Tagged: Detroit

A new report finds three regional cities are good places to buy and rent out single family homes.

A new Realty Trac survey lists Detroit, Saginaw and Toledo among the 20 best markets in the country to own and rent single family homes. Florida cities dominate the rest of the list.

The top 20 are based on the markets with the most potential cash flow and capitalization rates on a 3-bedroom home.

Saginaw ranked second on the survey.  Toledo came in third.  Detroit ranked 15th on the list.  Memphis, Tennessee topped the Realty Trac ranking. 

This week, ArtPod is inspired by the massive chocolate Easter bunnies we’ve been inhaling for days now.

So to welcome Spring (hey, it’s 50 degrees!) we’re doing a bigger edition of ArtPod, squeezing in two very different  Michigan’s artists and culture-makers.

First, we start off with a full-cast radio performance of the play “RUST.”

Ninety new Michigan State troopers will soon be on the road.

The troopers were officially sworn in today in Lansing.

Governor Rick Snyder told the new troopers they are part of reinventing Michigan, in part by helping those communities hit hard by violent crime.

A story by Detroit Free Press Business writer, John Gallagher outlines a host of improvements and attractions coming to Detroit. Quicken Loans founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert described the high points of his vision:

This was the week in  which Detroit got an emergency manager and the state got a right-to-work law.  That is to say, the law took effect this week. I’d say that makes for a pretty  newsworthy few days. Some things this week were entirely  predictable.  Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton showed up to protest the  Emergency Manager. Crowds of demonstrators appeared at Detroit’s city hall  crowds which swelled when TV cameras showed up.

The first major lawsuit  was filed against the emergency manager law, and the Detroit Tigers sent an  exciting new spring phenom, closer Bruce Rondon, down to the minor  leagues. That story is worth mentioning, by the way, because a  newspaper computer analysis shows that more people read it today than read any  of the stories about the state or city‘s drama.

The issue of whether or not the State would take over Belle Isle was tossed back and forth between Detroit City Council and Lansing like a hot potato.

It finally ground to a halt when City Council tabled a decision on a state deal. Governor Snyder declared the deal dead once that happened.

The State took its offer off the table, saying there was not enough time to get Belle Isle ready for the summer season.

But this political squabbling over Belle Isle has a long history in Detroit and Michigan.

It’s not new.

It goes back to the very first days when Detroiters wanted a park.

That was in 1871, and fireworks were flaring then.

Amy Elliott Bragg is the author of “Hidden History of Detroit” and she blogs about Detroit history at nighttraintodetroit.com.

Amy broke down the history of the Belle Isle purchase - the controversy that was stirred up  over a 100 years ago - and what can we  learn in 2013 about what it took to make Belle Isle a city park.

Listen to the full interview above.