Detroit Future City

The City of Detroit owns more than 59,000 vacant lots. The think tank Detroit Future City hopes to make some of them into parks through a new land conservancy it is creating.

Today on Stateside, a new plan to boost Detroit says restoring the city's African-American middle class is key to a successful revitalization effort.…

The Next IdeaThere are a handful of things we in Michigan are proud of and value about ourselves and our state. We work hard. We make things. We love our…

The Next IdeaIn the first half of the 20th Century, two areas on the northeast side of Detroit’s central business district teemed with African American…

The Next Idea In Detroit we have a real chance to do things with our land that no other major city in the world has ever done. From growing food and…

The Next IdeaIf we’re going to make sure that Detroit’s neighborhoods are part of the city’s comeback, we need an agenda that focuses on integrated…

The Next Idea Innovation is at the center of Detroit’s inclusive recovery. Yet this word “innovation” is used so often that its meaning tends to get a…

The Next Idea"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." —Mahatma GandhiThis quote resonates deeply with me these days, because in my Detroit…

The Next IdeaWhen we hear the term “perfect storm,” the image that generally comes to mind is one of a high-level disaster.The phrase is relatively new,…

When I realized I was vacationing less than an hour from Lac-Mégantic last week, I grabbed my passport and went.I somehow needed to see for myself what…