Category Archives: city

Nov16

nothing more nor less.

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early evening in the washington boulevard historic district of detroit

i’m reminded of the whimsy of willie wonka’s chocolate factory

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‘genius is nothing more nor less than childhood recovered at will.’
-charles baudelaire
*Charles Baudelaire was a 19th-century poet French poet, critic and essayist who explored themes of modernity, urban life, and decadent beauty. He is considered a father of modern poetry and an influential figure in Symbolism, a movement he helped inspire through his exploration of subjective experience, mortality, and “spleen”—a state of melancholy and ennui.  

Baudelaire was fascinated by the details of the bustling, modern city and its inhabitants, capturing both the beauty and the decay he saw in everyday life. 

May19

‘there is a place where the sidewalk ends.’ – shel silverstein.

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  • walking downtown
    loving the sign
    showing and telling me
     where the sidewalk ends
    different today than yesterday.

    —

    ‘you could start at a path leading nowhere more fantastic
    than from your own front steps to the sidewalk,
    and from there you could go… well, anywhere at all.’

    -stephen king

Jun23

saving Michigan Central.

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opening of Michigan Central Train Station, 1913, Detroit, Michgan, USA

one of the great historic icons in Detroit

the last train came through in 1988

it became a victim of neglect. abuse, theft, time, and the elements

the locale for a number of end of world/armageddon films

the city couldn’t afford to demolish it

bill ford (grandson of henry) bought it in 2018

these 2 pics, above and below

show how it looked on the last day we could go in

before it was shut down and renovation plans began

 he had plans to

make it ford world headquarters

create a newlab technology hub

support the surrounding neighborhood

develop a 30 acre campus

restore the parks around it

after 6 long and incredibly challenging years

at last restored and ready

he returned this landmark

to it’s original luster

the city could not have a greater gift.

“how soon country people forget. when they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. as thought there never was a time when we didn’t love it. the minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. there, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves; their stronger, riskier selves.”

-toni morrison

Nov26

downtown.

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downtown detroit

on a very chilly and beautiful november evening

sparkling christmas tree

ice

music

family from near and far

laughter

winter market

lots and lots of food

warm drinks

lights

comfort.

—

“downtown. lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder.

and in that moment, i swear we were infinite.”

stephen chbosky

Aug8

pride.

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ann arbor pride fest 2023

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so happy to live in a city that takes pride in all people and celebrates everyone. 

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“festivals promote diversity, they bring neighbors into dialogue, they increase creativity,

they offer opportunities for civic pride, they improve our general psychological well-being.

in short, they make cities better places to live.”

-david binder

Jul3

main street.

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main street is soooooooo close to reopening…

 

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“main street is almost alright.”

-robert venturi, american architect

 

 

 

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photo credit: ann arbor townies

Jun17

day in the d.

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fun day with colleagues in detroit

starting on the detroit river

visiting the only mailboat in the world with its own zip code

still waiting for someone to claim this bag

then off to the detroit river fire boat

and one of the oldest fire stations in the city

sculpture in riverside park

featuring steel from the old joe louis arena

made my detroit’s nordin brothers

and on to detroit’s central station

brought back to life

and lovingly restored

by ford motor company

soon to be their new world headquarters

so many people in the city, working hard

keeping it running and building it back

—

“i think detroit is where muscle meets brains.”

-*dan gilbert

 

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*Dan Gilbert is an American billionaire, Detroit businessman, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and majority owner of Rocket Mortgage, founder of Rock Ventures, and owner of the National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Dan Gilbert cofounded what would become Quicken Loans, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S., in 1985 at 22 years old. He and his companies have invested $5.6 billion to purchase and rehab a swath of buildings in downtown Detroit, with a plan to create 24,000 jobs.

Jun4

a drama in time.

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on my walk downtown-

live jazz

delightful garden

peaceful space-

all in one place

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” city is more than just a place in space it is a drama in time.”

-patrick geddes

May23

change of heart.

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A 9-year-old girl’s plea to save a sidewalk slab with a heart-shaped cavity has tugged at the heartstrings of Ann Arbor officials, who have agreed to let it stay. The inspector also spray-painted an X over the R that previously marked the slab for replacement, while writing “Save!” and giving the heart a fresh touch of color.
Where Dahlia left a note along the sidewalk last week making the case for keeping the slab, the city’s inspector on Monday left a response letter complete with the city seal on it. “Thank you for your wonderful letter, and for bringing this to our attention!” it reads. “Your note is very well written, and after further considerations, we feel this sidewalk slab can be saved. We’re so glad you let us know, and that we can save your ‘heart.’”
Seventh Street heart sidewalk

“Thank you for being so passionate and proactive about your community!” the response letter states. “When you’re old enough, you should consider working for the city to continue making it a great place to live. Sincerely, City Sidewalk Repair Program.”

Dahlia, the daughter of Kelly and Matt,  said in her note to the ‘Sidewalk People” last week that she was devastated when she saw the slab was marked for replacement.

“You see, the heart is not just a heart,” she wrote. “Ever since I was little, I said hi to the heart. Don’t you see how much it means to me? Every time I pass the heart, I say hi and it brings me joy.”

Anyone else who wants to say hi to the heart now can find it along the east side of Seventh Street across from Waterworks Park between Murray Court and Washington Street.

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“kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much.”

-blaise pascal

 

 

 

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source credit: ryan stanton, mlive, ann arbor news

May22

have a heart.

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“Dear Sidewalk People.”

That’s how 9-year-old Dahlia started her handwritten note placed under a rock along a city sidewalk hoping to get the attention of Ann Arbor’s crews slated to replace the slab she holds dear due to a distinctive feature.

This sidewalk has a heart.

“There is a heart in this block, and as me and my mom were walking home from school, we saw that there was an ‘R’ on the block that the heart is on,” reads the girl’s note, placed next to where she made a heart-shaped chalk outline around a small cavity in the slab the city has marked with an R to replace.

“You see, the heart is not just a heart,” wrote Dahlia, “Ever since I was little, I said hi to the heart. Don’t you see how much it means to me? Every time I pass the heart, I say hi and it brings me joy.”

Her father confirmed his daughter indeed says “hi, heart” every time she passes it. When she heard the city was going to replace the slab with the heart, Dahlia said she was devastated and cried.

“So can you please leave it or at least cut around the heart, for me to pick up on my way to school,” she wrote, ending her note by thanking the city’s repair crews for their work to keep sidewalks safe and encouraging them to give her note an extra read so it makes sense.

A spokesperson for the city’s public services unit did not have an immediate response on whether the sidewalk slab could be saved or whether the heart-shaped part could be salvaged for Dahlia to take.

While Dahlia really wanted to keep the heart sidewalk, her father said the family understands the need to fix it so people don’t trip and has talked with her about it.

“We compared it to the Halloween pumpkin she really loved and wanted to keep,” he said. “We told her we could keep it, but we could watch how when a pumpkin dies it helps nature by becoming part of something new.”

In that case, they put the pumpkin in their garden and Dahlia visited it every day and watched it decay, and in the spring she watched as flowers sprung up. She got to see her pumpkin again in the form of flowers.

As for her well-crafted sidewalk note, her father said while only 9, Dahlia is an amazing writer and gives him and his wife daily gems of wisdom worthy of the wisest, aged writers.

“sometimes the people who walk softly make the deepest impressions…” 

-nitya prakash

 

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source credit: ryan stanton, mlive, ann arbor