Michigan

Welcome to Detroit

How People Talk About Blight and Vacancies

The kinds of words and arguments people use to describe blight, foreclosure, and eviction reveals a lot of society's biases.

October 18, 2017 - Rustbelt Anthro

Rabble

Startup Allows People To Invest In Affordable Housing

New tool empowers neighbors to invest in their forgotten neighborhoods, and create wealth while doing so.

October 11, 2017 - Modern Cities

Kansas City Streetcar

Report: Streetcars Were Always for Developers

Streetsblog digs into the literature on streetcars and finds evidence that the transit mode du jour was never intended to benefit transit users.

October 5, 2017 - Streetsblog USA

Michigan

300,000 Michigan Drivers' Debt Forgiven

Michigan to grant amnesty to 300,000 drivers whose licenses were taken from them because they were too poor to pay the "Driver Responsibility Fee."

October 5, 2017 - Slate

Maumee River

Lake Erie Algae Bloom Growing Again

The algae bloom in Lake Erie has spread to cover much of the edge of Lake Eerie near Toledo, but toxins remain low where local communities draw drinking water supply.

October 4, 2017 - The New York Times

QLine Detroit

Ridership Drops As Detroit's QLine Streetcar Starts Charging

Since Detroit's new streetcar system started charging, ridership has dropped. Those who are riding aren't necessarily paying anyways.

September 28, 2017 - Crain's Detroit Business

Homeless Encampment

Organization Sets Up Tents to Shelter Homeless in Detroit

A civil rights organization has taken direct action to provide support for homeless people living in Detroit.

September 21, 2017 - Associated Press via Detroit Free Press

Michigan Map

Community Mapping Project Pays Off in More Ways Than One for Flint

The community's hard work has helped Flint planners take an inventory of its building stock, as well as secure needed funding from the federal government.

September 8, 2017 - Center for Community Progress

Detroit Bridge

Canadian Government Permits Another Privately Owned Bridge From Detroit

Soon there could be a second cable-stayed bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada, running alongside the existing Ambassador Bridge and owned by the same private entity.

September 7, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

Detroit Sports Arena

A Grand Opening for Detroit's New Downtown Sports and Entertainment Arena

The Pistons and the Red Wings have a new home in Downtown Detroit—bringing all four of Detroit's professional sports teams into the same neighborhood.

September 6, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

Detroit

A Demographic Portrait of Detroit

The 139 Square Miles report attempts to comprehensively report the realities of Detroit, without commentary or critique.

September 3, 2017 - Next City

San Francisco Mural

Friday Eye Candy: Portraits Made Public—For Community Awareness and Placemaking

The "Inside Out Project: We Are Edison" installation posted large portraits of residents in the Kalamazoo neighborhood of Edison on the side of a building. The exhibition invites the community to take a look at itself.

September 1, 2017 - MLive

QLine

Detroit's QLine Streetcar to Begin Charging Fares

Free rides will be a thing of the past on the QLine come September 5, but there will be more frequent headways.

August 30, 2017 - Crain's Detroit Business

Georgia Agrihood

Agrihoods Still Proving Popular

Agrihoods emerged in the 1990s as a master-planned alternative to the golf-centered communities of the past. Many of these developments are going strong, and gaining in popularity.

August 13, 2017 - Realtor

Downtown Detroit

Detroit's Future

By 2040, Detroit will be bigger, more urban, older, and whiter predicts a report from the New Urban Institute that looks at trends, challenges, and assets of the Michigan city.

August 4, 2017 - CityLab

The old and the new

The Full Story of Detroit's Decline: The Shunning

The decline of Detroit can't be completely explained by the decline of the U.S. auto industry, according to an editorial commemorating the 50th anniversary of a five-day period of rioting and protest that resonates to this day.

July 28, 2017 - Forbes

Southeast Michigan's RTA Could Trim its Footprint to Build Support for Transit Funding

One way to get a transit funding tax plan approved is just to cut outlying areas out of transit taxes, and transit planning, entirely.

July 11, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

Meter Maid

Tickets Keeping Detroiters in Poverty

Michigan suspends approximately 100,000 driver’s licenses every year when drivers can't afford to pay tickets and fines.

July 8, 2017 - The Detroit Free Press

Flint

Michigan Suing Flint to Force Long-Term Water Contract

The news from Michigan serves as a reminder that the Flint drinking water tragedy, which started in 2014, still has not been resolved. The health of Flint residents is still at risk.

June 29, 2017 - Associated Press via Chicago Tribune

Autonomous Vehicle

Southeast Michigan Testing the Cutting Edge of Connected Car Technology

The Internet of Things is quickly taking over roads, even before cars start driving themselves en masse around the world.

June 26, 2017 - The Detroit News

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.