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Cities and Free Markets: The Manufactured American Dream
For some reason or another people seem to associate cities with socialism and suburbs with the capitalist American dream. The notion that the strong middle class created American suburbia has been engraved in our minds for all of recent American history. Contrary to popular belief however, it wasn’t always like this. In fact, as far [...]
Karachi’s Unplanned Poor
Imagine everything is new, bright and shiny. Imagine this new is something that also keeps you out, pushes you away, and finds you abandoning the place you once called home. When the poor in society are pushed away from where they once were due to a combination of a lack in planning on their behalf, [...]
5 Takeaways from “Defend Your Ride”
Towards the end of last year I had the opportunity to produce a blog feature for CBS Detroit called Defend Your Ride (which is why there was a bit of a lull in posting for a while). The segment is being done in numerous cities around the country and I was called on to head [...]
(Slum)Lord of the Inner-Ring
Across the street is a partially run down home, with the front screen door off its hinges, peeling paint all around the house, and a partially collapsed garage door. This is the site you see outside your front window every day. What you also see are the kids that leave for school every morning from [...]
Perceptions on Density: Is it too crowded in Big Sky Country?
Out west lies a massive state with a relatively low population – the big Sky State of Montana. With the population of Montana officially crossing over the 1 million person hurdle, you wouldn’t think there would be much of a fuss. After all, Montana has more senators than it does house representatives (by comparison, the [...]
The Best GOP candidates on High Speed Rail are Newt Gingrich….and Ron Paul?
Later on this evening, Iowa republicans will start to caucus for their nomination for president on the republican ticket. An issue that has been avoided among the candidates thus far has been transportation, so being able to gauge their feelings on the subject has been less then meets the eye. We have seen only the [...]
Bus Rapid Transit is the new reality for Detroit, no light rail in sight.
In the city of Detroit this holiday Season, the city council isn’t taking a vacation. In the city of Lansing, the state of Michigan is reviewing the books for Detroit. When they are done, the city council may not have a job waiting for them if they leave. In the city of Washington DC, Transportation Secretary Ra [...]
Don’t Worry, The Code Officer Will Handle It From Here
Code enforcement exists in Detroit, MI. No, really. But in case you ever wondered what they did (you know, to pass the time) the Detroit Works Project has an idea. Under Mayor Dave Bing, Detroit will enact a triage type strategy that targets healthy neighborhoods with code enforcement crackdowns. The idea is to protect the [...]
Night of the Living Burbs
When I was a kid, I grew up in a subdivision in Clinton Township, Michigan (a northern suburb of Detroit). Despite being part of the urban sprawl that is the greater metro United States, this neighborhood was about as non-walkable as could be. There were (and still aren’t) any sidewalks, many of the houses were set fairly [...]
The road to everywhere: 3 ways we can fight congestion in urban cores
Since the automobile became king of the road in modern civilization, traffic congestion has been a problem in cities around the globe. 103 years after Ford’s first Tin Lizzie found a parking spot, we still struggle with the increasing demands of the automobile. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t by any stretch an anti-car [...]
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