Michigan - The Handbuilt City

police officer and car

Politics Public Safety Gun Control Michigan

When Did The Police Become So, Uh, Anti-Law?

May 25, 2023May 24, 2023 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ar-15, blue lives matter, bootlicking, constitutional county, cops, dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains, fascism, firearm deaths, firearm policy, firearm regulation, firearm safety, firearms, FOP, fraternal order of police, gun, gun control, gun policy reform, gun safety, handgun, howell, joe spaulding, KKK, law enforcement, living in the sprawl, livingston county, macomb county, magazine capacity limits, michigan, militarism, ottawa county, Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, police, police reform, policing, red flag laws, rifle, semiauto, semiautomatic weapons, Sprawl

The latest insanity out of America’s Largest Strip Mall (a.k.a. Michigan) is the bold declaration of some police agencies in

Climate Michigan Energy Infrastructure Utilities

The Anatomy of a Power Outage in Michigan

March 5, 2023March 6, 2023 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments Consumers Energy, consumers outage, consumers outages, DTE, DTE Energy, dte outage, dte power outage, ERCOT, ercot disaster, february 2022 ice storm michigan, infrastructure, michigan power outages, miso, PJM, power grid, power lines, power outage, power outages, public utilities, utilities, utility company, voltage

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?

chicago-cta-station-train-subway-underground-infrastructure-transit

Urban Planning Mobility Michigan Midwest

Infrastructure: Think Outside The Smartphone-Driven Profit Motive

July 1, 2022July 1, 2022 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments autonomous vehicles, CASE, chip shortage, connected autonomous shared electric, effects of covid on transit, effects of covid19 on transit, Electric cars, elon musk, farebox recovery ratio, Ford, ford f-150, Ford F150, ford motor company, FRR, future of mobility, general motors, GM, mary barra, MEDC, midwest, new mobility, semiconductor shortage, smart cities, smart city, smartcities, smartcitiesworld, Tesla, transit, trevor pawl, triple zero, zero emissions vehicles

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.

Detroit Book Reviews Mobility Sustainability Climate Michigan

Book Review: Women Driven Mobility by Katelyn Davis and Kristin Shaw

April 26, 2022April 25, 2022 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments climate change, decarbonization, Detroit, Electric cars, electric vehicles, electrification, emily wasley, fisker, Gretchen Whitmer, jessica robinson, karma, katelyn davis, kristin shaw, lordstown, michigan, mobility, nikola, Tesla, transportation decarbonization, transportation electrification, TSLA, women-driven mobility, wsp

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.

Mobility Public transit Michigan Transit infrastructure Government

MDOT: Rebrand And Replace. Some Ideas From The MAP Conference.

October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments aicp, ambassador bridge, american planning association, auto industry, automotive, car culture, cars, chrysler, dan gilbert, dan gilbert industrial complex, EGLE, f150 super duty state of mind, Ford, ford motor company, fossil fuel subsidies, fossil fuels, green stormwater infrastructure, GSI, highways, land of the rising f150 super duty, mami, MAP, matty moroun, MDEQ, mdot, MEDC, MEGA tax breaks, michigan, michigan association of planning, mike duggan, moroun, public transit, rick snyder, road, stellantis, transit, vehicle miles traveled, vmt, vmt reduction, wendy rampson

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.

Public transit Cities & Urban Planning Michigan Transit infrastructure

New EGLE Workgroup Wants To Decarbonize Transportation… With Cars

April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments britta gross, decarbonize transportation, DNR, EGLE, electric vehicles, electrification, electrification of transportation, GHG, greenhouse gas emissions, internal combustion engine, judd herzer, la croix, mdot, Michigan DNR, Michigan EGLE, oil and gas, parsons brinckerhoff, RMI, rocky mountain institute, subaru, todd scott, who killed the electric car, whole foods, wsp

A new statewide workgroup convened by the Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment, or EGLE, kicked off yesterday

Detroit Public transit Michigan Transit infrastructure

What If We Can’t Wait? Public-Private Partnership Solutions for Infrastructure

February 2, 2021February 2, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments amtrak, Amtrak NEC, augean stables, austerity, ben stupka, brooks patterson, BRT, bus, chicago parking meters, dave coulter, Detroit, economic development, FRR, l. brooks patterson, macomb county, MBA, mba capstone, megan owens, metro detroit, michigan, mikel oglesby, mobility infrastructure, new york fear city, oakland county, philanthropic capital, PPP, private sector, public sector, public transit, public-private partnership, regional infrastructure, regional planning, regional transit, regional transit authority, robert moses, RTA, ryan friedrichs, stephanie farmer, transit, transit infrastructure, transportation, transportation riders united, TRU, why is macomb county awful

The RTA is planning on returning in 2022– again- to revisit a ballot measure to fund regional infrastructure investment in Southeast Michigan. Can we wait for 2022? Should we explore alternatives in the meantime?

Burgerbanism Michigan Travel

On This Day in History: John and Nat Enjoy an Oakland County Moms Saturday

October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments apples, autumn, cider, fall, fall foliage, john good, macomb county, michigan, michigan agriculture, michigan tourism, Nat Zorach, oakland county, rochester hills, southeast michigan, tourism

Two city planners stuff their faces with donuts, think about the future of the region, and enjoy some fall color.

Michigan Transit infrastructure

It’s Not Infrastructure If It’s Just Roads

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 Nat Zorach 0 Comments brian calley, Bridge Magazine, gas tax, Gretchen Whitmer, HOV lanes, infrastructure, lee chatfield, matt maddock, michigan, mike shirkey, NUMTOT, public finance, road funding, roads, Sprawl, tolls, transit, transit infrastructure, UN Agenda 21 Globalist Conspiracy, user fees, VMT tax

I spoke with Brian Calley on proposals to fix the damn roads– and to understand whether Republicans might consider transit a good complement.

Public transit Michigan Transit infrastructure

RTA Bus vs. a Train Between Ann Arbor and Detroit? (Part 2)

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 Nat Zorach 0 Comments amtrak, ann arbor, canadian national, canadian pacific, class i railroads, conrail, DDOT, Detroit, farebox recovery ratio, hiawatha, I-75, m-10, marc magliari, mike hicks, milwaukee, rail, RTA, southeast michigan, university of michigan

One of my readers observed that she was a bit bummed out by the “yeah, but it simply can’t work

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