This “heat map” shows the use of homophobic slur words via Twitter in Michigan. *Is the Traverse City area a “hateful” place? A new map presents a heat index of hateful words sent via Twitter and assigned to their origin points by county. As you zoom in on Michigan, the hottest spots are near Traverse […]
Detroit
Posted inBusiness Watch
Living for the city: Vibrant urban cores lure young talent
FLYING HIGH: Milwaukee’s avant-garde art museum is a landmark on its urban waterfront. Such amenities are seen as key to lure young talent to metro areas. (Courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Detroit and Milwaukee have a shared history as blue-collar, manufacturing, shot-and-a-beer kinds of towns. In recent decades, the two Midwest cities also have […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
In turnaround, suburbs lose business to Detroit after years of flight
(Bridge illustration by A.J. Jones) The Southeast Michigan office of Grand Rapids-based public relations firm Lambert Edwards & Co. had been located for years in a gleaming high-rise Troy tower, surrounded by a sea of asphalt parking lots and clogged highways. “You couldn’t walk out your door to get a sandwich,” President Jeff Lambert said. […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
NOT SO OPEN ANYMORE: America’s standing as a land of new opportunities and new vistas is being pummeled by data showing that mobility is declining. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) *America, we hardly knew ye. Once we were considered a land of mobility – both by economic class and geography. The facts have gotten […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Orr, what? Detroit EM’s first days show more loyalty to state than city
THIS IS NEWS? Detroiters are well-aware of their city’s problems. If they have to accept an emergency manager, he should work for the city, not the state, writes Karen Dumas. (Courtesy photo/used under a Creative Commons license) Detroit’s Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, started his job with mixed reviews. Some thought he was a necessary evil […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Bridge and Detroit Free Press partner for 'A Better Michigan'
By Stephen Henderson/Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor When Michigan voters said “no way” to fixing Michigan’s awful and unfair school finance structure in 1993, no one I knew was more crushed than legendary Free Press Editorial Page Editor Joe Stroud. For months, he led a passionate campaign for reform, in the face of both […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Best, worst of Michigan communities’ fiscal ratings
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) David Hollister knows a bit about how public budgets work. He served as mayor of Lansing for a decade. Before that, he served two decades in the Michigan House, representing Lansing. And he says, “We need to recalculate how urban centers are funded.” A Munetrix review of data from […]
Posted inMichigan Government
New rankings find fiscal troubles for city halls across Michigan
TROUBLE AHEAD: An analysis by Munetrix found that dozens of Michigan communities were in troubling financial shape in 2011, with 2012 data still to be filed. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) While the financial problems of Detroit have captured the headlines this spring, a new analysis released today on government finance finds that […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: In Detroit, put the value of early learning to work for all children
By Katherine Foran/Excellent Schools Detroit (courtesy photo/Excellent Schools Detroit) “We are consumed by issues of remediation,” Dan Varner, CEO of Excellent Schools Detroit, observed. We struggle with costly “fixes,” targeting academic failure, high dropout rates, unemployment, low wages, higher substance abuse and incarceration rates, poorer health outcomes and diminished opportunities that too often spill over […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Hacking our way to better government, communities
By Alok Sharma The National Day of Civic Hacking is June 1 and I’m proud to say that the Detroit technology community is really rallying around the cause. The day’s events wouldn’t be successful, however, if they only consisted of a group of technologists in a room. Civic hacking, like any other community driven event, […]