First Person11

First Person

Beating Coronavirus For Christmas - A Miracle for Mom

2020 has been rough. Not only with the loss and turmoil, but since the spring I’ve had to worry constantly for my 72 year old mother, Paula who lives with us. The data shows — and even the skeptics generally agree — that seniors generally get hit far harder by COVID-19 than everyone else.  Add on to that, my mom has COPD and Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (plus a recent pneumonia hospitalization!), and I’ve been trying my best to make sure the Coronavirus doesn’t enter our...

BerkleyDetroit DinersDiners

Hello And Goodbye To Berkley’s Beloved Becky’s Nip ‘N Tuck Diner

It was on the list for a while. Get up to Eleven mile road and experience the Nip ‘N Tuck for myself. Driving by in warmer months, the simple building would stand out in a somewhat industrial area with vivid flowers. It’s the kind of diner that has legends attached to it. Legendary word of mouth, after all, I had been told not less than three times to go. Legendary stories about a beloved owner, Becky Bone, who as a person is almost one with the space she has occupied. A space adorned with Tig...

DetroitDistrict Market DetroitFirst Person

6 Bars Of The District Detroit & Little Caesars Arena, Ranked

One of the biggest issues plaguing both Joe Louis Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills was the lack of quality options for eating and boozing before and after games. The Palace had well-documented struggles with this issue and the old Joe Louis Arena, while located in downtown Detroit, was nestled in a veritable concrete fortress of freeway ramps and parking structures. Those issues are a thing of the past with the opening of The District Detroit and its crown jewel, Little Caesars Arena. Th...

Changing NeighborhoodsDetroitDevelopment

Allow Me To Freak Out About $400K Homes In My Old Detroit Neighborhood

I last spent time in Woodbridge Farms, my old neighborhood, last fall, when I joined some coworkers to plant trees with crews from the Greening of Detroit. And I wrote about what I saw and how it illustrated the dramatic and jarring ways that Detroit is changing. But nothing quite prepared me for this. A developer team is working with the city to invest around $6 million to build up to 27 houses in the historic neighborhood, which began in the early 1870s. All good. But here’s the kicker, vi...

DetroitFirst PersonHazen Pingree

The Best Mayor In Detroit’s History And “Idol of the People” Deserves More Recognition

The city of Detroit is rife with nods and tributes to ghosts of its past, legendary and sometimes infamous individuals who have helped shape the city for hundreds of years. Names like Woodward, Lodge, Fisher, and Cass are so synonymous with the thoroughfares and buildings they represent that many people don’t even associate the names with the actual individuals they represent. However, one name that doesn’t appear on any major road signs or building facades is that of a man who may be the grea...

First Person

Detroit's Legendary Goat Yard Is For Sale

Detroit has a long history of misfits, creatives, gadflies, rabble rousers, and people who are wonderfully outside of the social “norm.” One of the many places in the city that was defined by the people in it was the “Goat Yard,” a small boat yard on the east side of the city over by the foot of St. Jean. It was maybe the last hippie boat yard, the Detroit Boat Works. For years it was home to a litany of never-ending nautical restoration projects, low key social gatherings and some of the...

First Person

Beyond The Bookshelf: How Detroit’s Libraries Are Finding New Ways To Engage With The Community

When folks talk about Detroit, we hear the same words used over and over again: poor, broken, abandoned, blighted. But our experiences in the Motor City have shown us something completely different – a community that, in the face of overwhelming challenges, maintains a profound commitment to making Detroit a better place. This juxtaposition of resilience and adversity, coupled with the city’s abiding innovative spirit, has made Detroit fertile ground for the dynamic programming that Libraries...

Detroit Public SchoolsDr. Nikolai VittiFirst Person

OPINION: New DPS Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti Deserves Broad-Based Support

As a former Western High School teacher I’ve watched the selection process of the new superintendent from afar and, at times, chuckled to myself.  I’ve read the stories about the candidacy of Alycia Merriweather and her supporters — all well deserved. I thought all of that ended in March when she was not included in the final pool of candidates, but now in the post “What Detroiters Say New Schools Superintendent Nicolai Vitti Should Tackle First” is quick to rehash the views of a high school a...

financial literacyFirst PersonOpinion

OPINION: Supporting Financial Literacy Is An Investment In Southeastern Michigan’s Future

Each April, Financial Literacy Month offers an important opportunity to educate consumers on the fundamentals of personal finance – from how checking accounts and credit cards work to how to establish a basic household budget. This should be a year-round commitment by our community because it is so fundamentally important to making financially responsible decisions integral to the everyday lives of our residents. Financial literacy can also be an issue for entrepreneurs and small business owne...

Dolores BennettFirst PersonGodmother of North End

Saying Goodbye To The Godmother Of The North End

I’d like to give prayers and blessings to Delores Bennett’s family, friends, and supporters after her passing on Tuesday February 7, 2017. Delores Bennett was a Wayne County Commissioner for years. But she will forever live on in the mind of most as the Godmother of the North End. The North End is Detroit’s neighborhood that surrounds what was Detroit’s historic Northern High School bordered by I-75, Highland Park, Woodward Avenue, and the New Center District. Delores Bennett was one of my...

ColumnDevon's DetroitFirst Person

Devon’s Detroit: “You Belong to the City”

My social and professional lives frequently mingle and intersect maybe because the city of Detroit has been a part of my life for well … all my life. I was technically born a Detroiter and grew up a suburbanite. Tireman and Schaefer may not be what the quintessential idea of suburban isolation looks like to some but although I could see Detroit from my front porch. Dearborn was very much a suburban paradise growing up. Over the years my curiosity for this city across the street grew and was...