Urban Affairs

There is a growing acknowledgement in Lansing that the debt that accumulated in Detroit’s schools while under state oversight should be borne by the state.

An Arab-American and Chaldean group sees refugees as the centerpiece of a neighborhood revival. But Detroit’s mayor, and the city’s suburbs, may have other plans.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge will bring opportunities to southwest Detroit, but also an increase in truck traffic in neighborhoods that are already heavily polluted.

Mayor Duggan and his new planning director are quietly redrawing boundaries to join stable neighborhoods with blighted areas to transform both

The city’s so-called ‘jobs desert’ is exacerbated by poor mass transit that makes it difficult for residents in outer neighborhoods to find work. What Mayor Duggan is doing to try to fix the problem.

An infusion of post-bankruptcy cash means cutting the grass and making improvements, even as the city is quietly closing other parks.

The proprietors of many of the city's fuel stops say they're being unfairly targeted – and ticketed – for relatively minor offenses, in a pattern that suggests deliberate harassment.

Mayor Mike Duggan’s fight against insanely high auto insurance rates is winning fans in the city. With a skeptical Legislature, though, that may not be enough.

Personal injury protection rates on auto insurance vary wildly across the state, which one state senator blasts as “redlining.” Use our interactive map to see who’s getting a good deal, and who’s, um, not.

A no-frills toilet in one city park has proven indestructible to vandals, yet potentially mortifying to patrons. Has Detroit prototyped the public restroom of the future?