Michigan Radio on Nov 13th 2009 Stories, michigan radio
The front desk at DCDC is covered with examples of what Detroit could do with its abandoned buildings (Photo by Jennifer Guerra)
by Jennifer Guerra
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You’re going to hear the words asset and opportunity a lot in this story. And frankly, that’s a pretty welcome surprise. It’s not often you hear those words associated with Detroit these days.
But don’t tell that to Charles Cross, Chandra Moore, and Virginia Stanard. They all work at the Detroit Collaborative Design Center. The firm is associated with the University of Detroit Mercy. And most of their work focuses on Detroit’s abandoned spaces.
Continue Reading »
Michigan Radio on Nov 12th 2009 Stories, michigan radio
Michigan Radio manages another site called the Michigan Radio Picture Project with the editing help of photographers Eric Smith and Doug Aikenhead. This week we published a photo essay entitled “Home,” containing photos by Michigan photographer Austin R. Hermann.
Hermann describes the collection as “a pictographic examination of Michigan’s current economic housing crisis, with interviews from each participating member.” He visited houses and buildings in Berkley, Ypsilanti and other Michigan communities to capture the scene and speak with homeowners.
Visit the Michigan Radio Picture Project to view the photo essay.
Michigan Radio on Nov 12th 2009 Stories, michigan radio
Patrick Molloy sits in his new house in Clarkston, which he bought with the help of NSP funds (Photo by Jennifer Guerra)
by Jennifer Guerra
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The federal government doled out nearly $4 billion towards the Neighborhood Stabilization Program last year. The program was designed to stabilize communities hardest hit by foreclosures. Michigan got more than $98 million in NSP money. As part of our Facing the Mortgage Crisis series, Michigan Radio’s Jennifer Guerra checks in with one county to see how it’s spending its NSP money.
Continue Reading »
Michigan Radio on Nov 11th 2009 Stories, michigan radio
by Jennifer Guerra
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The inside of the foreclosed house Charlie O'Geen bought for $3,300 (Photo by Jennifer Guerra)
Earlier this year Michigan Radio’s Jennifer Guerra introduced us to an artist named Mitch Cope. He and his wife live in a working-class neighborhood in Detroit. It’s pretty mixed: Polish and Ukranian families, lots of Bangledeshi immigrants. Not to mention quite a few drug dealers. Here’ s what Cope had to say about it back in March:
Continue Reading »
Michigan Radio on Nov 10th 2009 Stories, michigan radio
by Jennifer Guerra
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Bobby Jackson talks with someone from the Land Bank about his urban garden at the Mission of Hope
Joanne Palek and her brother, Richard, have lived on West Court Street in Flint for 10 years. A few years ago, the abandoned house next door burned down. So they bought the empty lot from the Genesee County Land Bank for exactly $1.00, and then they started to plant.
Continue Reading »
Michigan Radio on Nov 9th 2009 Stories, michigan radio
by Jennifer Guerra
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Vista Maria campus in Dearborn Heights (Photo by Jennifer Guerra)
The Vista Maria campus for girls has gorgeous brick buildings spread out over 37 acres. You could easily mistake it for a boarding school out east. There’s the big lawn out front. Volleyball courts behind each hall. Inside, you’ll find some girls watching a movie, others are working out, and some are getting ready for the big Fall dance.
But that’s where the similarities end.
Continue Reading »
Michigan Radio on Nov 5th 2009 Events, Stories
Ann Arbor, Mich.—As part of the “Facing the Mortgage Crisis” community engagement initiative, Michigan Radio will air a series of special reports dealing with southeast Michigan’s foreclosure situation, and also host a free mortgage foreclosure town hall event in Oakland County.
Continue Reading »
