Hey, it’s Jer.
It’s been wild around here since we last talked by email. Our podcast studio caught fire (more in this episode of the show), and we’ve been picking up the pieces.
We’ve been throwing out what the smoke and heat damaged stuff we can’t save, and trying to figure out what the next steps are for our studio space.
Listeners have stepped up with their support from kind messages to monetary support over at BuyMeACoffee.
Loud and clear was the message that we must keep going. That our show means too much. So with your help, we will.
I also heard that it’d be great to have a community hub where we could have people in to watch us record; be able to produce different kinds of shows (including video); and support other creators by sharing the things we’ve learned producing more than 1,000 podcast episodes.
If that interests you in any way, email me. dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot - com.
Let’s get started with today’s newsletter.
🗞 What to know…
» The next chapter for Roosevelt Park in Detroit’s Corktown is coming. Everyone should know Michigan Central Station and the work happening there by Ford. But to go with it, this public space will expand from 9.5 acres to 13, re-routing Vernor. It turns the promenade over to pedestrians, and connects the campus to Michigan Avenue. It’ll cost $6 million and be ready in the spring. More photos: [Urbanize Detroit]
» Ford is cutting 8,000 jobs to fund their electric transition. Bottom line is you’re not going to see future major investments in gasoline-related technologies, so the company is shedding white-collar workers who focus on that and taking that money and investing it in electric vehicles. Electric cars require far fewer parts and they don’t need as much maintenance like oil changes, among other benefits. The message from Ford leadership is clear — this is where they’re going. [Bloomberg]
» The Great Lakes Water Authority has denied all claims from the recent flooding. That’s more than 24,000 households without recourse, and sends a clear message that the GLWA does not think there was anything they could do to stop thousands of basements from getting filled with water. GLWA says it was “inevitable.” Lawsuits are still underway. [Planet Detroit] [Freep]
My two cents: Michigan law says GLWA is only responsible if it’s more than 50% their fault. But politically, this won’t play well long term. There’s already growing annoyance with the GLWA and it’ll get louder when so many went through a traumatic event and the response to them feels like 🤷♂️. It sure doesn’t build good will with customers or the elected officials who represent them - especially as we already need to spend way more than we do to modernize the system. Think B for billions.
» Should Belle Isle State Park go car-free for a day? That’s the aim of a petition out now. The idea is to open people’s minds to the idea that maybe not all of the island needs to be all for cars all the time. After all, when it was designed — cars weren’t a thing. I talked with David Gifford about his idea. [Change.org Petition]
» TIME named Detroit one of the world’s 50 greatest cities, highlighting new restaurants and hotels. [TIME]
My two cents: Not to take anything away from those places (go visit them, the ones I know are tasty), but if you’re going to highlight Detroit’s contributions to the *world,* I think you should go with a wider horizon. We discussed and debated on the Friday podcast.
» The city of Detroit’s median home sales prices is over $100k for the first time. This is a marked improvement considering all the disinvestment, and shows that at least in this particular way the turnaround is making some progress. That’s up a third over last year. The entire region is seeing home values climb, with regional media home sale prices up 6.25%. [Crain’s] [Axios]
Food for thought: Chase Cantrell (who’ve we’ve had on the podcast before) said this in the Crain’s piece about the city’s rising values:
But Cantrell noted values are rising in areas where white residents are moving in.
"The market doesn't value Blackness.”
» What does it take to succeed in downtown Detroit? Passage is a ticketing and payments company based here and I chatted with their CEO, Alex Linebrink, about his tips and of course, a little Detroit City FC thrown in as well.
» All three local counties and the city of Detroit are losing population.
According to latest US Census estimates for 2021, Wayne lost more than 1%; Macomb a half a percent; and Oakland, about a third of a percent. This dovetails with losses statewide.
The city of Detroit lost more than 7,000 people — more than the entire city of Huntington Woods — to take the population from 639,614 down to 632,464. Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Warren also saw declines. [Detroit News]
My two cents: This red engine light has been on for awhile. When you’re shrinking, businesses aren’t as interested in investing; infrastructure costs more per person — especially here where we add more in our region without adding people; among other issues. We need to course correct on this as soon as possible and focus on things that’ll actually keep and draw talent here.
» Congresswoman Haley Stevens has a commanding lead in the Democratic primary race for the 11th U.S. Congressional district. She’s up 27 points over Andy Levin, according to a Target Insyght poll, with two weeks to go. The redrawn district covers much of Oakland County. [Jewish Insider]
» The city of Detroit will get the country’s first USDA service center for urban agriculture. [Bridge Detroit]
📻 On Our Latest Episode
Engineer Randy joins me as we talk about some of the newer spots around town we’ve been to. We went to the opening of Pizza Cat Max near Greektown; tasted cocktails at Time Will Tell; dug into Bar Pigalle; and discussed the merits of frog legs as a delicacy.
⚜️ Le Rouge Report
» Detroit City FC’s downtown shop opens tomorrow in Capitol Park. [Facebook] [Podcast Preview]
» Le Rouge loaned out Billy Forbes to Canadian club Valour FC, who are lacking in wide players after sending William Akio to Ross County FC in Scotland.
Fletcher Sharpe’s take: The move makes sense as since coming back from injury, Forbes didn’t really factor in to the DCFC’s plans. This loan deal means Billy Forbes is probably done as a DCFC player as he only had a one year deal, and it opens up the finances a little bring in a player who can contribute. Maybe a defender, maybe an attacking player to add, maybe a former face we’ve seen before.
» The USL Championship gave mid-season fan’s choice awards to three DCFC team members. Nate Steinwascher was named mid-season goalkeeper of the year; Deklan Wynne got mid-season defender of the year; and Trevor James, mid-season coach of the year. [USL Championship]
» What about this Saturday’s game against New Mexico United? Me and Fletcher did a preview podcast earlier this week. We also touched on losing Devon Amoo-Mensah for the rest of the season.
And we are done for today!
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Here’s to beating the heat,
-Jer
