Downtown : Features

Model D recently hosted a panel at Detroit Beer Company on ways Detroit can harness its green infrastructure potential. Here are the most important takeaways from the event. 

With the opening of several international-brand retail stores and news of the redevelopment of the Hudson's site, Detroit's fashion scene is once again in the spotlight. But as Muna Danish discovered, brands are much less important than style in Detroit. 

We asked Brian Conway, editor of a recently released book on Michigan's contributions to design, to list his favorite modern buildings in Metro Detroit. 

UNESCO's City of Design designation has helped members transform their cities through design. Ellen Schneider of the Detroit Creative Corridor Center writes about how Detroit can harness that same potential. 

For years, Detroiters had a hard time getting reliable data in a digestible format. But thanks to greater transparency from city government, and the work of a host of other companies and organizations, access to data has never been better. 

In the second installment of our series on solutions to regional issues, we explore how cities and community groups are helping Metro Detroit's immigrants overcome the many challenges they face when coming to America. 

When entrepreneurs recognize just how well their skills complement each other, there’s no limit to their potential for success. Into their third year together, Ericka Billingslea and Tatiana Grant are feeding Detroit by growing Flash Delivery at a steady pace. 

By definition, startups have to start somewhere. But in order to really gain traction, small businesses must reach “second level” to create jobs and contribute to the economy on a bigger scale. Carla Walker-Miller, president and CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services, talks about how to make this leap, and why “leaning out” is so important for growth and diversity.

Even as demographics shift and preferences change, most Metro Detroit developers are sticking with a familiar playbook of detached single family homes. But a few intrepid builders are testing the waters with "missing middle" housing.

Metro Detroiters have been living with urban sprawl for more than a generation. Patrick Dunn dives into one of our region's most controversial topics in this first installment of our series on solutions to regional issues. 

In part two of Biking Lake Michigan, writer Mark Wedel tackles some of the political realities surrounding biking in Michigan.

Pashon Murray, co-founder of Detroit Dirt, has visited the White House, been featured in a Ford commercial, and written about in national magazines. All this publicity has been great for her composting business, but it hasn't come without difficulties.

The city of Detroit has allocated $850,000 this year and next to fix up the Rosa Parks Transit Center, which has seen better days.

Slow Roll, a weekly bike ride through a Detroit neighborhood that attracts thousands of riders, is ostensibly a casual affair meant to engender good will between cyclists and residents. But, as Mickey Lyons writes, recent rides have accomplished the exact opposite. 

This year marks an important milestone for Allied Media Conference, a nationally-significant conference that that utilizes media and technology to advance social justice. 10 years ago, AMC relocated to Detroit, a move that ushered in significant changes.