichotomy According to Richard Florida: The "Stuck" and the Mobile

2011-11-27T15:15:00.001-08:00

Source: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2011/11/geography-stuck/534/

Is anyone still taking Richard Florida's simplistic, self-reverential tripe seriously?

And more importantly, why is Atlantic Cities, an otherwise admirable project to provide an outlet for contemporary American urban thought and criticism, still publishing it?

Admittedly, Florida was able to discern and accurately describe an important trend- that what he coined the "Creative Class" (or the young, tech-savvy, mobile and creative demographic) is an important economic driver in some places, and that by considering the needs and desires of this subgroup, a legitimate approach to economic development, one beyond chasing large companies with tax abatements, might be found.

But.

He has long since gone too far, writing off broad swaths of the country as economic losers incapable of ever attracting the mobile, creative types which are, in his view, the sole path to future prosperity. A 2009 American Prospect article, "The Ruse of the Creative Class" deftly shines a bright light on the many holes, contradictions and shortcomings of his arguments:

A tautology lies at the heart of Florida's theory that has limited its instructive value all along: Creative people seek out places that draw a lot of creative people. Florida has now taken this closed-loop argument to another level by declaring that henceforth, the winners' club is closed to new entrants.

By pegging the economic hope of the future on a single narrowly defined demographic subgroup, he has discounted not only most places, but most people.

And now, in a breathtakingly overly simplistic analysis of state-level census data showing the percent born in their state of residence, Florida has created a new American dichotomy- the "mobile" vs. the "stuck" to serve as evidence for his views:

America can be divided into two distinct classes, the stuck and the mobile. The mobile possess the resources and the inclination to seek out and move to locations where they pursue economic opportunity. Too many Americans are stuck in places with limited resources and opportunities. This geography of the stuck and mobile is a key axis of cleavage in the United States.

Let's not even begin to attempt to define the meaning of "axis of cleavage."

It's hard to know what conclusions to draw from this map. Florida reads it this way: states with high percentages of native-born residents (primarily the midwest) are centers of the talentless and uncreative: the "stuck." Those with low percentages (the coasts and the Rocky Mountain states) are magnets for the creative, talented "mobile."

Maybe.

But the coasts have long been the first point of immigration from other countries and the destination of recent college grads- many of whom eventually end up settling in or returning to the more affordable midwest. Not a new story.

And yes, clearly the midwest has lost population with the decline of manufacturing.

But does that mean all or most of it's remaining residents are "stuck?"

What about those who choose to stay in or return to their native-born state, who weigh the tradeoff between a higher cost of living far from family, and an affordable one with friends and family nearby, and decide that staying put makes sense? Do they lack talent and drive? Are they "stuck?"

What about those who are invested in a place, who have deep roots and care about their community, who know who they are and where they come from? What about those with economic connections- a family business- or emotional connections- a family history? Do they lack some creative gene, dooming them to economic and cultural doldrums?

I wonder about the long-term sustainability of places like San Diego, Seattle, Boston and Portland, places well-known for catering to particular demographic characteristics and lifestyle preferences.

I wonder about places where no one has parents.

I wonder about a "class" of people defined primarily by their mobility; their willingness to surrender their roots, to move from place to place in pursuit of the next big thing.

Scott Russell Sanders in Staying Put: Making A Home in a Restless World writes:

For me, the effort of being grounded in family and community is inseparable from the effort of being grounded in place.

On the flip side of mobility, maybe there is economic value in a willingness and ability to settle down and be grounded in a particular place, and to commit to making that place better.

Maybe we need both "classes" to build an economic future that is both dynamic and stable.

And perhaps we can coin a better dichotomy.

Maybe they are not the "stuck."

Maybe they are the rooted.

The Power of Public Space

2011-10-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

Source: NYT

New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman has a piece in today's New York Times that points out the symbolic significance of Occupy Wall Street's actual locale of occupation: the privately owned Zuccotti Park.

The park, owned by a private real estate corporation, was made open to the public in exchange for a zoning variance and therefore is subject to rules made by its private owner.

Kimmelman writes:

This peculiarity of zoning law has turned an unexpected spotlight on the bankruptcy of so much of what in the last couple of generations has passed for public space in America. Most of it is token gestures by developers in return for erecting bigger, taller buildings. Think of the atrium of the I.B.M. tower on Madison Avenue and countless other places like it: “public” spaces that are not really public at all but quasi-public, controlled by their landlords.

Kimmelman goes on to discuss the many public spaces which have served as ground for political voices over the years: Kent State, Tahrir Square, Tiannamen. Without pubic space, there is nowhere for people to converge, to overcome their isolation, to "discover their own numbers," as Kimmelman puts it.

The irony is stark. Much of what the Occupy Wall Street movement seems to stand for- nebulous as it may be at this point- has to do with preserving some semblance of public life. And yet the launching pad for this movement, instead of being a place owned by the people, is instead owned and controlled by a private corporation.

As Kimmelman succinctly puts it:

The whole situation illustrates just how far we have allowed the ancient civic ideal of public space to drift from an arena of public expression and public assembly (Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, say) to a commercial sop (the foyer of the Time Warner Center).

Crowdsourcing Your Favorite Public Space

2011-10-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

San Francisco's Grand View Park.
Photo: Shawn Calhoun.

Planetizen is crowdsourcing the top 100 public spaces on Ideascale.

Each user gets 15 chips to spend how you like on voting for your favorite public space. Most spots with the high votes are on the east and west coasts.

I spent mine as follows

1 chip on Campus Martius Park
5 chips on Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
1 chip on Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park
1 chip on Huron Clinton Metroparks

And I submitted a new place, my favorite place of all time, Detroit Eastern Market.

2011-10-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

APA has released the 2011 selections for Great Place, including Public Spaces, Streets, and Neighborhoods.

What makes a "great place"? Read APA's selection criteria for Neighborhoods, Public Spaces, and Streets.

The common denominators: great places are those places scaled for and used by people while respecting their context, history and heritage.

Call for Submissions: In Her Place

2011-07-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

In what ways does being female affect one’s sense of place, placement, and/or (dis)location? Submit essays of up to 300 words:

http://inherplace.org/

For the Love of Cities

2011-04-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

For the Love of Cities: The love affair between people and their places, a new book by urbanist Peter Kageyama, explores the love affair between people and the places they call home.

Kageyama explores the emotional connection between citizens and their cities, honing in on how the human heart plays a role in economic, social adn community development. Drawing on examples from New Orleans, Detroit, and Cleveland, the book includes stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the wake of the vacuum left behind by dwindling public resources.

Kageyama was interviewed today on the Craig Fahle Show (listen here), on WDET. According to Kageyama, only 1% of the population are true "place lovers"; those who drive the agenda and invest their energies out of a true love of place.

"True love of place is kind of rare. ... People who love cities are projecting something of themselves into the city. They want to make meaning in the city, and they are also looking at it as a work of art, they are co-creating the city," he told Fahle.

Kageyama will also be present at the Rust Belt Artists Belt III Conference taking place in Detroit April 6.

Midwestern Gothic

2011-03-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Midwestern Gothic is a new literary magazine out of Ann Arbor is focusing on the Midwest. The mags goal is to "collect the very best in Midwestern writers and writing in an effort to compile a definitive resource on the region and its influences.

Prose, poetry and photography by those who live or have lived in the Midwest are sought, especially those that that capture the essence of the Midwest.

My favorite Detroit-area writer/blogger Anna Clark will be featured in the first issue.

Fringe- Places that Verb Your World

2011-03-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

5 Pieces by R. Justin Stewart by R. Justin Stewart • 03.07.2011

Fringe Magazine

Fringe Magazine, in honor of the launch of Issue No. 26: Maps (Spring '11), is asking readers to contribute to a piece of collaborative artwork, in the form of a Google Map:

For our anniversary Maps issue, Fringe is making an interactive map of Places That Verb Your World and we need help. Send a little something — a photograph, a verse, a few sentences about a geographical location that is meaningful to you - to FringeTheMagazine@gmail.com, or post your submissions on our Facebook page.

Quite a few entries are up already. Viewed using the Google Maps plug-in, you can fly from place to place and view these places-from-the-heart from the landscape level or street level, accompanied by verse, a short story, or a photo.

Rumpus Readers on Neighborhood - The Rumpus.net

2011-01-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Rumpus, a San Fransisco-based online literary and culture magazine co-founded by author Stephen Elliott, recently issued a call for reader submissions on the topic of neighborhood- 500 words or less.

As this post by NRDC's Kaid Bensfield so eloquently points out, neighborhoods, not cities, are the locus for defining our connection to place. They embody the spatial increments which circumscribe our daily existence and create (or preclude) the opportunities we have (or don't) for meeting the people who surround us.

Ray LaHood, Secretary for the US Department of Transportation, defines neighborhood this way. Richard Florida has another take. According to Wendell Berry, local economies depend on them.

I have an ideal mental image of "neighborhood" and I am not sure that I have ever lived in one. My first image derives, of course, from Sesame Street's "Who Are The People in Your Neighborhood." I picture a bustling street with people milling about. I think of corner stores, neighborhood Christmas get-togethers, local eateries, dropping by, informal Friday night dinners at a friend's house, and "regulars".

I had a taste of this kind of neighborhood in college, in the student ghettoes of Ann Arbor, where on front porches festooned with decomposing couches, students congregated in impromptu, informal gatherings. I had another taste while visiting friends in Portland, Oregon, and again in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Before and since those college years, I have always lived in suburban, single-family residential "neighborhoods." The one I live in now is nice. I can walk to a downtown area in about ten minutes in one direction, and to a park with a river in the other. People are out walking dogs and kids in the evenings when the weather is nice.

Yet I feel something is missing, something that I can't quite put my finger on. I don't feel connected to the community. I don't feel part of my neighborhood.

I am intent on finding ways to be more connected.

Here's what I've learned about living in the suburbs: you meet people in your job and through other interests, but because you spend so much time away from home or inside of your home, meeting your neighbors takes effort. And because everyone you know from the other parts of your life (which take place in other land uses) live so far away, having a social life takes a lot of planning. And, of course, driving.

The Rumpus' readers delve into some of these themes with some delicate, beautiful writing. Here is a sampling:

Aimee Loselle writes on the ideologies we manufacture about our childhood neighborhoods:

I’ve never found the same sense of belonging I had when I was ten, running home on a July evening, tan and tired from playing tag and kill-the-man-with-the-ball, ready to eat meatloaf and read a book in my bedroom or watch “Private Benjamin” or “The Greatest American Hero” on television. My house was mostly silent by then, everyone in retreat. Yet the neighborhood streetlights and kitchen windows were seemingly stable and warm outside my own lit room. I fell for that illusion. I had to believe, even as it shredded around me. Although I don’t believe anymore, I still have the longing. For something unchanging and full of sentiment. For something that doesn’t exist.

Ray Shea contemplates the illusory, arbitrary borders we construct in our neighborhoods:

I’ve never been past the La Chica. It’s not a neighborhood I avoid, it’s just that it’s all houses and apartment buildings and I don’t know anybody who lives there. I only go to the edge, to the taco truck. I wish I spoke Spanish. I wish I could hang around and drink beer, talk to the men, while my children play in the parking lot. It feels nice.

Sam Jasperh satirizes the isolation that suburban neighborhoods can engender:

After two years’ residency, you can try sitting on your porch, which constitutes a breach of neighborhood etiquette, with a sign lettered: “Seeking friendship. Apply within.”

Find the local indie bookstore, drive the fifteen miles to it, park in the very large lot. Walk in and case the place, like you would if you were planning to rob it. Make small talk with the clerk. You’ll most likely be the only person in the place.

Joan Mathieu describes the crime and poverty of a skid row neighborhood, then points out:

But here’s the thing. Bank robbers and car thieves make better neighbors than doctors, lawyers, and TV actresses, the sort of people I once called neighbor before fortune blasted me against the rocks. Those people never came out of their houses, and when they did never spoke to me, and when they spoke to me it was to tell me to keep my fucking dog out of their yard.

The Laws of Place

2010-12-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Image Source: New York Times

A fascinating article in last weekend's New York Times Magazine explores the work of Geoffrey West, a physicist who has constructed mathematical models to describe cities based on constants developed through statistical analysis of urban data from all over the world.

Given, for example, the number of people in a city, West's models can predict the amount and dimensions of variables such as infrastructure and average income level.

Urbanists may take issue with such a reductive approach to urban theory- after all, cities and place are about culture, nuance, history.

To which West responds:

"That’s all we talk about when we talk about cities, those things that make New York different from L.A., or Tokyo different from Albuquerque. But focusing on those differences misses the point. Sure, there are differences, but different from what? We’ve found the what.”

Which has me wondering: are there two points here to be acknowledged; (1) that humans and our habitats are structurally similar but (2) uniquely colored by the beauty and nuance of our individual and collective spirit? And which is the more important "point"; or are they two sides of the same coin of our human experience?

West's work provides quantitative backbone to the ideas of Jane Jacobs, who, in her seminal work The Death and Life of Great American Cities, posited the idea that the value of cities lies in their facilitation of human interaction which results in enhancement of opportunities for collaboration and, ultimately, productivity. West's models show that for every doubling in population within an urban area, a 15% per capita increase in productivity results.

From the article:

“One of my favorite compliments is when people come up to me and say, ‘You have done what Jane Jacobs would have done, if only she could do mathematics,’ ” West says. “What the data clearly shows, and what she was clever enough to anticipate, is that when people come together, they become much more productive.”

This aspect of cities was brought home to me recently via a comment from a friend who has departed the suburbs of Detroit for life in Seattle. She spoke of the difficulty of seeing old friends in the Detroit metro area while visiting because the extensive driving involved, often 30-40 minutes, require so much advance planning. Chance encounters and last-minute meet-ups at the corner bar are nearly unheard of.

By living in cities, we have decoupled the linear relationship between growth and productivity that governs biology. Of course, the increase in productivity is predicated on the assumption of endless resources, and will eventually bump up against the planet's carrying capacity. West coins a unique metaphor for our resource consumption. So long, carbon footprint; hello blue whales:

From the article:

West illustrates the problem by translating human life into watts. “A human being at rest runs on 90 watts,” he says. “That’s how much power you need just to lie down. And if you’re a hunter-gatherer and you live in the Amazon, you’ll need about 250 watts. That’s how much energy it takes to run about and find food. So how much energy does our lifestyle [in America] require? Well, when you add up all our calories and then you add up the energy needed to run the computer and the air-conditioner, you get an incredibly large number, somewhere around 11,000 watts. Now you can ask yourself: What kind of animal requires 11,000 watts to live? And what you find is that we have created a lifestyle where we need more watts than a blue whale. We require more energy than the biggest animal that has ever existed. That is why our lifestyle is unsustainable. We can’t have seven billion blue whales on this planet. It’s not even clear that we can afford to have 300 million blue whales.”

Detroit: Urban Agriculture Tour

2010-10-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Finished up the Michigan Association of Planning's annual conference today with a great tour, and met some pretty fascinating Detroit people who are doing amazing things,.

Japanese journalists film us touring D-Town farm

In the morning we headed over to D-Town Farm, run by the Detroit Black Food Security Network on land in Detroit's Rouge Park. The land is leased from the City of Detroit for $1/year for 10 years. Our host, Malik Yakini, chairman of the DBFSN as well as a Detroit Charter School principal, gave us a tour and an explanation of the DBFSN as well as the context in which it is doing its work. The goal of D-Town farm is to create a model for urban agriculture and to achieve food security for Detroit's black population. D-Town sells produce at Eastern Market, other Farmer's markets in the City, and several restaurants.

Yakini says he is unapologetic about the intent of the DBFSN to advance black power and expressed the local grassroots movements' opposition to large-scale urban agriculture within City limits that does not have the interests of the community in mind. We also discussed food policy issues; Yakini is on the Michigan Food Policy Council and is working to help develop policy within the city and at the state level that will help community-scale urban agriculture.

While we were there, Japanese journalists filmed our tour for a TV station, and a French radio reporter showed up, wanting to interview Yakini, who seemed used to the attention this project and others like it is garnering on the international stage.

Gwen, who came to Earthworks Urban Farm from Nebraska
through Americorps

EarthWorks Urban Farm

Next we visited Earthworks Urban Farm, a project of the Capuchin monastery in partnership with Gleaners Food Bank, which has been in operation for ten years. Our tour host, Gwen, came to the Farm via an Americorps assignment and has stayed on through the end of this growing season. She spoke of the need to engage the local African-American community in urban agriculture, noting that the movement is often led by young, white transplants. The Capuchin program trains local neighborhood residents in farming and gardening, and utilizes the produce in the soup kitchen, which serves neighborhood residents in need..

Planners in Detroit

2010-10-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Art Installation, Powerhouse Project, Hamtramck

I'm having a GREAT time at the Michigan Association of Planning's annual conference held in Detroit this year. Yesterday I attended a session with Philip Cooley, part owner of Slows Bar b Q and Corktown booster, on why he came to Detroit and efforts to rebuild the neighborhood and Roosevelt Park at the foot of Detroit's greatest ruin.

This morning we heard from starchitect/star urban planner Toni Griffin and City of Detroit Deputy Planning Director Marja Winters on Detroit's much publicized, philanthropically-funded land use planning process, Detroit Works.

In the afternoon I attended a FANTASTIC tour of the City of Hamtramck, which I had not visited since high school when we hung out at Paychecks lounge. Who knew- Hamtramck has retained it's density and walkability and is now an urban oasis amid the devastation of the surrounding City of Detroit.

The Polish population that founded the town in the 1920's is still present, comprising about 30-40% of the population, and has been supplemented by hardworking, entrepreneurial immigrants from Bangladesh and other countries.

It is fascinating to see these newcomers repeat the pattern of the Eastern and Southern Europeans of 100 years ago- they first land in New York, then come to Detroit for the cheaper cost of living, and start businesses. Once they have gained financial stability, some move to the inner-ring suburbs, such as Warren, while others stay in the City.

Highlights of the tour included the Powerhouse Project, a program to place national artists in residencies within an underserved Hamtramck neighborhood, the Detroit Zen Center, which has been in existence since the 1990's and is working to create a neighborhood-scale sustainability model, and the Polish Art Center, a purveyor and teacher of Polish folk art.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to Urban Agriculture Tour.

To Know a Place: Terrain.org

2010-10-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Image: Terrain.org

The new issue of Terrain.org: A Journal of the Natural and Built Environments was launched yesterday, and I am just diving in. I am so impressed with how this online literary magazine devoted to "searching for that interface—the integration—among the built and natural environments, that might be called the soul of place" utilizes the tools of the internet to bring a multimedia experience that goes far beyond what one can experience in a print journal, and by the same token exceeds the experience afforded by most online literary journals.

Take Sara Loewan's breathtaking essay, Setnet Fishing in Uyak Bay, describing the summer fishing grounds she inhabits with her family on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The piece is for the issue's "To Know a Place" feature, which selects a story, essay or poem that "demonstrates an eloquent intimacy between an author and the author's place".

Not only is Loewan's gorgeous prose featured, but the journal includes a beautiful photo essay, a Google map of the location, and an audio stream of the author reading the essay.

Loewan writes:

We catch sea cucumbers when they tangle with kelp in the lead lines of our salmon nets. In the skiff, they heave their guts out as a defense mechanism and wriggle away so that predators will eat the feathery pink insides and leave the sea cucumber to grow new innards. These animals were traditionally harvested during minus tides by hand or with spears tied to long poles.

My husband cooks the strips in olive oil. The meat tastes sweet and brackish. I think of the care and labor to produce these small crisp bites and it seems that food, as much as landscape, connects us to the people who first chose this place.

Beautiful. I can't wait to delve further.

This Place Matters

2010-10-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

This Place Matters is a program through the National Trust for Historic Preservation to create a central clearinghouse for places that matter to individual people. You can register at the site, upload photos of your special place to a group Flickr pool, geotag them in a community Google Map, and dowload a "This Place Matters sign to affix to your place.

The idea is similar to the Orion Magazine's The Place Where You Live web feature (also featured in the print magazine) which I have proudly written for.

The Case for Suburban Renewal

2010-10-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Richard Florida in the Wall Street Journal:

Remaking America's sprawling suburbs, with their enormous footprints, shoddy construction, hastily built infrastructure and dying malls, is shaping up to be the biggest urban revitalization challenge of modern times—far larger in scale, scope and cost than the revitalization of our inner cities.

The Case for Suburban Renewal - WSJ.com

UPDATE: HERE is the unedited version.

Here are some resources on retrofitting the suburbs for sustainability and livability.

The Only Real Option is Beauty

2010-10-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

Fascinating interview with designer Bruce Mau, courtesy of The Climate Desk, a collaboration of Mother Jones,Slate, Wired, The Atlantic, PBS’s Need to Know, Reuters, Grist, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.

His arguments: suburbs are evolving, they are wildly successful so we have to work with them, it is possible to have a beautiful life experience in a low-density environment. We need to reframe the sustainability discussion to make it positive, emphasize opportunities, and inspire people to live and work in a new way that is more compelling and more meaningful than the old way.

Place Samplings 10/9/2010

2010-10-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

Better Burb Contest- "The time for thinking cautiously is over"
From the website:
There has been a crisis of imagination, and your bold new ideas are urgently needed. There should be no preconceptions about what is or is not possible. What would you do on these acres of opportunity? Build a car-free community for thousands? Plant an oasis of urban agriculture? Produce renewable energy and provide well-paying green jobs? Use landscape systems to repair ruptures in regional ecologies? Introduce armatures to enhance public space and the civic realm?

Other Links of Note:

Obama Administration Rolls Out the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative
Designing Buildings that Battle Obesity

Creative Placemaking Through the Arts

Detroit
How To Be The Ultimate Metro Detroit Locavore
Time wanes for Detroit project: Some question impact after a year of reporting

Blog Spotlight: PlaceShakers

The Skies Here Are Bigger Than In New York

2010-10-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

David Byrne of Talking Heads fame wrote a lengthy journal entry on his impression of the Motor City. Nothing much new here, but this was interesting:

“Are there other towns that have been hit so hard that have come back?” Both Michael Morris of Artangel and I replied “Glasgow”. It was known as having the worst slums in Europe back in the day, and I remember visiting my grandparents and all the buildings were grimy black, from soot. That city hasn’t come back as an industrial powerhouse it once was (steel and shipbuilding) but as a cultural hub. Life is good there now, and the city is cleaned up and nice to look at.

Other cities have used culture to bring life back—Morris mentioned Bilbao—but to be honest, so much of Detroit is simply gone, vanished, that that kind of revitalization is hard to imagine. Bilbao was a smaller town, even if it was a dump. However, one can imagine that if the city center here can become more of the focus then a much smaller town with vibrant life might emerge. Forget much of the urban sprawl (or turn it into farmland) and see if the wonderful stuff can be encouraged and supported. Again, it could be arts and theater and music that spurs some of that—there were 3 movies and a TV show shooting when we where there; Matthew Barney was preparing a large scale performance involving molten metal not too far away, and local artists and musicians have always gone their own dark ways here—so the interest is there. The skies here are bigger than in New York.

David Byrne's Journal: 09.23.10: Don't Forget the Motor City

PlaceLit: Rhonda Welsh

2010-10-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

My Only Home

By Rhonda Welsh

Detroit is my only home.
Child of the west side...
Majestic, Puritan, Elmhurst,
Linwood, Plymouth, Eight Mile

All the while
craved a
different existence
but finally realized
Detroit is who I am.

Good students teased for acting too white
while the suburbs scream too black.
Neighborhoods who know no lack
always labeled poor.

Detroit was once much more than…

Dirty streets. Corrupt politicians.
Perverted superstitions
make some people treat books
like bad ju ju.

But my Detroit is not that simple…

Kind-hearted hustlers work day and night.
Make a dollar out of fifteen cents.
The auto industry came and went
but true Detroiters always make it work.

Saturday greens from Eastern Market
and a new hat from Mr. Song.
You can't go wrong on Sunday mornings
shouting and rocking
until the blues melt away.

Detroiters always seek
a brand new day.

Even our skyline boasts a Renaissance.

And the summer…

Caribbean Picnic on Belle Isle,
Moonlit concerts at Campus Martius,
and greasy fish fingers
clap to the beat
with sandal clad feet
at the African World Festival.

Poetry is everywhere.
Music Hall, Scarab Club, 1515 Broadway,
even at the Y-M-C-A.

Detroit is no longer in its heyday,
but its days are not finished yet.

There is much more life.
More pride runs through the veins.
Soon the activists must rise and take the reins.

Restore what has been lost.
No longer give thought
to those who diss and dismiss.

It is not a wasteland.
There are families here.

Educators, doctors, lawyers,
butchers, bakers,
yes, even candlestick makers reside in Detroit.

Shake off depleted self-esteem
that hangs over the city like a cloud.
Shout the city's praises out loud
and recognize its worth.

Induce the new birth.
Invoke that migrant spirit
transplanted from red earth.

Don't let it die an unnatural death.
Purge the dross and rebuild the best.

Detroit is the only home I've ever known.

©Rhonda Welsh 2010
from the book Red Clay Legacy

Place Events: 2010 Tour de Troit

2010-10-04T04:44:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Tour de Troit (TdT) is now a thing of the past. In it's ninth year, TdT saw more than 3500 riders converge on Roosevelt Park, at the foot of the Detroit's most famous ruins, the old Michigan Central Station depot.

My husband and I (along with our friend Rashmi) rode the tour on September 25, which was also our 11th wedding anniversary (that's us at left as we rounded Belle Isle). The weather was a perfect, crisp 62 degrees, with a mix of sun and clouds, and the pace was slow and leisurely. The tour took us on a 30-mile loop of the City, through Corktown, Downtown Detroit, paralleling the Dequindre Cut, around Belle Isle, through Indian Village, past the Heidelberg project, through Midtown Detroit, TechTown, Mexican Town, and back to Roosevelt Park where local beers and pulled pork from Slows Bar BQ and tamales from Honeybee Market were available for the starving riders.

The event seeks to bring people up-close-and-personal with Detroit's neighborhoods and to promote greenlinks in the City.

2010 Tour Detroit - a set on Flickr

Suburbs Go Head To Head With The City | Planetizen

2010-09-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

Can suburbs be sustainable?

According to some thinkers, the term "sustainable suburbs" is an oxymoron.

Others have more hope that the suburbs can be retrofitted to increase density, mix uses, improve walkability, grow food, and provide alternative forms of transportation.

The next fifty years will likely bear this out.

Suburbs Go Head To Head With The City | Planetizen

Image Source: Financial Times

The Sun Magazine | Quiet, Please

2010-09-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

The current issue of The Sun Magazine features an interview by Leslee Goodman with Gordon Hempton, listener, recorder and archivist of "natural soundscapes". According to Hempton, the natural sounds of our landscapes have been decimated; he believes there are only a few places in North America and none in Europe where one can avoid the sound of human activity for greater that twenty minutes. He leads a campaign to designate "one square inch" of silence in Olympic National Park, and has lobbied the FAA to designate a no-fly zone over the park.

In Hempton's words from the interview:

When people wonder whether they should take the time to pursue finding a silent place in nature, I often ask whether they’ve seen the Milky Way. Many have, but some haven’t. When I look up at the Milky Way, it never fails to impress me. What a difference there is between talking about the universe and looking up and actually witnessing the galaxy of which we’re a part — an ocean of stars so immense that, by comparison, the items on my ever-present to-do list shrink in significance, and I feel renewed awe and reverence.

Experiencing silence can be like that. In a naturally quiet place you can hear for miles. People who live in cities can often hear only a few hundred yards. In nature your sense of place is huge.

The Sun Magazine | Quiet, Please

The Wilderness Downtown

2010-08-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

I am new to Arcade Fire, but I see there is something I have been missing here. Their sound is different yet so familiar- definitely an early '80's vibe is going on. I have not yet read up on them extensiveky so perhaps the music journalists will help me put words to it...in any case I am LOVING their new album, The Suburbs, and this new interactive video, which asks for your childhood address and incorporates your childhood street into the montage, definitely addresses PLACE!.
The Wilderness Downtown

4th Annual People's Arts Festival at the Russell Industrial Center

2010-08-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hoping to make it to this on Saturday or Sunday after a trip to the Eastern Market!

4th Annual People's Arts Festival at the Russell

Let's Save Michigan | PARK(ing) Day Sign-up

2010-08-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is neat: PARK (ing) day!!!

According to letssavemichigan.org:

"PARK(ing) Day is a quirky, annual, worldwide event where folks use their creativity to transform metered city parking spots into temporary parks for the public good for an hour or two."

Let's Save Michigan | PARK(ing) Day Sign-up

Tour De Troit: Biking in the Motor City

2010-08-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Event Details

The Tour de Troit, set for September 25, is a bike ride that explores some of the city’s historic areas, takes in many of its most breathtaking sights, and provides bicyclists a unique opportunity to legally “take over” the streets of Motown. Last year’s ride attracted 2,000 riders!

The Tour de Troit is offering riders two options. The first — and primary — will be a leisurely ride of 30 miles with police escort. The second option, new this year, is intended for extremely experienced cyclists. It is a metric century (62 miles) that will not include police escort. Both rides will be sweeper- and SAG-supported and will begin at 10 a.m. at Roosevelt Park, located at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 14th Street.

After the ride, there is food, drink and music at Roosevelt Park in the shadow of the Michigan Central Station!

And in the evening head on over to St. Andrew Hall for Built to Spill. Sounds like a fun day.

Tour De Troit: Biking in the Motor City

Woodward Dream Cruise 2010

2010-08-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Nothing says "Detroit" like the Woodward Dream Cruise. (Thanks to Jessica O. for the pics.)

PlaceTunes: Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs"

2010-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Arcade Fire's unsubtly titled album "The Suburbs," which garnered a respectable 8.6 on Pitchfork while also managing to snag the #1 Billboard slot it's first week out, addresses urban planning and place issues.

This post from the San Francisco Planning Urban Research Association provides some insightful analysis of the album's theme and commentary:

Images of suburban decay ring throughout the album, as “all of the walls that they built in the ‘70s finally fall.” The few redeeming qualities of growing up in the suburbs seem to be gone. As Butler sings in the song “City With No Children,” all that remains is “a garden left for ruin by a millionaire inside of a private prison.”

The post also mentions other artists whose work has addressed suburbia in a cautionary manner: Rush, Modest Mouse, Dirty Projectors.

To which I would add Read Music/Speak Spanish (2002) by Desaparecidos, which contains songs entitled "Mall of America", "Man and Wife, the Former (Financial Planning)", and "Greater Omaha" with these lyrics:

Well, traffic's kind of bad
They're widening Easy Street
To fit more SUVs, they're planting baby trees to grow to shady peaks

Water, CA

2010-08-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Arguably, the disconnect between place and people that ails much of our society is contributed to in no small measure by our over-use of and addiction to technology (the very technology with which you are now reading this post).

Place-based multimedia tools, when done well, offer a potential countermeasure to this effect. Web-based tools such as Water, CA, which skillfully infuses geography, history, culture, activism and art, can connect, inform, and inspire through integration of personal and journalistic narrative, photographic and artistic imagery, and the interactivity of the web.

Of course, nothing can so inspire as an actual physical encounter with a place.

PlaceLit

2010-08-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Anna Clark, an inspired writer and social activist from Detroit who I admire immensely, recently countered NPR's list of five books to help you escape with her own list of seven books that incorporate place as a critical component on her book blog, Isak.

As I am writing this from Northern Michigan, I am psyched to see the NPR list includes Michael Felderspiel's Picturing Hemingway's Michigan from Wayne State University Press.

St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor returns to its farming roots by using hospital land to grow produce - AnnArbor.com

2010-08-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

More urban farming! This time at a hospital: St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor.

From annarbor.com:

"St. Joe is in the midst of Phase 1 of a project to farm up to 30 acres of its campus. The hospital began planting produce — things like tomatoes and peppers — in April, and is beginning to harvest it for sale to staff, patients and the general public."

St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor returns to its farming roots by using hospital land to grow produce - AnnArbor.com

Image Source: annarbor.com

The Urbanophile's Detroit Post

2010-07-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

The Urbanophile, one of my favorite urban planning blogs, recently re-posted it's most popular post ever.

The post, which ran originally in 2009, is on Detroit, and gives a pretty good synopsis of where things stood in 2009. I am not sure much has changed since the original post..

All of this national media interest initiated in 2008 when the national spotlight shone on the collapsing auto-industry. Time's Detroit Blog, Dateline's infamous piece and many other media pieces have put a magnifying glass on the City. The suburbs have escaped notice.

Now two years later, I wonder how long it will last. .

There are some pretty great Detroit bloggers out there. Here is one of my favorites; I have a feeling this guy will be writing when and if the national spotlights fade:

http://bbandm.wordpress.com/

HAVEN Garden Project

2010-07-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Urban agriculture isn't just about Detroit and Flint. I was excited to learn recently about the garden project at HAVEN, a domestic violence shelter located in the City of Pontiac. The project, which seeks to produce food for consumption by HAVEN residents and the community, was launched this past April by a coalition of community members and urban agriculture activists.

The Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, founded by MSU senior horticulture student Benjamin Gluck, is taking a leadership role in the project, along with Alexis Bogdanova-Hanna of Abundant Succession, an urban agriculture consulting and education form, and women’s health website AskInYourFace.com founder Allison Stuart Kaplan. Community residents and schools provide additional support to the project. The harvest thus far has exceeded all expectations. Bogdanova-Hanna writes on AskInYourFace.com :

Since the initial planting in mid-April, the HAVEN Garden has been growing abundantly and beyond all expectations. Perhaps it’s the infusion of love and care from the HAVEN Community, the careful execution of an innovative crop plan, or the swell of support from generous donors that has brought us to the point of surplus and success. More likely, it is a combination of all of these – the perfect mix of the tangible (remay row covers) and the intangible (synergistic energy). Whatever it is, it’s working.

A notable success of the project has been the creation of a job for local Pontiac resident Aaron Kyle. Kyle, who has no prior horticultural experience, manages the daily operations of the garden, building technical and leadership skills in the process.

Read more about the project here and here, and view pictures here.

Detroit/Windsor International Fireworks

2010-06-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the night in Windsor, Ontario to view the fireworks from Canada. The view of the nightime Detroit skyline was breathtaking. View the pictures here.

Letter from Detroit

2010-06-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote a prose piece, Letter from Detroit, that was accepted for publication in two literary magazines- the online Glass Coin, and the July/August print version of Orion Magazine .

The piece reflects my feelings about my choice to remain in the Detroit Metropolitan area- the beauty and the struggle, the hope and the despair, which is inherent everywhere but is particularly stark in the Detroit area.

You can read my piece here, and submit your own to Orion's the Place Where You Live web feature.

Fish-Flies

2010-06-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

The June, 2010 fish-fly season is coming to an end.

Take a trip to the east side of Detroit and you will see them everywhere, adhered to walls like schools of dead fish, perfuming the air with their fishy odor.

Few things remind one so well of being in a particular place at a particular time as an insect invasion. If you see fish-flies, you are near water and it is June.

It could be worse; fish-flies neither sting nor bite, nor do they eat vegetation. They merely hover in great clouds around streetlights, their juicy bodies clinging in packs to the glass of lighted storefronts until they desiccate, or eventually carpet the streets so that a drive through St. Clair Shores or Grosse Pointe on a warm June evening with the windows rolled down will be filled with the soft music of their bodies crunching under the wheels.

For those interested in the science, fish-flies are in the genus Hexagenia of the order Ephemeroptera, the Mayflies. More science here and here (apparently the densities of Hexagenia in the Great Lakes are under threat- though you would never know it by visiting the east side of Detroit this past week).

Image Credit: http://www.lakestclairflyfishing.com/

Clarkston, Michigan | Narrative Magazine

2010-06-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

I came across this lovely piece in one of my favorite online literary magazines, Narrative. I love the description of the narrators sense of wonder as he happens upon an intact ecosystem in the middle of suburbia. I particularly liked his sense of not wanting to go any farther, lest he happen upon a strip mall or a backyard that would destroy his sense of bewitchment.

I have spent the last ten years working with land conservancies and watershed councils on trying to preserve the high-quality ecosystems to which this essay refers, in the midst of the building boom. Now that the boom has gone bust, I often think about the reprieve given these places, both through our efforts at land conservation, and through the virtual stand-still of new construction.

Some think we will never return to those days of building bigger and bigger, farther and farther out; that when this economy heals the new development will be redevelopment of the urban core, finally. If so, are the sensitive ecosystems on the fringe of the exurban landscape out of harm's way? Can we direct our resources to restoration and redevelopment?

Clarkston, Michigan | Narrative Magazine

The Burden of Home Ownership - The Future of the City - The Atlantic

2010-06-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have innumerable friends right now who are hamstrung by their homes. They are deferring job opportunities, travel plans, even splitting up families because they are locked into mortgages on homes they cannot sell.

Which was why I was so interested in Richard Florida's (The Creative Class, The Great Reset) prediction that we are now headed toward a "rentership society"- one in which mobility is valued over the white picket fence.

Florida echoes that other urban thinker who is on my mind, James Howard Kuntsler, when he talks about the degree of subsidization that has been provided the quest to build a landscape dominated by a monoculture of single-family homes that is neither economically nor environmentally sustainable.

While Kuntler predicts a future that does not fall short of apocalyptic, Florida merely predicts that the character of the American Dream will shift as we relinquish the idea that the ultimate measure of success is homeownership. To some, the thought of removing that quintessential piece of the American dream, may seem equal to an apocalypse.

The Burden of Home Ownership - The Future of the City - The Atlantic

Image Source: missouridevelopment.com

New Urbanism for the Apocalypse | Fast Company

2010-05-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

Very interesting read..... I am left wondering where all of this is going.

On the one hand you have James Howard Kuntsler, who argues we are facing nothing short of an apocalypse. On the other you have Richard Florida, who sounds a less dramatic and much more optimistic warning bell, arguing we are in a time of a "great reset" that will renew and refresh our civilization.

I am hoping Florida is closer to the truth.

New Urbanism for the Apocalypse | Fast Company

Flickr: Wade Bryant's Photostream

2010-05-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

Some really incredible gorgeous photos of Detroit.

Flickr: Wade Bryant's Photostream

Home

2010-05-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

I often wonder if our sense of place is not tied deeply to our childhood experience- and since we often don't live in those childhood places as adults, if we are constrained to ever feel at home when we leave.

I never moved out of Michigan, but I did move to another city and can't say even after ten years that I truly think of it as home. Will this change as I raise my children here?

This weekend a place-event is happening: the St. Joan of Arc spring fair, an event that is as close to the core of my sense of place as is anything I can imagine. I will never forget the excitement in grade school as the carnival rolled in to town and began setting up in the parking lots adjacent to the school and church. Always in mid-May, the fair represented a time of renewal. We were released from school early on Friday to enjoy the warm spring days and ride the Ship Dragon and Tilt-a-Whirl.

The east side of Detroit and the eastside suburbs- Lake St. Clair, St. Clair Shores, and Grosse Pointe, still feel more like home to me than anywhere else.

Image Credit: Andrew Potter: http://andrewpotterphoto.blogspot.com

Detritus

2010-05-21T05:14:00.000-07:00

The May issue of THE COLLAGIST, an online literary magazine distributed through Ann Arbor-based Dzanc Books, features a a wonderful poem with a sense of place. Detritus by Michael Lauchlan paints a picture of a demolition in his Detroit neighborhood.

One of the things I love about The Collagist is they follow-up each issue with interviews with the contributors or podcasts of the author reading their work on their blog. Read the interview with Lauchlan here.

Image Source: americancity.org

Green Detroit: Why the City Is Ground Zero for the Sustainability Movement

2010-04-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

This article by Metro Time's founder Ron Williams articulates so much of my hopes for the City of Detroit and my concerns about the "Green" movement:.

Green Detroit: Why the City Is Ground Zero for the Sustainability Movement | Economy | AlterNet

Image Credit: shorpy.com

GOOD Magazine The Neighborhood Issue

2010-04-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

New to me is GOOD Magazine, which has been around since 2006. GOOD is a quarterly concern which focuses on good ideas, and covers business, cities, culture, design, education, environment, food, health, media, politics, technology, and transportation. The website includes a forum where readers can contribute and engage.

The current issue focuses on neighborhoods, bringing together a lot of urban planning theory and common-sense good ideas to create a graphically beautiful, engaging piece. The volume includes a "Good Guide to Better Neighborhoods" includes twelve ideas, including the standard (plant a community garden, throw a block party), novel (create a neighborhood clubhouse, find a third place), and timely ideas (squatting in a foreclosed home).

I highly recommend the issue, website and blog.

Issue 019 - GOOD Magazine - GOOD

Michigan Green Leaders

2010-04-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Earth Day, Detroit Free Press has a Sunday spread on Michigan Green Leaders, highlighting individuals who are leading the way to a brighter, greener future in the state. I am fortunate to know and work with several of these individuals. They are all truly visionaries. View a slideshow here.

Image Credit: Detroit Free Press

Obscura Day 2010 on Vimeo

2010-04-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Obscura Day 2010 from Dylan D. Thuras on Vimeo.

Obcura Day, 2010, was a rousing success with 80 events. Detroit's Heidelburg Project was featured, along with other "wonders, curiosities, and esoterica" across the globe. See the atlasobscura website for more info on this event and website's celebration of place.

Debunking the Mythology

2010-04-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, videos, images and a written summary of the Our Detroit Story conference us available here. Start debunking the myths!

Speaking of mythology, I had never before seen this video, about the mythological Detroit Riots of 1967 which are blamed for initiating the demise of Detroit. Wow. (Thanks Jen.) OK I see what all the Sam Roberts buzz is about. Pretty fascinating imagery mixed in with a solid bluesy song.

And if you really want to dive in deep, come face to face with Detroit as it really is, you can either take the twelve hour tour of the Detroit Orientation Institute, or jump on a Segway tour (I plan to very soon). Both tour are available through Inside Detroit.

Image Credit: The Detroit News Hub

A Ten Year Vision for Detroit

2010-04-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Freep's Sunday Editorial section featured a spread summarizing various items coming together to deliver a "smaller, smarter, greener" city in ten years. Mitch Albom's poetic piece begins:

"In my Detroit, a decade from now, there are no blocks with one burned-out house. Those eyesores have been leveled. Grass and trees have taken their place."

I would have liked to see a few additions to Albom's column and to the featured map (which should not have yellowed out the suburbs and Windsor, Canada.

I would add the following:

In my Detroit, the hundreds of autonomous suburban municipalities and school districts have merged services to become more efficient and effective.

In my Detroit, the City and every suburb have adopted and implemented sustainability plans which outline how they are going to reduce greenhouse gases, conserve water, create and preserve green infrastructure, and reduce solid waste.

In my Detroit, Belle Isle has been restored to its former grandeur, and the Belle Isle Aquarium has been re-opened and expanded, featuring top-notch exhibits and programs about the Great Lakes and the Detroit River.

In my Detroit, the City and suburbs collaborate and cooperate because they know it is in their mutual best interest to do so.

MORE HERE

Downsizing Detroit

2010-03-27T06:22:00.001-07:00

Can Detroit be downsized? Can the vast tracts of land now featuring vacant, abandoned neighborhoods be transformed into orchards, pumpkin patches, cornfields, and vegetable gardens? Can neighborhoods be consolidated? And will this, in the end, do anything to alleviate the generational poverty that has afflicted the remaining citizens of Detroit since the 1960's?

I am optimistic about this for several reasons:

1. Foundations in the area are coordinating efforts and leveraging resources with an emphasis on Detroit. Kresge Foundation is paying the salary for an outside urban planner to work with City Council to develop the downsizing plan. The foundations have historically worked piecemeal and independently. This synergy must extend to the public and private sectors in order to avoid the same types of problems that have plagued government-led efforts in the past..

2. Local and organic food is a big deal. Even mid-level chain grocery stores such as Kroger are advertising sourcing of local products. Done right, there is unprecedented potential for local agriculture to be profitable.

3. Unlike earlier economic development schemes (think: casinos) the concepts of downsizing and urban farming are not designed to create thousands of jobs and enrich investors and developers. Instead, downsizing is a rational response to existing conditions, and urban agriculture identifies a viable use for the city's main asset: land. No one will get rich, but maybe a stable and productive industry will lift some out of poverty. And unlike gambling, there is no societal cost to community gardens.

Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers

2010-03-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers is the only parenting magazine I read. The most recent issue, which I am anxiously awaiting, lives up to it's reputation for original thought and critical analysis of any parenting "movements". The essay Guilt Trip into the Woods: Do kids really need nature? by Martha Nichols serves as a welcome breath of fresh air for those of us embroiled in guilt over TV, video games, social media and "nature deficit disorder."

Don't get me wrong; I am a huge fan of Richard Louv and the No Child Left Inside movement, as my prior post attests. I fully intend on taking my kids backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, cross-country skiing in northern Michigan, and paddling on the Clinton River as much as possible. But I appreciate tempering the ideal with the real, and passages from Nichol's essay such as the following resonate:

No parent believes kids should sit in front of a computer 24/7. But I can’t help but feel irked by the hyperbole in statements like, “To take nature and natural play away from children may be tantamount to withholding oxygen.” And I object strongly to the assumptions behind Louv’s message. As a feminist and white adoptive mom of an Asian son, I’m disturbed by the belief that what’s “natural” is always best for kids. This feels like ’60s nostalgia—the kind that wishes women’s liberation and the Internet hadn’t ever come along to mess things up.

Hurrah Brain, Child, for earning my subscription fee.

Edible Wow Spring 2010

2010-03-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

New issue out! This edition contains an in inspiring piece about Peaches & Greens, an effort to sell fresh produce in the style of an ice-cream truck to the poorest neighborhoods in Detroit's food desert.

If you don't subscribe, you will have to find your issue at one of the magazine's advertiser's locations. I found mine at Mind, Body, Spirits in Rochester, an upscale sustainable, organic eatery with a LEED-certified building featuring, among many other features, geothermal heating/cooling, an onsite greenhouse, and a food composter.

Growing Up in a Place: No Child Left Inside

2010-03-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Lately, my husband and four-year old son have been obsessed with Super Mario Brothers for the Wii. They spend hours at a time collecting coins, absorbing magic mushrooms and destroying all manner of mythical creatures. While I can remember spending hours on the original NES game myself back in the 80's (yes, I saved the princess), this development highlights a rather strong difference between my husband and I regarding our parenting philosophies: I don't think this is such great thing. He just thinks they are bonding.

Last Saturday we went for a walk in the park; it was the first nice day in a very long time. It quickly became clear how much Super Mario's landscape had invaded my son's mind. He related inanimate objects to Mario creatures. He equated the fire pole at the playscape to the flagpole scaled by Mario at the end of each level. As we walked, he pretended to be throwing giant turtle shells at us, and pretended to be hopping to avoid poison mushrooms.

Yes, it was all very cute, But I do worry (I am a mom, right?). I am not a puritan about video games, but he is very young. I think there needs to be a balance between fantasy and reality, and there needs to be space for imagination to thrive. Exploring the outdoors, I believe, is the surest way to stimulate the imagination, and I think it is critical for children.

Raising kids in a cold climate presents some challenges. Weather can discourage parents from getting their kids outside.We get out to local recreation ares and parks when we can, but not as much as we should. We are blessed with a wonderful town full of trails, parks, and rivers, and we need to get out there .

The No Child Left Inside movement, which echoes the No Child Left Behind Act, was inspired by Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods, and is trying to bring attention to this issue by combating so-called "Nature Deficit Disorder."

Local initiatives abound; here in Southeast Michigan we have No Child Left Inside Days (April 20-25) sponsored the the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, an upcoming summit on the topic at UM Dearborn in June, Nature Connections out of Milford, and a locally authored book, One Child One Planet.

Because we have always been avid hikers, campers, and backpackers, I am really not too worried about my son's video game obsession. We'll get outside soon, as the weather improves. In the meantime, I try to pull him away from time to time, if only to take a breath of fresh air on the front porch.

The Ultimate Place: Earth

2010-03-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

It is now March of 2010, and despite a mountain of evidence, the consensus of 97% of the world's climate scientists, and images showing ice caps and glaciers melting, many people, including those I respect and consider friends, are either not entirely convinced that climate change is real or are firmly in denial. The "climate gate" scandal certainly has not helped matters and has underscored the need for climate change scientists, like all scientists, to remain apolitical and above reproach. Anything less gives the likes of Sarah Palin ammunition to twist the facts.

I asked a thoughtful, intelligent conservative friend of mine why so many of his ilk regard climate change as a socialist plot designed to destroy capitalism. He had two responses. First, people tend to think anecdotally, and weather patterns just have not changed that much around here.

I don't believe the vast majority of us will perceive climate change first-hand until it is far more advanced. Right now, climate change is most palpable in extreme areas- particularly in polar and sub-polar regions, and mountainous glacial areas, where retreating ice and expanded growing seasons can be witnessed firsthand and can be perceived to have altered in a generation. Moreover, it is difficult to experience averages- especially when increments are small and geographic areas are vast. We tend to remember singular events and are less likely to notice or recall subtle shifts in conditions.

Second, says my friend, people think there is conflict in the science. As evidence of the latter, he sent me this link to a Time Magazine article from 1974 that predicts global cooling.I was quickly able to find a counterargument to this (and other climate change skeptic arguments), which identifies the 1970's ice age predictions as more media hoopla than science, and that indeed even then scientific consensus was leaning firmly toward a warming planet.

The climate of the earth, as anyone with a cursory knowledge of the historic record knows, is extremely variable. We are certainly headed for another ice age, eventually. They occur quite regularly; scientists believe there have been at least five glacial periods in earth history. The last one ended about 15,000 years ago, when modern humans were just beginning to develop culture. The causes of ice ages are not fully understood, and likely relate to changes in the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, changes in the orbital path of the Earth, and the position and amount of the continental landmasses. Eventually, glaciers will grow and descend upon the mid-latitudes once more.

Mass extinctions are also a regular part of human history. Five major and at least seventeen lesser extinction events are recognized by scientists as part of the historical record. The last one, as most third graders know, occurred 65 mya and did away with the dinosaurs. Reasons for these events are not fully understood and are hypothesized to include major impacts, cosmic radiation, and climate change.

I don't believe changes to the Earth's climate caused by human activity will permanently destroy the planet or avert another ice age. Only astronomical events, such as the sun going supernova or a massive impact, could bring about wholesale planetary destruction. The systems of the earth are extraordinarily complex and have multiple feedback systems. The earth will rebound and change continuously. Whatever we do will be undone, eventually.

Does this mean that nothing should be done to mitigate the current global warming that threatens human civilization?

Agriculture, urbanization,and industrialization have occurred extremely recently, only since the last ice age. While humans likely cannot destroy the planet, we can probably make it less hospitable to life until the next ice age arrives in another twenty millennia or so to cool us back down. We may even be able set events in motion to initiate another climate-change induced mass extinction. At the every least, we will likely cause vast resource depletion, displace millions, and make things extremely uncomfortable.

Part of the trouble, I think, is that while climate models can predict big-picture, average conditions very well, they are less able to paint a detailed.picture. And detailed pictures, drama, is what people respond to. It is well and good to clearly explain and debate the nuances of science, but my friend is right: people need to perceive and understand specifics to be convinced, and they need to know how those specifics will impact their lives in some way. When and where and how much will sea levels rise, will seasons change, will crops be depleted? The new NASA climate change web page is a good first step toward getting the imagery out there, but more needs to be done to paint this picture as vividly and with as much accuracy as possible.

We are in the midst of a shift in consciousness; everyone is "going green". Energy efficiency and alternative energy are closer to reality than ever. I attended a conference last week in which a U of M professor talked about her company's work to bring to market cheap batteries for drive trains. Cities are in a race to be the most "sustainable". Yet some leaders are still loathe to use the words "climate change."

How do you solve a problem without naming it? Yes, there are many ancillary and complementary reasons to eschew fossil fuels, conserve energy and steward natural resources.As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham now says, politics, economics and legacy are enough reason without ever discussing climate change. Yes, let's create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, increase our economic competitiveness through reducing energy costs. But in the end, I think we need to clearly identify the target, or we will be distracted. And right now, that target needs to be very clear: eliminate greenhouse gases.

Orion Magazine | The Place Where You Live

2010-03-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

Orion magazine, whose tagline is Nature/Culture/Place, is reviving their "The Place Where You Live" department. This department invites readers to submit a short essay or story, photo, painting, drawing or handmade map describing the place they live and how they connect to it. Entries will be published to Orion's website and select submissions will be included in the publication.

Orion has carved a niche for itself as a sort of literary journal for nature and environmental writing. Although many of it's articles address controversial issues, on the whole the magazine is not overtly political and focuses on creative non-fiction, short fiction, memoir, and poetry. It is a pleasure to read, the kind of thing you curl up with on a Sunday morning with a blanket and a hot cup of coffee.

I look forward to reading about myriad places and how people connect with them.

Culture in the D

2010-03-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

A great deal of press lately has focused on Detroit art, DIY and "homepreneurs." Detroit is wrapping up it's first Indie Film Fest this week. We are hosts to one of several Moth events across the nation. Last month saw the freezing (and thawing) of the Ice House project. The Heidelburg Project (above photo) is alive and well after 20+ years, and is hosting an "outsider art tour" on March 20th, which is Atlas Obscura day (see previous post). Matrix Theater is building community through theater in southwest Detroit. The Crofoot in Pontiac continues to put out a can't miss schedule of concerts showcasing local and national talent. Live jazz can be had at Cliff Bell's. The Scarab Club continues to present art, music and literature after 100 years. And of course, the DIA and Detroit Film Theater continue to bring art and culture to the region.

When you read about Detroit in the national media, you don't often hear about this stuff: the people and institutions that sustain a vibrant culture, and which give soul and authenticity to this place, in times of good and in times of difficulty.

Place and Food

2010-02-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Food and place are inextricably linked.

There are so many advantages to eating healthy and local, and I am not going in to all of them in this space. What I want to focus on is the link between our connection to food and our connection to place. By maintaining a connection to local food, we maintain our connection to the place in which it is grown, prepared, and consumed. We begin to learn about the ecology of our location: what grows here, what is in season, who grows it, the cultural forces that evolved in this place how they have influenced local food traditions.

Edible Wow is a local quarterly (seasonal) publication focusing on the foodshed of Southeast Michigan. It is available free at select locations, including several farmer's markets, restaurants, and breweries. Topics ranging from recipes to canning to local restaurant cuisine to urban and community-supported agriculture are covered with skill and beautiful photography.

I plan to revisit this topic many times as it is so integral and important to the mission of Place.

Detroit Declaration

2010-02-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

"I so love your heart that burns
That in your people’s body yearns
To perpetuate,
and permeate,
the lonely dream that does encapsulate,
Your spirit, that God insulates,
With courageous dream’s concern"

-Jack White

Came across this recently....

We know you’re out there. We know you love Detroit and want to see it not just survive, but thrive. This is our rallying cry. Welcome to a political movement for a brighter Detroit future.

Visitors are encouraged to sign the Declaration for Detroit, join the Facebook page, and spread the word. More detailed policy recommendations calling for sustainable arts funding, a comprehensive land-use strategy, and transit system modernization are drafted for three of 12 principlesin the Declaration, .

A recent article in USA today elaborates on this as a new form of grassroots online activism.

As of this writing, the Facebook page has 9,499 fans, and the site launched just over a month ago.

The Declaration is a manifesto drafted by 20 Detroit residents that outlines 12 principles for the community to follow to revive Detroit:

Be welcoming and embrace our diversity.
Preserve our authenticity
Cultivate creativity.
Diversify our economy.
Promote sustainability.
Enhance quality of place.
Demand transportation alternatives.
Prioritize education, pre-K through 12 and beyond.
Elevate our universities and research institutions.
Enhance the value of city living.
Demand government accountability.
Think regionally and leverage our geography.

I am excited about the content of the manifesto. These are all things I support wholeheartedly. And I think the language used in the declaration is eloquent and concise. To whomever is responsible: Bravo!

It is heartening to see this type of grass-roots activism building. It's heartening to see any type of positive energy regarding Detroit, especially in light of all of the negative press. It's also very easy to become a fan of a Facebook page and sign an online petition, but difficult to do the real work to make a dent in the tidal wave of forces that have conspired to destroy Detroit.

I have chosen to remain in the metro Detroit area primarily so my children can know their grandparents. My great-grandparents came here early in the century from Sicily, and built their lives here. I have extended family and friends all over the region. I have happy memories of the Eastern Market Saturdays and visits to Belle Isle with my dad, fishing on the Detroit River at Angell Park, Greektown lambchop family gatherings (Opa!), dinner at Lelli's and Larco's with my grandparents, Tiger Stadium, old and new. I have a strong sense of connection to this place, and I wonder whether it will ever improve within my lifetime. And I wonder what, if anything, I can do about it.

Because, of course, I live in the suburbs.

Like most Detroiters.

Place and Media

2010-02-22T05:36:00.000-08:00

As traditional media declines in the face of economic catastrophe, conglomeration, and the internet, new forms and models are springing up. Only time will ferret out the viability of these forms, but several, I believe, offer promise. Of interest is the model of non-profit journalism, or journalism funded partially or wholly by philanthropy. Journalism, like politics, is plagued by conflict of interest issues; private news organizations are held accountable to shareholders and advertisers. While the philanthropic model does not necessarily negate these impacts, it may change the dynamic and offer a new approach and possibly, hope.

One of these new models is Issue Media Group, which publishes a suite of vibrant locally-based, online editions in several Michigan cities, and has expanded across the Rust Belt to include editions for Toronto, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and yes, Detroit's competitor in dereliction, Cleveland.

Issue Media's business model combines local underwriting with local and Google-based advertising. Readers can subscribe to a free weekly e-newsletter. If growth is any indication, this model seems to be working; Issue Media group has expanded during the recession, opening new publications while others are folding.

The mission of the Model D publications is to report on local growth- economic and cultural. You will find business coverage of tiny companies, news in arts and culture, features on local communities, neighborhoods, restaurants, and profiles of entrepreneurs. The positive spin is certainly not consistent with traditional journalism, but it's not strictly PR, either. Taken as a piece of the information flood, Issue Media fills an important gap and reports on items that would never be covered by mainstream media yet are vital to understanding and promoting place.

Great Places in America

2010-02-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

The American Planning Association's Great Places in America program celebrates some of the greatest places we have in this country- neighborhoods, streets, and public spaces. Michigan scored three places in 2009- Main Street Ann Arbor, Front Street Traverse City, and East Park, Charlevoix.

"APA Great Places offer better choices for where and how people work and live. They are enjoyable, safe, and desirable. They are places where people want to be — not only to visit, but to live and work every day. America's truly great streets, neighborhoods and public spaces are defined by many criteria, including architectural features, accessibility, functionality, and community involvement."

The deadline to nominate places for 2010 is February 25th!

Mapping Place

2010-02-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

When trying to connect with place, sometimes it helps to have a map. Technology-based projects are cropping up to create guides and maps to assist people in discovering and connecting to place. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Geocaching

Geocaching is essentially treasure hunting using a GPS (Global Positioning System) . Essentially, people hide "caches", which are some type of container containing, at minimum, a logbook, and likely some trinkets and treats for taking or trading. The geographic coordinates of the caches are registered with geocaching.com, along with hints, photos and other optional information, and people can record their visits both in a logbook within the physical cache and on the website.

I had been wanting to try it for years but lacked a GPS system. When I bought an iPhone late in 2009, I suddenly had the capability- the iPhone has a GPS system and you can download a geocaching app that identifies and navigates to geocaches based on your location. It is loads of fun, especially with my 4-year old (that is us in the photo above, after a find).

I love this game. For one, it builds community- albeit a strange and quirky one, as I am still learning. There is an entire community of geocachers out there, complete with a language I don't yet understand (non-geocachers are "muggles" a la Harry Potter). And unlike many technologies, this one gets people outside instead of discouraging them from leaving the house.

I love it because it is a wonderful, lighthearted way to connect people with place, and provides opportunities for people to discover new localities in their own areas. Caches can be hidden nearly anywhere, and creative uses of geocaching can highlight and promote a community asset or resource. (Here's a great example).

2. Green Map

The Green Map concept has been around for 15 years or so but recently was rebuilt using Google Maps as a platform. Green Map supports locally-created and locally-managed online mapping projects that identify sustainability resources, using universal iconography. Users can suggest sites and provide a location via Google Maps.

According to their website:

Over 400 unique, vibrant Green Maps have published to date, and hundreds more have been created in classrooms and workshops by youth and adults. Both the mapmaking process and the resulting Green Maps have tangible effects that:

Strengthen local-global sustainability networks
Expand the demand for healthier, greener choices
Help successful initiatives spread to even more communities

The website for Metro Detroit is relatively new, and still seems a bit buggy and does not have many sites yet. To see the full potential, visit the NYC map. I have hope for this technology, though I think a lot of local administrative details, especially data custody and management issues, will need to be sorted out before it becomes truly useful.

A mobile web app is available that uses your current location to identify green assets in your vicinity.

3. Atlas Obscura

Atlas Obscura is billed as "a compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities, and esoterica." Users can submit esoterica (via Google Map) under a variety of categories (you can select more than one) such as "Incredible Ruins", "Disaster Areas", "Mystery Spots and Gravity Hills", etc.

Detroit entries thus far include The Heidelburg Project (Outsider Architecture), Detroit Salt Mine (Natural Wonder), Edison's Last Breath at the Henry Ford Museum (Memento Mori), Hamtramck Disneyland (Eccentric Homes).

It should be mentioned that each of these projects relies on Google Maps technology as a platform. I think the building and dissemination of Google Maps to the public for free is a major contribution to society, one that will continue to reap benefits so far as helping people communicate about and connect to place.

Lost and Found: A Sense of Place

2010-01-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

We live our lives in places; physical places like cities, towns, metropolitan areas, secret hiding places, nooks and crevices, while also inhabiting the non-physical places of our inner landscape: our emotions, consciousness, relationships, lifestyles and personal decisions. Physical place gives form, context, and structure to our inner, intangible space, impacting our relationships to one another, shaping and delimiting the sphere of our existence and experience.

To the extent that we are aware of and rooted in the outer and inner places that we inhabit, we achieve intimate connectedness and deep knowledge of the peculiarities and nuances and history of our selves and our surroundings, cultivating a sense of belonging and identification with ourselves and our location in the universe; a "sense of place."

You know it when you feel it. A sense of place is a sense that you are at home, somewhere special, authentic, and unique. A sense that there is nowhere else in the world quite like it, a feeling of connection to the details-species of trees, architecture, cuisine, music, local business, history, nuances of speech- the peculiarities that have co-evolved in one location to create the identity that sets a particular place apart.

Obstacles to establishing a sense of place in abound in our modern world: mobility, time constraints, and technology strain our ability to connect. The bland architecture and homogeneous community design pervading much of the landscape developed in the past 50 years leaves us less to connect with. I believe this loss of connection to place is tightly related to loss of connection to community, self, and spirit, and poses a serious threat to the health of individuals and society. When we lose these connections, we seek to fill the hole left in our lives. This seeking can be constructive (art, spirituality, community), or destructive (consumerism in all of its myriad forms).

All around me, I am observing efforts to re-establish and reconnect ourselves with place, and I believe these efforts are signs that as humans, we recognize the need to know where we are, and to have a place to call home. This is what I want to focus on in this space.

Place hopes to address and explore the following:

What is the role of place in our lives?
How do the kinds of places we live in shape the events we encounter, our outlooks, our opportunities?
How and where are people connecting with place today?
How do place and technology interact?
How do we connect to place in our increasingly mobile world?
How does place impact the nature of individuals, families, communities?

Although Place is about place as a concept and will not strictly be about Metropolitan Detroit, as a native and resident my perspective and information will certainly be colored by my attachment to this particular place, with all of its attendant beauty and tribulations.