Fringe- Places that Verb Your World

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.

Detroit: Urban Agriculture Tour

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

Art Installation, Powerhouse Project, Hamtramck

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.

Place Events: 2010 Tour de Troit

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

Obscura Day 2010 on Vimeo

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

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