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Citizens Research Council of MichiganEric LupherHighland Park

Will we dissolve (or save!) Michigan's small cities?

Highland Park is, again, on the brink of bankruptcy. This time, over water bills. Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, joins us to talk about the plight of Highland Park and a number of small cities in Michigan that just aren't big enough to provide a full set of services - and what to do about them. Reading material: https://crcmich.org/bankruptcy-will-not-solve-highland-parks-financial-problems You're part of this conversation! Feedback as always - dailydetro...

Taylor SwiftHighland ParkDetroit Restaurants

Taylor Swift coming to Detroit; A Sus announcement in Highland Park; Detroit restaurants won't get color grades

Four things: Taylor Swift is coming to Detroit, and apparently we should talk about it. An announcement for an anonymous donor supposedly dropping $10 billion seems to be missing steak and sizzle. Sure, anything *could* happen, but we share the multiple reasons why it feels suspect. A proposed ordinance in to put color grades in Detroit restaurant windows has failed, with strong business pressure against it. Amazon is delaying the opening of their Detroit facility on the old State Fairground...

CitiesCommunitiesHighland Park

LISTEN: How Mama Shu Is Saving One Of America's Most Blighted Blocks

What do you do when a neighborhood… and your city… crumble? Leave? Throw your hands up? Not Mama Shu. She’s taken tragedy — the death of her son by a hit and run driver, Jakobi Ra — and turned that energy into Avalon Village. Avalon Village is a magical corner of Highland Park where Mama Shu and a group of people who love their city have made a safe place. A homework house. A place for entrepreneurs. A place for living… and soon a place for playing. For the newest Daily Detroit Happy Ho...

bikingDetroit Greenways CoalitionHighland Park

Detroit Greenways Coalition Gets Grant To Build Support For Greenway Segment In Highland Park

In support of overall plans to create a 26 mile loop trail through Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park and Dearborn called the Inner Circle Greenway, the nonprofit Detroit Greenways Coalition received a $5,000 grant from the Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund. The local organization was one of only six winners out of 215 submissions. The grant is to help raise awareness and build support for constructing the Inner Circle Greenway rail-trail segment within the city of Highland Park. 1.4 mile...

Highland ParkSubwayUnderground Tunnels

The Fascinating Story Behind Highland Park's Almost Forgotten Pedestrian Tunnels

At first when you walk up to these relics from a time when Fords rolled out of a plant on Woodward and Highland Park was the model of American success, you might not believe your eyes. Editor’s Note: There’s an update version of this story on our Daily Detroit podcast available here or in the player below. You’d be forgiven if you thought it was a subway in the traditional sense with rails and cars when you walk up. Of course, this isn’t the case. The Detroit area has had multip...

Highland ParkMark Ruffalosolar power

This City Had Their Streetlights Repossessed. Now Some Are Getting Light Thanks To Solar Power

To say Highland Park has seen better days is an understatement. Highland Park, a 2.98 square mile enclave city centered around Woodward Avenue is where Ford and Chrysler made thousands of cars, has been ravaged by the economic downturn and de-industrialization of America. In 2011 to help solve a financial crisis where the city of Highland Park owed $4 million to DTE Energy it did not have, the bulk of streetlights – 1,400 poles, lights and and everything – were removed from the city. Altho...

Davison FreewayDetroitHighland Park

The Story Of The Davison, America’s First Urban Freeway

While freeways are pretty standard in American cities now, it wasn’t always that way. Instead of the ability to potentially go up to 70 miles an hour like on today’s highways, motorists had to use regular city streets to cross town. That was especially the case for motorists who wanted to cross Highland Park and enter Detroit. Everyone piled onto Davison Avenue, the only large street that ran through Highland Park and connected to Detroit running roughly east to west. The avenue and freeway wa...

Avalon VillageHighland ParkShu Harris

Yes Shu Can

After what Shamayim ‘Shu’ Harris has been through, most people would have understood if she quit. Her son was killed by a hit and run driver just a few blocks away from her house in 2007. Her city, Highland Park, is just under three square miles of surrounded by Detroit and filled with good people but basically few services. The beautiful library? Closed. The kids? Bussed away as the district doesn’t run schools anymore, and the high school kids now are assigned to neighboring Detroit Public...

Davison FreewayHighland ParkMagna Seating Detroit

Highland Park Receives Grant to Improve M-8 Service Drives 

The quality, or lack thereof, of the roads in Metro Detroit is notorious. Feeling your teeth clack together as you bounce over potholes and poorly patched roads is a normal occurrence for most Michiganders. However, the M-8 Service Drive is getting the serious facelift it needs. The catalyst for this construction is Magna Seating Detroit, a global automotive supplier. Magna Seating has a facility located in Highland Park, and its trucks regularly use both the North and South M-8 service drives...

businessDetroitHamtramack

There Are Just A Few Days Left To Apply For $10k For Your Detroit Based Business

If you’re looking to get a big boost for your Detroit, Hamtramck or Highland Park based business, the window on getting your ticket to $10,000 is closing. NEIdeas, a program of the New Economy Initiative, is accepting applications for its $10k Challenge for businesses that gross under $750,000 as well as a $100k Challenge for business that gross between $750,000 and $5 million now. But we’re going to focus on what’s due Thursday (the $100k challenge isn’t due until the 25th of this month). N...

Detroit ConeysHighland ParkRed Hots Coney Island

Oh, The Places You'll Go In Detroit: Red Hots Coney Island

There is an “Art of the Coney” (or maybe a religion) that has been practiced by Richard Harlan for 40 years at Red Hots Coney Island in Highland Park. The place was opened in 1921 and holds the title as the oldest Coney Island in Highland Park, a little city that is almost completely surrounded by Detroit, and darn near close to the oldest in the city at large. “It’s the best damn dog in the world, and it’s made right here,” said Harlan with a big smile. He took over the business on Victor...