Patrick McNamara

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BUZZ: 10 Reveals From The 2015 NAIAS In Detroit

The North American International Auto Show is in town, and one of the most anticipated things about it is the reveals. It’s a fashion show for the auto enthusiast, where Detroit is to motorized transportation what Paris is to clothing. So here are 10 of the highlighted reveals that were the buzz on social media … what are you looking forward most to seeing at Cobo Center? [View the story “Ten Reveals From The 2015 Detroit Auto Show ” on Storify]...

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What To Do In The D: Your City 5 For The Weekend Of January 15 - 18

With the holidays fading away into the rearview, we are struck once again to find things to do in the Metro Detroit Region. It’s time to come out of our winter caves and shake off those winter blues. Here’s your weekly list of some cool cultural (and indoor) events that we found for you to get into this weekend. Ragù  Thursday – For those of you who enjoy food (you may or may not call yourselves foodies) this event looks like a great time. It’s a pop up restaurant serving up four types riga...

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WATCH: How Does Living Wage Fast Food Joint Moo Cluck Moo Make It Work?

Moo Cluck Moo is not your typical burger joint.  They pay employees $15 an hour, which is considered a fair living wage. As a result, the employee turnover is low, and the employees care about the food that they serve. Interestingly enough, the Wagyu beef burger that they serve is a dollar cheaper than a McDonald’s Big Mac. The debate about fair living wages for fast-food workers made quite the splash in 2014, and became the center of a larger national debate about raising minimum wage overall...

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WATCH: A Mini-Doc on Detroit's Land Use Featuring Community Push

Remember the project called Community Push? They did an incredible thing by restoring the Wigle Recreation Center area into a skate park called “The Wig” for local kids.  With a little bit of money, they made a big difference in the neighborhood.  However, the land was sold by the city to a developer which is a bummer for the local community, because the skate park must go … at the very least, they will have to start over somewhere else. The Detroit Future City initiative is a plan that was cr...

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Soon to Open in the GAR Building, Republic Makes National List of Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings

Eater.com, the parent site of Eater Detroit has included the soon to open “Republic” in a list of the 33 most anticipated restaurant openings of 2015. Listed not by rank but in alphabetical order by city, the list chooses restaurants that are being opened by highly regarded chefs and restaurateurs around the country. Republic is being opened by chef Kate Williams in late January or February of this year. It is located in the Grand Army of the Republic Building or GAR Building as it is commonly...

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Let's Kayak Around Belle Isle (With Photos)

Is “Detroit, Land Of The Great Outdoors” a slogan that rings true in your heart? If it doesn’t, it should. It’s more than possible to be active and enjoy being outside in the city. I have biked around the city, zipped down the Dequindre Cut on a Segway, and enjoyed a sunset cruise around the the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. I’ve taken walks around Belle Isle and been rollerblading (that’s right) on the Riverwalk. But I must admit, kayaking around Belle Isle was a new one for me. It was...

Detroit One Of The "Most Inspiring Cities" In The World Says GOOD City Index

What makes a city a great place to live? For many of us here in Detroit, the answer lies in the intangibles. The folks at GOOD magazine seem to think so, too. For the second year in a row GOOD has published their GOOD City Index, which measures cities based not on what exists, but on what could be. They call it “GOOD’s annual breakdown of the most inspiring cities in the world.” Detroit is number 17 on this list, with New Orleans as the only other American city to be ranked higher (at number 7...

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7 Parties That'll Make Your Detroit New Year's Eve Epic

Since Christmas is now in the rearview mirror, everybody is busy and plans for New Year’s Eve are forming. Coming up with a solution can be daunting, everything is more expensive and exclusive than normal nights on NYE and at the same time it’s important to surround yourself with people you care about. To help you plan an epic night to ring in the new year, we’re giving you a diverse list of events in the Detroit area on NYE that fit a variety of styles and budgets. Whatever you choose to do, ha...

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The City 5 Special Edition: New Year's Eve

As the holidays draw nearer, everybody is busy and plans for New Year’s Eve are already forming. Coming up with a solution can be daunting, everything is more expensive and exclusive on NYE and at the same time it’s important to surround yourself with people you care about. To help you plan an epic night to ring in the new year, we’re giving you a diverse list of events in the Detroit area on NYE that fit a variety of styles and budgets. Whatever you choose to do, have fun and be safe. You can f...

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Two Detroit Kickstarter Projects Kick Local Entrepreneurs Into High Gear

Kickstarter became famous in Detroit for helping to fund the (to some) infamous Robocop statue, which raised $67,000 to fund what at the time was sort of known as a hipster joke. It drew criticism at the time for raising money for basically something that nobody needs at all.  Since then, the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has grown and has helped to fund a lot of cool things around the world and in Detroit. Two notable success stories lately are Woodward Throwbacks and Hemingwrite, which h...

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WATCH: Detroit's Super Business Girl - Asia Newson

“Detroit is a wonderful place. It’s been a lot of negative things on the news, but Detroit is still a great place to start a business.” Asia Newson is an 11-year-old Detroiter who could sell ice to an Eskimo. She has an excellent pitch, and uses that skill and her winning personality to sell candles around the city of Detroit to people she meets. She’s been featured on This American Life in a segment called “It’s Not The Product, It’s The Person” … and her latest appearance is this segment on...

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7 Greens Brings "Farm To Fork" Fresh Salads To The Downtown Lunch Scene

It’s a fact that there are plenty of unhealthy food options in Detroit. We’ve got coney dogs, burgers, barbecue, and pizza aplenty. Kelly Schaeffer-Janssen was thinking along these same lines when she came up with the idea for 7 greens, a “farm to fork” salad shop in Downtown Detroit. A salad in Detroit is no longer a weak assortment of bag lettuce, with a few carrot slivers, and that anemic tomato wedge you’re used to. Here, salads are the main act, with the freshest and most local ingredient...

Your City 5: What To Do This Weekend Of Dec. 12

The City 5 is here again, just in time to set you up nicely for this very holiday-ish weekend. Check this list out to help you get your shopping done in style, celebrate the opening of a great new restaurant, or do a good deed by having a good time at one of the fundraiser events. We’ve put together a great list this week that will take you right through Sunday. Click the links for more details! Monster Drawing Rally – December 12th Described as “part performance, part laboratory, part art...

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The Fabled Tom's Tavern Makes List Of 8 Grittiest Dive Bars in America

Tom’s Tavern is certainly a peculiar little saloon. You can find Tom’s near Wyoming and 7 Mile Road. But don’t let the abandoned shack-like appearance fool you … it’s still very much open. In fact, the place is 86 years old and has survived more than its share of tribulations. The current owner, Ron Gurdjian, usually tends bar and he’s always up for a good conversation. The Yahoo list, which originally appeared on Liquor.com, had this to say about the saloon. You might say that Tom’s has nin...

DetroitDetroit LifeDetroit Race Relations

What Will Detroit Do With Garner And Brown?

Obviously the history, social fabric, and current issues facing Detroit as a region make it ripe for discussion around the Eric Garner and Michael Brown incidents. Detroit has had not one, but three race riots in its history. The most recent being in 1967, occurred when white police raided a blind pig on Detroit’s West Side and decided to arrest 82 black people celebrating the return home of two GI’s from the Vietnam war. It has helped shape why we now live in one of the most racially segregated...

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LOOK: The Somerset Collection's CityLoft Returns To Downtown In Holiday Style

Holiday shopping is looking to make a comeback in downtown Detroit. The Somerset Collection CityLoft returns this year in a new larger location on the first floor of the First National National Building at 660 Woodward Avenue, adjacent to Campus Martius. That’s a move as last year, the City Loft was located across from the former Hudson’s building site for the holiday shopping season. This year there are about 40 retailers from the nationally recognized shopping center on Big Beaver in Troy...

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The City 5: Things To Do In Detroit The Week of Dec. 1

Glad to see you’ve made it through Turkey Day.  We re-launched the City 5 last week. In case you missed that during the holiday fervor, the City 5 are our suggestions to go check out the rest of the week and weekend in Detroit. Some of the events might be in the ‘burbs, but we encourage everybody to mix it up, and check out fun things to do and events across the Metro Detroit Region. Here’s your 5 for this week. The Sugar House Celebrates Repeal Day – Friday, December 5 The Sugar House is a...

Humans of Detroit

Humans of Detroit Tells The Stories Of Our City Through Our People

Humans of New York was a passion project created by Brandon Stanton, with the original goal of trying to take a picture of everybody he could in New York, and create a exhaustive catalogue of photo portraits. What happened was that he began discovering their stories during the process and the portraits, coupled with quotes created the content for what became a wildly popular blog. Inspired by Stanton’s project, a similar project called Humans of Detroit surfaced in 2013. It’s a collective of p...