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Tagged: economy

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ArtPrize
3:16 pm
Fri October 15, 2010

Economic impact of ArtPrize appears to be growing

aPorte works on one panel of his pencil drawing that won ArtPrize
Credit artprize.org
Art Prize winner Chris LaPorte works on one panel of his pencil drawing
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A new survey shows this year's ArtPrize attracted more people from outside Grand Rapids than last year's contest. Preliminary numbers show half the people who participated in ArtPrize came from outside of the Grand Rapids area. Only 6% came from outside of Michigan.

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Detroit Impressions
1:47 pm
Fri October 15, 2010

Detroit through David Byrne's eyes

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The inside of Michigan Central Train Station
Credit Albert Duce / Creative Commons
The inside of Michigan Central Train Station. The station was one of many stops on the Tour De Troit ride.
Detroit Theater today
Credit Creative Commons
The site of the former Michigan Theater is now a parking lot.
The outside of Michigan Central Train Station
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My Dad grew up in Detroit in the 1930s. He described a city humming with activity: factory whistles sounding, street cars rolling by, and broad sidewalks crowded with people.

We went back to his old neighborhood several years ago.  His house was on Lakeview Avenue.

It's gone now, along with the houses on most of the block. I was left to imagine his childhood home, and the stickball games he'd play in the alley, by trying to extract mental images from the remaining concrete slabs we could see.

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Money from Uncle Sam
12:09 pm
Fri October 15, 2010

Feds chip in to rebuild bridge

Officials under Stadium Avenue bridge in Ann Arbor
Credit Congressmen John Dingell's Office
Congressman Dingell, DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari, and others under the Stadium Ave. bridge in Ann Arbor
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Congressman John Dingell's office has announced that the federal government will chip in $13.9 million dollars to fix an aging Ann Arbor bridge.

The four lane bridge on Stadium Avenue, which runs past the "Big House," has been down to two lanes because it's so dilapidated.

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The New Flint Forest
4:49 pm
Tue October 12, 2010

Flint to demolish more houses to fight blight

Abandoned house in Flint, MI
Credit Flickr user jamesharv2005 / Creative Commons
An abandoned house on Jane Street in Flint, Michigan.
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More houses are coming down in Flint. Kristin Longley reports in the Flint Journal that 174 houses will come down by December 31st. That's on top of the 125 houses city crews are expected to take down by the end of the year.

Flint union leader Sam Muma says city crews can't take down all the homes scheduled for demolition:

"There's no way the crews I represent, the city employees, can handle all that. We have a situation quite unique in our time."

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Making the best of it
1:02 pm
Thu October 7, 2010

Foreclosures create opportunity for Habitat for Humanity

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Building a knee wall in an attic
Credit Rebecca Williams / Michigan Radio's The Environment Report
House leader Steve Denman helps Kallista Walker build a knee wall in the attic of this house. Walker is putting in part of her 300 hours of sweat equity so she can qualify for a house of her own.
Foreclosed house in Ypsilanti Township
Credit Rebecca Williams / Michigan Radio's The Environment Report
Habitat for Humanity says fixing up foreclosed houses is cheaper than building new.
Sawing wood
Credit Rebecca Williams / Michigan Radio's The Environment Report
Volunteers saw wood for the knee wall that will hold insulation.
Building a knee wall in an attic
Credit Rebecca Williams / Michigan Radio's The Environment Report
Volunteers build the knee wall in the attic. They say the new homeowner will have an efficient house and be able to afford the bills.
Google map of foreclosures in southern Michigan
Credit Google
There are plenty of foreclosures in Michigan to work with (link to map in story).
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Habitat for Humanity says it's saving money by fixing up foreclosure in Michigan, rather than building new. The Environment Report's Rebecca Williams visited volunteers working on rehabbing a house in Ypsilanti Township. Megan Rogers with Habitat says rehabbing foreclosures costs about 1/3 less than building new, but it can be a bit more challenging:

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