Wednesday, October 4, 2023

southwest detroit

Economic DevelopmentGovernment

City of Detroit: Just Kidding, We Do Have A Secret MOU With The Ilitches and Morouns.

The City of Detroit responded to a long-outstanding FOIA request and conceded that, yes, they do have a secret memorandum of understanding with a couple of the city’s most delinquent landowners. It’s not surprising. It’s just obnoxious that they told me the exact opposite before.

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Public Safety

Another Day, Another Vigilante Murder in Detroit.

Another pointless death at a gas station in Southwest Detroit highlights, well, we’re not really sure what anymore. Something bad, certainly.

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Heavy IndustryReal Estate

Diesel Exhaust, Potholes, and A Vision of Better Commercial Corridors in Southwest Detroit

Greg Mangan, real estate advocate for the Southwest Detroit Business Association, picks me up at the northwest corner of West

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EcologyEnvironmentParks & RecParks and Public Space

Wishes For A Greener Spring

The advent of warm weather! The return of street fairs! The sniffles from spring allergies! And ever so much more.

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HousingReal EstateUrban Planning

Can Second-Floor Apartments Make A Comeback? A New SDBA Grant Program Thinks So.

An ambitious new program in Detroit seeks to provide $10,000 to property owners to renovate and rent out second-floor and third-floor apartments in mixed-use buildings along several major corridors in Southwest Detroit.

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Culture & LanguageEnvironmentLifestyle

A Love Burning Brighter Than The Gas Flares Of Zug Island

As many of you know, or don’t, I got engaged in September! Yes, folks– if someone thinks they can put

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LawPolicyReal EstateUrban Planning

The Morouns Tore Down A Warehouse For More Truck Parking. Really. [EDITED]

Walking from home to Corktown last night in search of food and drink with some out-of-town visitors who were eager

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Cities & Urban PlanningEnvironment

A Common-Sense Rezoning Hits Billionaire Resistance

The billionaire Moroun family’s trucking empire, which also owns the Ambassador Bridge, is pushing for a controversial zoning measure that would allow them to develop a trucking depot in Southwest Detroit. Residents do not favor the effort, and the city has declined to enforce its own ordinances to stop them from starting development. (Guest piece by Dion Thompson-Davoli).

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GovernmentUrban PlanningVacancy

Why Is Detroit Giving Industrial Slumlords Like Moroun A Free Pass?

The owners of the Ambassador Bridge, their trucking empire, and a plethora of shell corporations own many acres of prime real estate close to Detroit’s downtown. Why have they avoided regulatory scrutiny?

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