Daily Detroit

Detroit's had a long journey since it was founded as a frontier outpost by the French.

There's been a lot of books about more recent Detroit history. Think 1900 forward. But not so many that look at the first years of Detroit, ones that were formative to the city we know today.

R.J. King — an award-winning journalist, author and editor of dBusiness — joined me in the studio today to talk about his new book, "Detroit: Engine of America."

From the description:

As the populace sputtered and grew, they developed the machinery and skilled trades that produced in volume wagons, stagecoaches, steamships, hearths, locomotives, boxcars, furniture, stoves, equipment, marine engines, pharmaceutical drugs, and finally, the horseless carriage. Detroit's grit and brawn ignited what is the first city in the Midwest, ingenuity and self-sufficiency thrust it on the world stage.

R.J. King

So if you're into Detroit history and the "how" of Detroit happened and found success, have a listen. If you're interested in the book, you can pick it up here.

On today's episode, we speak with Casper van Alfen and Joanna van der Leun of the Motown Movement.

That's the organization founded by architecture students from the Netherlands that bought an abandoned home in Detroit for $1,000 and have been fixing it up with the help of local nonprofits and with the goal of making it into a model of accessible and affordable environmental sustainability.

Van Alfen and Van der Leun are students at Delft University of Technology in Delft, which is about halfway between the Dutch cities of The Hague and Rotterdam.

They talk about how sustainability fits with an impoverished city where many residents worry about more fundamental economic issues of survival, what they've learned about Detroit since they've been here, and some setbacks they've suffered along the way.

And yes, the project has even survived an arson fire. Appropriate for something in Detroit where our motto is, "We hope for better things; it shall arise from the ashes."

It's an interesting conversation about an interesting project. If you'd like to learn more about the Motown Movement or support it, visit themotownmovement.com.

Gerrymandering — the practice of drawing state legislative and congressional districts to favor one political party over another — is back in the news. Republican state lawmakers are proposing measures to weaken efforts to overhaul the process by which these maps are drawn.

That's despite a recent judicial order to design new district maps for 2020 and voters' approval last fall of Proposal 2, which transfers the process to a redistricting commission. But old habits die hard, as they say. So Jer talks Gerrymandering.

Also on today's show:

• The hulking McLouth Steel plant on the Detroit River in Trenton is now a federal Superfund priority site, making it eligible for federal dollars for environmental cleanup.
• Authorities raided the home of Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith over possible misuse of public forfeiture funds.
• Developers recently broke ground on the construction of the new Oakland County Business Center, which will rise on the site of what is currently the Summit Place Mall in Waterford Township. [Oakland Press]
• The Iron Belle Continuation project, which aims to connect Detroit to Downriver communities along the larger Iron Belle Trail, won a $1.9 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
• Olga's is returning to the city of Detroit, this time opening in the MGM Grand casino's food court.
• And we get all history-nerdy over the Detroit Mounted Police.

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. Wanna do us a solid? Tell a friend, subscribe to our podcast or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or support us via Patreon.

Welcome back to the week! There's a lot in our latest episode. Let's dive in.

- The Ilitch organization will receive another $74 million dollars in taxpayer subsidies for the District Detroit.

- John Beilein is leaving his job as coach of the University of Michigan Men's basketball team to take over as head coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

- Hazel Park is set to get a new mixed-use mid-rise development on the site of a former CVS and Movie M ania store on John R as part of a vision to create a walkable downtown district.

- A new microbrewery might be coming to Livonia.

- The Hello Kitty mobile cafe is coming back to Metro Detroit, this time in a new location.

- Freep Columnist Rochelle Riley is joining Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's administration to promote and grow arts and culture in the city.

- And, we talk about the preview of the beautiful Monarch Club on the roof of the historic Metropolitan Building.

Today we're taking a look at a company that's making high-end leather goods right here in the city of Detroit, putting Detroiters and veterans to work.

We're talking about Pingree Detroit, based just about a block away from the well-known Shinola. Pingree is a worker-owned company formed as an L3C — a special type of company that puts both the bottom line and the social mission of the company first.

And when there's profits, 77 cents of every dollar is shared with the workers.

Pingree founder Jarret Schlaff and our Sven Gustafson toured the facility and talked about the project, the sacrifices made to create a worker-first company, the ups and downs of business and the optimistic view Jarret has for the future.

The company was founded after meeting jobless veterans in the city.

You can find out more about Pingree and shop their shoes, bags and other stuff at their website.

Love what we're doing at Daily Detroit? Support us on Patreon. Having reader support allows us to tell the on-the-ground stories like this other so often media misses.

Como's, a longtime mainstay of downtown Ferndale, has been reimagined by Chef Zack Sklar.

The chef is doing something really cool in elevating pizza and having some creative takes on some old favorites.

But, really, how good is it out of the gate?

Join us on the podcast for an unbiased first look at the place with one of our contributors, Randy Walker.

Please don't treat this conversation as a full review as places need some time to get their legs under them, but it is one of the hottest tickets in Ferndale.

And yes, you should check this place out.

Also, Ferndale has some great patios. We talk about those, too.

We have pictures of the tasty dining adventure up on Daily Detroit.

If you enjoy what we do here, be sure to support us on Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit.

Good Wednesday afternoon, and welcome to a super Detroit-y edition of your Daily Detroit.

Today, we walked over to the Avenue of Fashion, where Mayor Mike Duggan came to speak about the streetscape redevelopment of a roughly 1-mile section of Livernois to calm traffic and make the commercial district more attractive to pedestrians and, hopefully, prosperous to business owners.

Construction crews were already at work demolishing the 13-year-old median added by now-imprisoned former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Plans call for narrowing traffic to one lane in each direction, adding 24-foot-wide sidewalks to encourage more outdoor cafe seating, and adding sidewalk-grade bike lanes separated from the road by parallel parking spaces. All good.

But reporters at the groundbreaking announcement wanted to talk about the controversy swirling around Duggan and his ties to the Make Your Date nonprofit. The Freep reports today that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is looking into the nonprofit's fundraising activities. So is the Detroit Office of Inspector General. Duggan has been linked to the nonprofit's director, Sonia Hassan.

Also on today's episode:

• Ford is working on a major overhaul of its customer experience efforts, rolling out efforts like a new customer rewards program and new retail dealership concepts. [Autoblog]
• The nonprofit Friends of the Rouge needs volunteers to help with its annual Rouge Rescue cleanup May 18.
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Judge Damon J. Keith, the civil rights icon and longtime federal judge who died last month. Check out our interview about Keith's legacy with Detroit historian Ken Coleman.
• Little Caesars turns 60 today. Check out a sweet TV ad from 1985, below.

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. Want to help ensure we keep episodes like these landing in your favorite podcatcher app? Support us via Patreon. And tell a friend about Daily Detroit.

Detroit: A great bike city, or the best bike city?

We dive into that superwonky argument in the wake of Detroit's abysmal showing in PeopleForBike's annual rankings of the Best Cities For Bikes in 2019. Detroit scored a lowly 1.6 out of 5 stars, the same as 2018, despite all the work that's been done to install protected bike lanes, bike traffic counters and other bike-friendly infrastructure improvements. Ferndale and Ann Arbor both scored higher, at 3.0 stars each.

But the organization's methodology spurred a rebuttal piece by Todd Scott over at Detroit Greenways Coalition. Who's right? We talk about it.

Also on today's show:

• Detroit's new streetlights are already going dark, adding to a familiar narrative about the city with broken streetlights.
• Republicans on Tuesday approved a bill that would reform Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system, despite objections from those radical leftists at the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. The bill now heads to the state House.
• And we offer our suggestions for where to go to celebrate Mother's Day. You can also read it here.

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. Support us by telling a friend, reviewing us on Apple Podcasts or becoming a Patreon member.

What is it with Greektown and the rise in shootings lately? We talk about that in the wake of another shooting late Sunday that injured two, though not critically. For years, the retail district was an example of safety and vibrancy in an otherwise dead downtown, but even though it's still technically a vibrant neighborhood — albeit much less Greek than it used to be — it's increasingly a scene of violent crime.

Here's what else we're talking about on today's show:

• Longtime Red Wings GM Ken Holland is leaving Detroit for the Edmonton Oilers
• It looks like the city of Detroit has managed to assemble all the land needed for the new Jeep plant on the east side
• Beloved eatery Russell Street Deli is on the way out of Eastern Market in September following a dispute with their new landlord, Sanford Nelson
• We eulogize former Grande Ballroom owner and Detroit '60s counterculture figurehead Russ Gibb
• The first new U.S. built Great Lakes freighter in nearly 40 years is being built at a shipyard in Wisconsin
• And we run through some restaurant news, including Buddy's, Como's, Shake Shack and Peso

Thanks as always for listening. Find Daily Detroit and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and consider becoming a Patreon member to support us. Every little bit helps!

Between hiring a new head coach to replacing the turf surface at Keyworth, and preparing to embark on its first-ever season of professional soccer, 2019 promises to be the biggest, most important season yet for Detroit City FC, which plays its final preseason friendly on Saturday at the Flint City Bucks.

On today's episode, we talk with soccer journalist, Outer Drive podcast co-host and Daily Detroit contributor Fletcher Sharpe about the Rouge's roster moves to date, the new coach, Trevor James, and some of the other changes fans will see at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck.