Living in the D

Category: Education

Cesar Chavez students get netbooks to bridge digital divide

The Cesar Chavez Academy High School has provided netbooks for each of the 100 seniors. The netbooks will allow the students to take college courses online at Brigham Young University and online classes if they fall behind, school officials said.

The charter school, one of four that make up a quasi-charter school district in southwest Detroit, is the only one of its kind doing this in the area, school leader Juan Jose Martinez said. "The exciting thing is, it is something the kids need," he said. "We all hear about the digital divide."

Officials spent about $40,000 on the computers, protective sleeves and a backpack for each student. The gear and computer is to be returned at the end of the school year, Martinez said.

The charter high school students posted the highest MME/ACT scores in the area in spring 2009 and the school has a 75 percent graduation rate, according to school data.

The Leona Group obtained a charter for the four schools through Saginaw Valley State University. It is free to the public and operates independent of the local school district.

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Category: A reason to drink

Welcome to the movies, Detroit

For Detroit and me, it's been quite a year for the movie business. There have been good productions that show Detroit in all it's glory and a few duds that seem to take advantage of Detroit's generosity.

I have been a still photographer for almost 25 years. Last year, the Michigan Film Office asked me to scout a few movies for various producers and then the floodgates opened. I found a new career as a location manager and still photographer.

One of the first scouts I did was with John Goldwyn, grandson of legendary film producer Samuel L. Goldwyn. I drove him around Detroit in the rain, showing him various neighborhoods for the movie, "Armored." It was never produced in Detroit, but after a white-knuckled ride he gave me a great compliment by saying he'd seen more in three hours then he thought he'd see in three days. That being said, we did drive Detroit style. For those of you who know me, you know what I mean.

I have worked on "The Irishman" with director Jonathon Hensleigh and starring Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken and Ray Stevenson; "Highland Park" with Danny Glover and Parker Posey, which also donated money and time to the McGregor Library, and a History Channel production, "Apocalypse Man," a show scheduled to air Jan. 9 and for which I have high hopes. These are a few of the projects I have worked on; I have scouted for many more upcoming productions that will be even more exciting.

There have been other less glorious productions I will not name that seem to think Detroit is a giant backlot and come here and take advantage of our locations and good nature. As a location manager, I am put in the precarious place of balancing what's best for the production and what's fair and good for the community. If I abuse my trust with locations I may not be able to use them again.

I have tried to have the productions spend their money and time in Detroit. Everyone who does walks away with a different perception of the city. That may be the greatest response this city can receive. Those in the media are seeing Detroit as a viable, energized city and go back home with changed minds and begin changing minds of others.

Category: Architecture

Don't rip down the Michigan Central Depot -- light it up at night!

Here's a modest proposal: We shouldn't tear Detroit's old train station down, as our perpetually misguided City Council (and -- ahem! -- another Detroit newspaper) wants. Instead, somebody should illuminate the great tower at night.

Yes, yes. ArchBlogger knows.

It's a wreck. We should be ashamed. Outsiders will just snicker at our dilapidation.

Rubbish. The train station is a towering icon, our very own Coliseum which, it's worth noting, Rome has been lighting up like a torch for decades.

Tearing the train station down would accomplish nothing apart from robbing the Detroit skyline of drama. Anyone who thinks some big development is going to move in there is just whistling "Dixie." Rather, we ought to softly light the upper stories to add a romantic beacon to the cityscape after dark.

ArchBlogger isn't talking glaring lights, here. Nobody wants to highlight the shattered windows. Instead, any illumination should be soft and silvery -- a shimmering landmark, not a torch.

Not only would it be breathtaking at night, if properly illuminated, A.B. is certain it would goose the sputtering comeback of Michigan Avenue at 14th Street, right across Roosevelt Park from the depot. A lit-up train station would draw kids -- the sorts who support Slows Bar-BQ, L.J.'s Lounge and P.J.'s Lager House, all nearby -- like moths.

And frankly? It's sick-of-the-suburbs children who renovated New York's East Village and Chicago's Wicker Park. Why not give Macomb and Oakland County kids with a taste for urban grit a beacon to aim for?

The nascent commercial strip at Michigan and 14th Street, directly across Roosevelt Park from the train station. That's Slows Bar BQ to the left in the dark-red building.

This also gets to the larger question of Detroit's decay, and our collective embarrassment over it.

It's high time we Detroiters developed a little backbone. New York City in the early 1980s was spectacularly shabby in many places, but that never stopped them from hyping their fabulousness -- in fact, it positively drew visitors, particularly the adventurous young: "Wow, man -- New York is such a bad-ass town. It was totally cool!"

Detroit's reality has a haunting beauty that outsiders, in particular, often recognize and admire. Why not harness that to help some local businesses?

There are practical considerations, of course. The train station -- like the Ambassador Bridge -- is owned by Grosse Pte. businessman Manuel Maroun, and it's unclear whether he'd be interested in lighting a building he may hope to tear down someday.

But there are other scraps of land within a couple hundred feet that aren't his property. Why couldn't some group -- any nonprofits interested? -- get together some money and set up lights?

Sure it's quixotic. But it would make the nearby Corktown commercial neighborhood pop.

More to the point, it would generate a little offbeat urban romance -- precisely what Detroit needs, if it's going to attract more urban pioneers to fill up those empty storefronts along Michigan Avenue, or the abandoned houses across the freeway in North Corktown.

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Category: Transportation

I guess this means my pedestrian experiment is over

I am back to being a citizen of the Motor City - sort of.

After seven months, just as winter is about to set in, our one-car household is becoming what I'd call a 1 1/2-car household.

I now have a car available for those days when I can't bus or bike. It's a 1977 Mercury Monarch that I inherited (OK, took off Dad's hands) and has taken two years to get running and legal. Although it's a pretty cool car, it's far from an ideal commuting choice. It sucks down the gas and its exhaust stinks horribly, which I'm told will go away as the old gunk gets burned out of it, but still, ick. As someone who tries to live an earth-friendly lifestyle, I can't in good conscience go cruising around every day in the lumbering beast.

Now that I have options, I can officially say goodbye to the pedestrian life. I'll still be out there busing and biking to work, but I awaken each day now knowing I don't have to. It's weird. Sure, it's liberating. Yet it still feels wrong in a lot of ways. It's troubling to be reminded that in Detroit, a one-person, one-car lifestyle is the norm, to the point of ridiculousness.

Last Friday, the first time I drove the beast, I stopped for drinks downtown after work. When the bartender asked if I wanted another, I responded with my usual, "Why not? I'm not driving ..." Oops. Yes, I was driving - and so was everyone else. When our group of three left to head to another bar in Hamtramck, I groaned at the sight of each of us climbing into a separate car and forming a convoy to the next destination, where we'd have to find three parking spaces and regroup.

What's wrong with this picture? In the name of convenience, we've transformed ourselves into 150 pounds of flesh chained to a ton of steel - a money-sucking, energy-gulping, space-taking ton of steel.

So I'm back as a citizen of the Motor City. It doesn't mean I have to jump in with both feet and I really don't want to.

Category: Transportation

The pedestrian life, month 7: I'm worn down

When my car kicked the bucket in April I was bummed at first, then I became intrigued with the challenge of getting by without it. It was spring and there was a bus stop nearby. I wouldn't have to worry about parking tickets or spikes in gas prices. Maybe I'd lose a few pounds. Yippee!

The weather's still decent enough to leave the house with a smile and I've learned a lot. I'll admit my optimism had blinded me to the nagging reality I already knew: It's really, really difficult being a pedestrian in Detroit.

The walking-bus-biking-bumming rides plan works, but only if circumstances line up just so. A heavy rain, a blister, an encounter with an angry thug - any little bump can make things difficult and erode one's sense of control.

I've found myself watching someone in a wheelchair boarding the bus and wondering how much harder it is for him. How far did he have to roll to the bus stop and were the sidewalks paved and passable? Without a window to roll up and a door to lock, did he feel vulnerable to the weather and meanness of the streets? Do all the buses have working lifts?

Not that it's anywhere near the same thing, but I cut the bottom of my foot a week ago and have been walking with a limp, wishing it would heal already. That small obstacle was enough to scare me away from the bus routine. Pain aside, would a hobbling woman be a target for a knucklehead looking for someone to mess with?

I've been riding my bike instead. I can bundle up against the 40-degree chill, but what about when there's a foot of snow on the ground? What if I need to transport something heavy to somewhere out in Sprawling Burbsville?

All this makes me thankful I'm not in a wheelchair, on crutches or working a job that requires carrying anything other than myself and a change of clothes 12 miles from home. Problem is, plenty of people are. It shouldn't be that way.

It's been eye-opening, I'm worn down and angry about what kind of community - or lack thereof - we've built in Metro Detroit. Much like the U.S. health care system, which the late Walter Cronkite neatly summed up as "neither healthy, caring, nor a system," we have a nonsystem in Metro Detroit that's been carved out by those with health and money to exclude those without. If you can't drive or be driven, for physical or financial reasons, and your circumstances don't line up just so, you're out of luck.

Category: Scenery

Bringing some sunshine from Maui

One time, long ago, my sister went on a luxury house tour and upon returning to our much-more-humble home, she kicked it and yelled "I hate this place!"

That's kind of how I felt when I returned to Detroit on Sunday after a week in Maui. I know, there's no comparison between carefree vacation time spent on a tropical beach and the regular workaday routine of home, but it was depressing to see Detroit again, gray and foreboding, after those days in the sun.

The weather isn't the only way Hawaii felt like the polar opposite of Detroit. The "default" music in Maui is reggae - perfectly suited for the laid-back surfer lifestyle. You hear it on the radio, in cabs, at family picnics. In Detroit, it seems every car that goes by is blasting loud, horribly uninventive gangsta hip-hop - perfectly suited for our well-known attitude problem.

One road we drove in Maui was dotted with unmanned "honor system" fruit stands. Prices were posted, you took what you wanted and put your money in the box. They trusted you, even with the trees where the goods came from standing right there, practically begging you to pick a few star fruits and run. Could you imagine that in Detroit? The stand and those trees would be picked bare and the thief would be selling them on an offramp, claiming the money would go toward youth basketball.

Still, I don't want to go negative. It was a great vacation and I'm very lucky to have experienced it. Let's share some of the good vibes with this lovely tune by the late Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole. It's sure to put a smile on your face. Aloha!

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Category: Civic pride

Movie helps spurs revival of Highland Park's McGregor Library

The fabulous yet closed McGregor Library in Highland Park is finally seeing signs of life. The city of Highland Park has formed a 503(c) nonprofit to raise funds for the refurbishing and hopeful reopening of the jewel.

The library's bronze doors were finally revealed this week, albeit for just a short time for a movie, after being hidden under plywood for so many years.

Highland Park was an idealic suburb within the city of Detroit in the '50s and '60s. Now, 50 years later, it stands as a symbol of all that is wrong with racism, corporate greed and lack of opportunities. This is what happens when there is a breakdown and flight of an educated middle class - its effects are felt throughout.

Drive through any number of streets in the two historic districts and you will see only a smattering of homes that are kept up to their classic looks. Drive through other streets and see the sense of abandonment the residents must feel - burned-out shells of buildings, empty lots, trash strewn about and blowing from corner to empty corner. The schools are abandoned and windowless, the streets pock marked with asphalt patch. Industry, shopping and dining are almost nonexistent.

If Detroit is the barometer of what our cities are becoming, then I would say Highland Park is the barometer for Detroit.

All may not be lost. Recently, the city began policing itself again after a wave of corruption and scandal. The Wayne County Sheriff's Department is no longer assisting in patrolling the town. The new police chief, Theodore G. Cadwell II, said at a council meeting last night that the department has solved every major crime this month, either arresting or identifying those responsible. The city has a new mayor, Hubert Yopp, who is dedicated to holding property owners responsible for appearance and bringing back the library to its purpose: helping to educate the city's residents.

Benefit for library on Thursday
On Thursday at Taste, there is a benefit for the library with actor Danny Glover, the star of the movie "Highland Park," appearing to help raise money for the library and embrace a neglected treasure.

Category: Events

Check out haunted houses, Halloween events for good causes

This weekend I was excited to learn about two haunted houses in the city of Detroit, both of which support causes close to my heart: homelessness and Belle Isle.

Over the next two weekends Cass Community Social Services is daring Metro Detroit to experience Detroit's Urban Legends, the agency's haunted house in the 126-year-old Cass Community United Methodist Church. For the seventh year, petrified patrons will have a chance to brave the 2,500-square-foot attraction. Don't be put off by it being a church - the Web site has this to say: "WARNING: Last year, one patron left Detroit Urban Legends by ambulance!"

Volunteers from around the state help make this what promises to be the scariest haunted house around. This year contributing groups include Swartz Creek youth, Albion College students, Wyoming Park UMC and Michigan State University students.

The event raises money for programs that support homeless mothers and children. Tickets cost $10 for adults (ages 12 and older) and $8 for children (not recommended for children under 5). Groups of 12 or more are eligible for a discount. Transportation is available for groups of 20 or more. Cass Community United Methodist Church is located at 3901 Cass at Selden in Detroit. Call (313) 883-2277 for more information.

Detroit Parks and Recreation is also hosting a haunted house the last weekend of the month on Belle Isle. The Halloween Extravaganza as well as Angels' Night events and halloween parties for children happen all over the island as well at the casino building at various times Oct. 30-31.

I'm working up the courage to go so I may help out in a fun way. I hope you are up for the challenge, too!

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Category: Recreation

Fall and pumpkin hunting takes me out of the city

For some things you just have to leave Detroit to truly enjoy and to me fall is one of them. I couldn't wait for official fall to visit Blake Farms cider mill in Armada a few weeks ago. I could not pass the place without stopping for fresh cider and warm doughnuts. Oh, were they good!

Finally, it's officially my favorite time of year again and not just because of the change of seasons or the colors on the trees but because of pumpkin patches and corn mazes, too. I go past the city limits and suburbs out to rural areas in Michigan just so I can go pumpkin hunting every fall. Every year on my hunt I try to find new places to visit to explore another part of Michigan.

You can find all kinds of fall and Halloween-related stuff at detnews.com/events or MichiganScreams.com This site isn't just for haunted houses, which I was happy to find out because I am a total wimp and cannot handle to be scared even a little. Instead, this site offers links to attractions that include haunted houses and haunted woods as well as pumpkin patches, corn mazes and even some cider mills.

Although I hate to admit I have to leave Detroit sometimes because there are things I can not find here I am encouraged by the idea that as this city becomes more green and prairie-like that maybe one day soon I will be able to hunt for pumpkins down on East Grand Boulevard or in southwest Detroit while enjoying a warm cup of cider. I am allowed to hope.

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Tour East English Village homes looking for owners

Note: This is a repeat of what appeared in today's Homestyle section, because it deserves another mention.

East English Village will put a different spin on its first home tour 1-5 p.m. Sunday: houses that have lost their owners. Five distinctive, bank-owned homes in the historic east side Detroit neighborhood will be on display, all within walking distance.

Beautifully maintained, occupied homes will serve as check-ins and garden stops.

As a highlight, the "Camelot Rug," an antique needlepoint piece that graced the Oval Office during President John F. Kennedy's administration, will be on display at the tour check-in. Participants also may get a glimpse inside the Alger Theater, which is under renovation, on East Warren Avenue at East Outer Drive.

The tour is free, followed by an afterglow with featherbowling at the Cadieux Café. To register, call (313) 216-1729 or visit www.eastenglishvillage.org/tour.