Urban farming in places like Detroit (and elsewhere) has gotten a lot of good press, this blog included.
But the author of this piece, Richard Longworth says we shouldn’t necessarily be praising urban farming, but instead seeing it as a symptom of how far some cities have fallen. (We’ve written about Longworth, and his work at the Chicago Council’s Global Midwest Initiative before.) His suggestion? Better grocery options for central-city neighborhoods, including big box retailers like Wal-Mart.
Reading Longworth’s post reminded me of a speech I heard at last year’s GLUE (Great Lakes Urban …

The former US Steel South Works in South Chicago will be redeveloped, The New York Times reports.
The “ambitious” $4 billion plan will remake the 470-acre site with homes, a marina, commercial space and a school, the paper reports. It is the largest undeveloped parcel in the city.
You can learn more about the history of the site here; take a look at the before and after photos from the mill’s heyday (below).

This history site notes that 20,000 people once worked at the mill, which closed in 1992 after operating 110 years. It also notes that …

Today is a special day, because today the Plain Dealer wrote something I actually agree with.
In an editorial titled “Timidity was Strickland’s Undoing” the PD alleges the outgoing Ohio governor failed to win the support of the Cleveland region, and as a result, failed to win reelection.
The editorial was in response to some comments made by the long-time Ohio politician who hails from Appalachia. In an interview with a Plain Dealer reporter, Strickland charged Clevelanders thought he was too much of a “hayseed” to understand “what life is like in …

Really interesting article in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek about Niagara Falls, New York, and some of the problems it faces despite being next to what is litterally one of the largest tourist attractions in the world.
The article details how Niagara Falls
“encompasses just about every mistake a city could make… a 1960s mayor’s decision to bulldoze his quaint downtown and replace it with a bunch of modernist follies. There was a massive hangar-like convention center designed by Philip Johnson; Cesar Pelli’s glassy indoor arboretum, the Wintergarden, which was …

This is a refreshingly cool thing happening in the fair city of Cleveland.
The Cleveland Indians have turned their ballpark into a wintertime playground, with ice slides coming down the bleachers and skating in the outfield.
Genius!
Snow Days opened this weekend. The cost is $5-20, depending on what you opt for.
This fits nicely with my personal philosophy about winter: get out an enjoy it! Kudos to everyone involved.
-A.S.
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This video was sent to us by filmmaker Sean Dougherty.

Poet of Poverty is based on letters written by Father Michael Doyle. It is narrated by Martin Sheen.
According to the filmmakers:
“This is a film about one man’s words. These are the words of an Irish priest who came to Camden, New Jersey, forty years ago and never left. They are the extraordinary words of a natural-born poet, Father Michael Doyle, the Poet of Poverty.
Father Doyle’s words bear witness to a horrendous crime: the total neglect of America’s poorest city, Camden, …

Dear Governor-Elect Kasich,
Congrats on your victory in the Ohio governor’s race this week. You’ve got a tough job on your hands and I don’t envy you, taking the reigns in a state with an $8 billion budget deficit and a 10 percent unemployment rate. I didn’t vote for you, but I considered it. Even so, I think I join the vast majority of Ohio residents when I wish you the best of success.
Even though you only won election a few days ago, I hope you don’t mind, I have a …

So when I was writing ineptly about Buffalo architecture. Well, this is was what I meant to say:

Thanks to David A. Steele, a buffalo architect (!!) of the Muller+Muller.
Aren’t architects the greatest?
-A.S.
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Good news out of Cleveland! (God, it feels good to say that.)
Cycling is up 50% in the county, according to a study by the regional planning agency NOACA.
Because Cleveland is awe-some! Or, if you ask the experts  …
A news release from NOACA said reasons for the increase may include the downturn in the economy, higher gas prices, buses being outfitted with bike racks and the growing number of bike lanes.
There really aren’t too many bike lanes in the city, actually, I have to add, as a bike commuter. But now …

If you are in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon, check out Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City, screening at The Carnegie Museum of Art at 3 p.m.
Burnham was “one of America’s most important architects and urban planners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”
-KG
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