Bike-share programs in a handful of Michigan cities each have their own rules, but most share a few common traits Bikes are available for rental by the hour, day or week. Bike-sharing participants generally get a discount by purchasing an annual membership, costing anywhere from $60 to $90. Members are issued a key tag to […]
Quality of Life
Michigan is a great place to live. Bridge will report that fact often — and on potential threats to the assets that make it so.
Posted inQuality of Life
Is bike sharing right for your community?
Bike-share programs are becoming more popular in communities across the world. What would make a bike share right for your city or town? Consider these factors: An active bicycling community, coupled with bike lanes or paths – Cyclists are often the first ambassadors for bike sharing, and bicycling organizations frequently get involved in hosting “how […]
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Time for Michigan to drop the drumstick
Rob St. Mary was already traveling light when he moved to Colorado in March. He sold many of his belongings, including his car, packed his cats and a U-Haul, and set out from Detroit to a job at Aspen Public Radio. Just a few months into his new life, he is even lighter, having shed […]
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Great Lakes state playing catch-up in effort to build water-based economy
Michigan may be the Great Lakes state, but its neighbors to the east and west are leading efforts to turn water-based technology, academic research and tourism into jobs and revenue. Milwaukee and the province of Ontario are well ahead of Michigan’s efforts to capitalize on an $850 billion global freshwater economy, according to John Austin, […]
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Fishing captains’ nerves rattled by Lake Michigan salmon catch
Chinook salmon have been the bread and butter of Lake Michigan’s sport fishing industry for nearly 50 years, but the popular fishery now faces many of the same threats that wiped out Lake Huron’s salmon fishery a decade ago. The similarities between Lake Michigan’s salmon fishery and the Lake Huron salmon fishery in 2003 — […]
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Water, water everywhere in Michigan – but is it enough?
Bernard and Phyllis Senske encountered many challenges over the years while operating a sheep farm in Kalkaska County, but water scarcity was not among them. That changed earlier this year. Shortly after a Canadian firm attempted to hydraulically fracture a deep shale natural gas well nearby, the water table on the Senskes’ property went down […]
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Up or down? Which way are Great Lakes water levels headed?
In January, when Lake Michigan’s chronically low water level reached its nadir, Leland Harbormaster Russell Dzuba faced the prospect of closing the popular harbor to keep commercial fishing vessels and pleasure boats from running aground in the shallow channel. Leland is one of dozens of Great Lakes harbors that have struggled for two decades with […]
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Michigan’s bike cities shift gears and commuting cultures
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Above, Monday-night “slow rolls” organized by Detroit Bike City take riders past some of the city’s landmarks. Here, riders take a break in front of the Motown Museum. (Photo by Greg Ezzo, courtesy of Detroit Bike City) For a place that calls itself the Motor City, there was a whole lot of non-motoring […]
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Bridge Magazine poll: Detroit’s hopeful about future, Duggan in driver’s seat
In a bankrupt city challenged by crime and other problems, you might expect Detroiters to have low hopes for the future. But a new poll, coming as citizens face the Nov. 5 election to choose a new mayor, suggests otherwise. Although more Detroit voters currently see the state’s largest city on the wrong track rather […]
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As the middle class morphs, so does the idea of marriage
FIRST COMES MARRIAGE? Keith and Emelia Stark were middle class before they got married, and are likely to stay there. But can marriage elevate less economically secure couples into the middle class? Experts aren’t so sure. (Courtesy photo) Keith and Emelia Stark admit their marriage isn’t a typical one – Keith has 19 years on […]