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Rehab/Renovation Features

Can small ideas add up to big change for cities? 13 projects that prove they can (VIDEO)

Urban revitalization is not built on stadiums and skyscrapers alone. Vibrant cities begin with passionate people working on the ground, doing the creative heavy lifting to make their communities better. Leading up to Urban Innovation Exchange Sept. 24-26 in Detroit, we take a look at 13 small projects with big potential.

UIX invites urban innovators to exchange ideas in Detroit

Cities are reinventing themselves in creative new ways. Can small-scale projects have big impact? Join us Sept. 24-26 in Detroit to explore creative projects driving neighborhood transformation and trade ideas for the future.

Warming up to green energy

Thanks to the Recovery Act, a few local programs are recruiting unemployed residents, training them with sustainable construction skills and then helping them find work; all for free. Amelia Kanan reports with words and pictures.

Let's Get Innovative: How Can Detroit Do More with Less?

As demands on the world’s non-renewable and limited resources increase, how can Detroit be a lead innovator in the practice of doing more with less? Rachel Klegon, Executive Director of Green Living Science, shares her thinking on how we can all contribute to being a more efficient and effective community. Read here, then join the conversation.

Call for Ideas: Innovative ways to fund small-scale community projects?

Detroit has very active foundations and corporations that invest millions of dollars in our community. Usually these funds are directed toward larger, established civic institutions and non-profit organizations with a demonstrated record of impact and success. But what if you have a new, untested idea to address a neighborhood need? How can we create more funding opportunities for smaller-scale but potentially transformative community projects?
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Rehab/Renovation Videos

VIDEO: Wallace Detroit Guitars

Wallace Detroit Guitars uses reclaimed wood from abandoned houses in Detroit to make electric guitar bodies. The instruments emphasize the heritage of Detroit and build on the city's musical legacy. Video by Milk Products Media.   

VIDEO: Vacant Not Blighted - Revitalizing Detroit

Detroit is facing enormous challenges with an abundance of vacant and abandoned buildings in the city. Demolition is a necessary part of moving the city forward, but Detroit can't just demo its way to revitalization. Here, individuals on the ground in Detroit show that through strategic preservation and rehabilitation of commercial and residential structures, you can change the dynamic one building at a time and demonstrate that just because it's vacant, doesn't mean it's blighted. Video by Michigan Historic Preservation Network.

VIDEO: Michael Forsyth, REVOLVE Detroit

Michael Forsyth, Retail Business Development Manager of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and leader of the DEGC's collaborative neighborhood renewal program REVOLVE Detroit, discusses how Detroit can be a world leader in how communities approach redevelopment. 

VIDEO: Rebecca Willis

"A bleeding heart gives way to the consciousness that people are all interconnected and dependent upon one another in some way." This sentence is highlighted on the website for Bleeding Heart Design, founded by Rebecca Willis, and it captures the essence of Bleeding Heart's goal: to reimagine community spaces with art, design, and a sense of altruism and interconnectedness. Video by DETROIT LIVES

VIDEO: Eleni Zaharopoulos & Jenile Brooks

Each semester, Practice·Space takes on a pre-existing project that is rooted in Detroit for their incubator program. They are pleased to announce that their first project is renovating a store/house in the North End.
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