Patrick McNamara

Detroit eventsWhat to do in Detroit

What To Do Around Town: Your City 5 For The Week Of Nov. 24

Welcome to the City 5 weekly event round up. This week we’re bringing you a smattering from around the metro area, and we’re delivering it a little bit early because of the short holiday week. For more details on the event such as exact times and locations, click the link to the event page. 1. DIA event – Photographs from the Detroit Walk-In Portrait Studio by Corine Vermeulen Dutch photographer Corine Vermeulen was commissioned by the Detroit Institute of Arts to capture diverse Detroiters...

Dave PhillipsFlashpointIT in the D

Flashpoint Highlights Discussion On The New Detroit

A big discussion online in Detroit right now is highlighted in this segment (we’ve embedded the episode below and you can watch it here) from Flashpoint on WDIV-TV4.  They invited two bloggers on the show who have opposing viewpoints on perception Detroit’s recent economic developments. Both guests wrote blog posts which have received a lot of attention on the internet. First up is Kelly Guillory, a local artist. She critiques the New Detroit by calling out its perpetrators as living a “danger...

Detroit FoodIs selden standard goodMidtown

Selden Standard Raises The Standard Of Dining In Midtown

Turning up Second avenue from Selden, which has recently become a two-way street, vehicles parked tightly on either side of the road were shepherded by a security car in the middle lane with its orange beacon light rotating slowly. It’s a welcome measure for the patrons of Selden Standard, a chic new snap-casual restaurant serving “rustic, fun new american small plates” (according their website)  in a former dry cleaner building on the otherwise desolate corner. Though by the numbers Midtown is...

Wig skatepark

UPDATE: "The Wig" Skatepark Put on Hold, City Unexpectedly Sells Recreation Center

Yesterday we posted about “The Wig,” a skatepark being brought to fruition by Community Push and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Today, the fundraising campaign has been suspended indefinitely because the City of Detroit has sold the Wigle Recreation Center to developers, which apparently has been the goal for the property for some time now. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Wigle Recreation Center is being sold by the city. Community Push and the MEDC is looking for alternative...

Detroit SkateparkThe Wig

WATCH: A Vision For A Skatepark In Detroit (And How You Can Help Make It Happen)

The group Community Push adopted the Wigle Recreation Center park over the summer. They adopted the park at 801 Selden in Midtown from the Detroit’s Parks and Recreation Department and are turning it into a community skate park. The skate park, which will attract local skateboarders, bmxers, and inline skaters will be called “The Wig.” Now, they are looking to fund phase two of the park through a crowdfunding campaign, in partnership with another group, ASSEMBLE.  They’ve teamed up with the cr...

Detroit Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday Video Shows Why You Should Shop in Detroit

In 2010 American Express founded Small Business Saturday to encourage more people to shop at small businesses around the country on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The day has turned into a movement of sorts, and it’s something that resonates in Detroit’s small business community. This video helps illustrate why small businesses are so important to the revitalization of Detroit, and explains the impact when people decide to “shop small.”  Hopefully, the video will inspire to come out and buy...

PHOTOS: Veterans Day Parade In Detroit

The 9th Annual Veterans Day Parade in Detroit, which was held on Saturday, November 8 drew more than 3,100 participants. This year the parade was a special commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The parade went from the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 9 down Woodward to Comerica Park, where a special ceremony was held immediately following in front of the ballpark. At the ceremony, General Gwen Bingham delivered the keynote address and Brigadier General Michael A. Ston...

Charlie LeDuffDetroitSquatter

WATCH: Charlie LeDuff Dons A Bathrobe And Squats On A Squatter

Charlie LeDuff’s series on Fox News called “The Americans” takes him around the country in search of who we really are. He talks to interesting people and gets into interesting situations. His latest episode brings him back to Detroit, where he follows up on a story of a known squatter who refuses to leave the home where they are currently residing. LeDuff, in his usual charismatic fashion dons a bathrobe and goes to the home with the legal paperwork in hand, ready to move in on the squatter,...

Tax Foreclosure AuctionTricycle Collective

UPDATE: The Tricycle Collective Made An Impact By Keeping Detroiters In Homes

We reported on Michele Oberholtzer’s fundraising initiative known as the Tricycle Collective early last month. The effort helps to keep 10 Detroit families in their homes by contributing $500 toward the purchase of the homes that were for sale in the Wayne County Tax-Foreclosure Auction. Here’s an update. Of the nine homes that were won in the auction, five were purchased for the round two starting bid price of $500.  The other four homes were purchased with $500 as an addition to the money th...

Detroit Service CorpsEastern MarketFocus Hope

J.P. Morgan Chase Sending Staff to Help Nonprofits Help Detroit

Remember when J.P.Morgan Chase announced back in May that it would be committing $100 million to Detroit? Well they are now rolling out the programs that are part of that commitment.  They announced a 5 year program that sends teams of employees to Detroit to help nonprofits bust blight, aid community development, and spur small-business growth. The program is called the “Detroit Service Corps” and it will be deploying teams of employees to support projects at Eastern Market, Focus: Hope, Mich...

Berlin AtonalCamille BlakeDimitri Hegemann

These 10 Photos Show You What The Abandoned Fisher Plant Could Be

In 2006 Dimitri Hegemann resurrected a defunct an old power plant called Mitte that once provided energy for the side of Berlin inside of East Germany. Inside of what is now called Kraftwerk Berlin, he reopened his techno club Tresor which had previously resided in a bank vault (Tresor is german for vault), and the rest of the 86,000 square foot space is used for exhibitions and events. Now, as you may have heard, Hegemann has his eyes set on the Fisher Body Plant as a potential location for a n...

Angel's NightDetroit Angels NightVolunteer

Angels' Night Is Almost Here And Volunteers Are Needed

Detroit’s Angels’ Night Campaign kicks off tomorrow on Wednesday October 29 and goes through Friday, October 31. Angels’ Night is the community’s response to Devil’s Night (typically the night before Halloween) tradition of arson, mischief, and vandalism that became a problem in Detroit. Angels’ Night was organized by Detroit City officials under mayor Dennis Archer after a particularly bad Devil’s Night in 1994. The goal of the city-wide initiative is to prevent damage to property and maintain...

DDOTDetroit bus trackerDetroitography

This Cool Site Shows You Where The Detroit Buses Are

Where the government doesn’t have something Detroiters want, they tend to make it themselves. The excellent Detroitography site has created a map that shows the positions of Detroit buses that are currently in service. The map is fun to look at, and gives you an idea if the bus you are trying to catch is on time or running late, and by how much. “It’s an interesting picture of the overall status of the system: you can see the city in motion,” says Matt H in his post on the Detroitography websi...

Kresge FoundationNeighborhood Grants

Kresge Launches $5 Million Program To Fund Neighborhood Projects

The Kresge Foundation has created a $5 million, three-year initiative to fund nonprofits working in neighborhoods across the city. The initiative, called Kresge Innovation Projects: Detroit will provide (in the first round) between $50,000 and $150,000 each for seven to 10 shovel-ready projects that can be completed in 18 months. Smaller grants will be awarded to organizations with promising ideas. The effort comes partially as a response to large scale developments and investment flowing to c...

CharityGleanersWalking Dead

WATCH: Zombies Walk Detroit

The 7th annual World Zombie Day Walk happened again on October 12th, and they posted a video to prove it. Zombie Walk Detroit is an event that occurs around World Zombie Day (which is October 7th in case you weren’t aware). This year the walk was a combination celebration of World Zombie Day and the first episode of the new season of Walking Dead. Zombie Walk events typically raise money for charity and this particular event raises money for Gleaner’s food bank in a fun, safe, albeit creepy wa...

CorktownE-CommerceMyLocker

Rapidly Expanding E-commerce Company MyLocker Finds New Corktown Home, To Hire 70+

MyLocker is a thriving e-commerce business that is moving its headquarters from the suburb of Warren, Michigan to a 120,000 square foot facility in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. What is MyLocker? It is a site where individuals and organizations can make their own custom gear like t-shirts, hats, backpacks, jerseys and more online. According to a statement, it’s a business that “combines Silicon Valley innovation with Motor City’s manufacturing know-how, hard work, and grit.” The new Corkt...

Blight RemovalDetroitHardest Hit Funding Detroit

12 Michigan Cities Including Detroit To Receive $75 Million To Battle Blight

A plan to combat blight in 12 Michigan cities was approved for $75 million in Federal funding by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The plan, created by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), will help five cities in Wayne County including Detroit, Ecorse, Highland Park, River Rouge, Inkster and Hamtramck. Adrian, Ironwood, Jackson, Lansing, Muskegon Heights and Port Huron are also included. Detroit’s part of the funds will certainly help, however, according to the Blight Re...

ArtsDetroitHamtramck

Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival Debuts With A Flourish

On Saturday, the Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts and Music Festival gave us a chance to check out what the artists, writers, and musicians in the city are up to. For an area of only 2.02 square miles, in which a total of 26 languages are spoken, Hamtramck might be the most culturally diverse place in Michigan. The whole of the city is surrounded by Detroit, and it has a level of urban density that makes it a truly walkable district.  It doesn’t come as surprising that the affordable living and mul...