Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/urban/page/10/)
What do you do with urban territory that has fallen out of the literal economy?
A University of Michigan architecture professor suggests community gardens flourishing in empty lots, artists using fire-damaged buildings as palettes and neighborhood fairs in alleys.
It’s one thing to advocate support for the tough decisions that are required to mitigate climate change. And it’s quite another to make those decisions consistently across the board.
Milwaukee built some of the region’s first sewers more than 130 years ago to carry untreated wastewater into rivers and the lake. Today the city is a national leader in reducing stormwater runoff.
This Chicago resident envisions fish and plants as central to an accelerator for urban food production.
He hopes his recycled meatpacking factory grows food and supports urban farming pioneers.
Great Lakes cities recycle brownfields into urban hope
Abandoned urban lots are community eyesores that increasingly represent economic opportunity.These so-called brownfields carry social ills, but finding a way to reuse them is more important than ever. Local officials tap jobs programs, private investment, bond sales, tax incentives, cultural history and other measures for what might be the ultimate city recycling projects. Buffalo’s industrial past linked to economic future
The Lake Erie shore is scarred here with remnants of another time. But amidst the eyesores is evidence of Buffalo’s exciting future. Eight wind turbines hint at a broader redevelopment.
Abandoned urban lots are community eyesores that increasingly represent economic opportunity.
These so-called brownfields carry a lot of social ills, but finding a way to reuse them is more important than ever.
One of the first things Michigan Gov.-elect Rick Snyder noted in his victory speech Tuesday is the need to restore his state’s central cities. That’s hardly news. And it’s hardly the first time a politician highlighted the need. Who could oppose such a thing? But who can make it happen? Better yet, who is making it happen now?
Detroit native Mark McInnis is giving away seeds to help introduce his new film on the explosion of urban gardening in his home city. In Urban Roots, McInnis connects the decline of the city’s auto industry to the rise of vacant lots that now provide space for gardens. McInnis’s mother worked for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit throughout his childhood. “That job put braces on my bother’s teeth, paid for our skateboards and our weekend trips up north,” he said.
Troy Hale: 11-Time Emmy Award winning television producer and filmmaker. Producer for the Big Ten Network as well as executive producing and host for a TV program for Michigan PBS stations. Geri Alumit Zeldes: Assistant Professor at Michigan State University and producer of the documentary film “Arabs, Jews and the News.” AJN is the winner of a 2010 Award of Excellence from the Broadcast Education Association, 2010 winner of Best Documentary from the Virtual Film Festival, as well as other awards. The work was uplinked March 2010 for national distribution and has already aired in northern California, Montana and other stations in Michigan. Students:
Kirk Green, Journalism
Quincy Hodges, Journalism (master’s)
Matthew Law, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media
Kristina Marks, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media (2010 graduate)
Anthony Siciliano, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media (2010 graduate)
Mike Tetrick, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media
Yang Zhang, Journalism (master’s)
A psychiatric hospital that once stood on 414 acres in southeast Michigan and housed thousands of long-term patients is littered with “Do Not Trespass” signs. Can it be safely rehabilitated for another use?