There’s no consensus in the urban planning profession — or in public opinion more generally — about how to handle declining cities like Detroit.

All sorts of solutions have been proposed, ranging from the outlandish (making Detroit a “skyscraper ruins park”) to the more widely accepted (converting vacant land into urban agriculture).

But lately Michigan leaders have seized on a strategy that may be the most promising yet: placemaking.

From newspaper columnists to business executives, from the Department of Transportation and Governor Rick Snyder, Wolverines of all stripes seem to be coming to the conclusion that creating vibrant, walkable urban places is perhaps as important to the future of the state as the auto industry was to its past.

Recently, I became aware of one woman’s inspiring effort that is underway here in Greater Lansing. Ariniko O’Meara plans to walk (saunter) every single street in the City of Lansing and relay her thoughts and impressions about them across the net on her City Saunter blog, Facebook page, and on Twitter. There is also an interview on YouTube about her project.

While I had heard some previous references to this ongoing project, I never fully realized the scope and scale of it until the past week or two. There are over 600 miles of streets in Lansing, so her saunter will be continuing over an extended period of time. Instead of me trying to express the spirit of her grand crusade, here’s the summary Ariniko provided on her terrific blog found on wordpress.com.

#1. Paint it green/orange/rainbow swirls. Whatever. The point is, it needs some lacquer, like makeup, to spruce it up.

#2. Put some chairs on it. (Tables: bonus!)

#3. Add some barriers so cars can’t drive onto it. Slabs of broken concrete work nicely. Lovely planters are also good if you want to get fancy about it.

In case you needed a reminder how awesome St. Louis is … on Friday the city held its fifth annual MetroLink Prom, a formal celebration of the city’s beloved lightrail system.
Organized by some of the city’s most creative urban-dwellers, the event honors public transit and the vitality it brings to a city.
“Why do we do this year after year? Because MetroLink—and public transit in general—makes St. Louis a better, more accessible city,” event organizers said in a press release.
This year prom-goers even had a marching band to escort them to …

Check out the work being done by the folks at the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which they highlighted in this video.
Learn more about their history and their work downtown, which has gotten some recent publicity.
-KG
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This year marks the third annual Pages & Places Book Festival in Scranton on Saturday.
The event is intimately tied to Scranton as a place, its creators say:
“Pages & Places grew out of two overlapping phenomena. On the one hand, there’s the obvious, ongoing revitalization of the city of Scranton, manifest in new construction and the rehabilitation of some of the city’s landmark architecture, in the influx of new downtown residences, and the reinvigoration of long-time and former residents who have committed to opening businesses downtown. On the other is the realization …

Last night was a big moment for sustainable transportation in Cleveland.

With a small group of helmet-toting onlookers in the wings, City Council finally gave their nod to a Complete Streets ordinance — the culmination of more than five years’ struggle.

Finally, there was a sense that change was coming, that the value of traveling by foot, bike and bus was valued and understood.

Flash back to 2005, when the first seeds of this victory were being sown. It was then that an environmental advocacy group called EcoCity Cleveland, now Green City Blue Lake, first lobbied Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone to put forward a Complete Streets ordinance.

For decades, Youngstown’s Fosterville Neighborhood, located on the city’s south side, was a vibrant residential area. It played host to the booming Glenwood Avenue commercial corridor and the legendary Idora Amusement Park, whose Wildcat roller coaster was consistently ranked among the top roller coasters in the country.

The collapse of the local steel industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the closure of Idora Park in 1984, signaled the area’s long decline.

In recent years, the area now known as Idora has begun a turnaround. The creation of the Idora Block Watch and then the Idora Neighborhood Association sparked increased community involvement. A decline in crime and the increasing removal of blight continues to give residents hope. That hope was celebrated this past weekend with the first annual Idora Fest.

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of joining a group of Pittsburghers for an Urban Hike in Swissvale, a borough just outside the city with an interesting history.
Some stops along the way included the Trundle Manor, Kopp Glass and some affordable housing for sale from the Mon Valley Initiative.

Also on the journey: The Triangle Bar, home of the famous “Battleship” (giant sub sandwich).
Urban Hike is a group that regularly organizes hikes in the city’s various neighborhoods and surrounding communities, with stops along the way so participants can learn about what …

Whoa. Cleveland is getting pretty hip. Check out this video from Dan Krivenki of Crank Set Rides:

Hot Pants Bike Ride – Cleveland – 8-20-2011
I’ve been wanting to write about Crank Set for a while. This organization, led by Dan and his girlfriend Lindsey Bower, has been hosting themed bike rides in Cleveland for more than a year now.
Earlier this summer, they hosted a “nerd ride.” Let me tell you, it was a fun experience seeing drivers try to make sense of 100 something adults dressed as nerds riding around on …