Phil Power is founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan. Well, well. Kevyn Orr is now firmly in the saddle as Detroit’s emergency manager. Mike Duggan’s campaign for mayor has evaporated, leaving Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon in the driver’s seat. And Bob Ficano, the current Wayne County executive, is teetering on the brink […]
Detroit
Posted inQuality of Life
New century brings change to Michigan’s gender competition
CLICK TO ENLARGE On gender, the statistics always have been clear. More male babies are born than female babies – about 104 or 105 males per 100 females, in fact. Women, though have their own advantage: longer lifespans. At age 65, there are 108 females per 100 males; by age 80, the ratio is 143 […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Detroit’s art treasures represent legacy we must protect
By Maud Lyon/CultureSource NOT FOR SALE: Detroit’s artistic legacy was a gift and remains a public trust. It cannot be sold off like a company’s office equipment, argues Maud Lyon. (Bridge archive photo) For 128 years, men and women have given works of art to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Why would people give the […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Children’s departure is part of the cycle of life
GOODBYE, FOR NOW: Michigan frets about the departure of young people after college, but it’s important to remember that such leavings are a typical rite, says Brunch with Bridge columnist John Schneider. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) I reared my children to be independent and adventuresome, and look what happened: They became independent and […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) *Maybe this is a great idea for Atlanta, Ga., and maybe it isn’t. But just note the difference in ambition between this project and Michigan’s inability to figure out a reliable funding stream to fix the transport net it now has: “His vision was to transform the mostly abandoned railroad […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan economy grew again in 2012, but pace was well off ’10,’11 rates
Kurt Metzger is director of Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit in Detroit established by foundations to build greater capacity for people to work together, and improve lives and communities affiliated with the Michigan Nonprofit Association. He was research director for United Way for Southeastern Michigan from 2005 to 2008 and before that, was a director […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Detroit, Grand Rapids are at two ends of ‘job sprawl’ scale
As policy-makers and regional leaders in Southeast Michigan, and other parts of our state, work to grow jobs and connect residents to economic opportunity following the Great Recession, it’s important to remember that with jobs, location matters. The location of employment within a metro area intersects with a range of policy issues — from transportation […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
GOING DOWN: The Citizens Research Council calculates that with inflation and payments to retirement programs, per-pupil funding reaching Michigan classrooms has declined since 2004. (courtesy graphic/Citizens Research Council) *Confused about the claims over school funding? Is it going up, as Gov. Rick Snyder and allies claim, or down, as school groups say? The nonpartisan Citizens […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
LOOKING GOOD: Housing prices in Detroit are up nearly 20 percent in the last year. (Bridge archive photo) *Home prices are rising across the country again – even in Detroit. The city saw an 18.5 percent increase over the last year in home prices, tracking nicely with the recoveries seen in other epicenters of the […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Dig it: Detroit’s urban farms are nothing new, but newly popular
GREEN ACRES: Call them farms or gardens, all across Detroit, residents are turning over the soil on vacant lots and growing food for themselves and others. (Courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) In the 1950s, my dad would take me and my siblings fishing in the Detroit River two or three times a week during […]