The Anatomy of a Power Outage in Michigan
The power went out. Then the ice melted. A few days later, the snow came, and the power went out– again. Now that the snow is gone, what’s next?
Read more
Midwest
Remembering George Crabtree (1944-2023)
The energy sector lost a giant this week in the passing of Dr. George Crabtree, who was one of the
Read more
Infrastructure: Think Outside The Smartphone-Driven Profit Motive
One of Michigan’s most visible mobility spokespeople recently said in a webinar that smartphone ownership and profitable markets were the two hindrances to developing sustainable mobility solutions in the state. It’s a politically horrific, functionally dubious, but baffling thing to say.
Read more
Book Review: Women Driven Mobility by Katelyn Davis and Kristin Shaw
Nat looks at a new book by Katelyn Davis and Kristin Shaw about women in the mobility and transportation space, and asks whether a politics of benevolent incrementalism is going to help us solve the climate crisis.
Read more
Recharging the Aquifer Underneath Detroit’s Transit Desert
Martha Connell looks at some hard questions about the future of Detroit’s transit.
Read more
“Detroit: Become Livonia” – Mike Duggan
Detroit’s mayor has a vision for the city. It involves a lot of parking lots, and a lot of low-wage jobs. But there’s a better way.
Read more
Mike Duggan’s Legacy of Austerity, Corporate Power, and State Violence
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is inevitably coasting to an easy reëlection tomorrow. His legacy is a complex and a fraught one– that deserves a lot of critical scrutiny, in spite of the big moves that the city has made in the past decade.
Read more
MDOT: Rebrand And Replace. Some Ideas From The MAP Conference.
Nat is attending the Michigan Association of Planning’s annual conference. It’s going great– especially with regard to figuring out new ways to refashion state agencies that aren’t doing their jobs.
Read more
Biden’s Other Border Crisis: The US Canadian Border
The US-Canadian border remains closed– and it’s no longer really clear why.
Read more
Better Utility Regulation: How We Can Get Out Of This Mess
Too much regulation restricts innovation. But too little regulation does the same, and this is what we see in the crumbling infrastructure of Michigan, where regulators are asleep at the wheel in the name of a “business-friendly regulatory” environment that, as it turns out, is neither terribly regulatory nor terribly business-friendly.
Read more