Moving from Brooklyn to Detroit Is The Best Thing I’ve Done For My Children
I say this because it's true and because I just read a column by Aaron Foley that offered a bleak – if sarcastic – warning to New Yorkers attracted by the Move to Detroit billboards. The post Moving...
View ArticleLearning from Slavic Village: A Report from Ground Zero of the Foreclosure...
When Anthony Trzaska hears or reads “Slavic Village” in news reports, he knows what is coming next. The post Learning from Slavic Village: A Report from Ground Zero of the Foreclosure Crisis appeared...
View ArticleWhy Can’t Cleveland Be More Like a Bicycle?
The road racing bicycle is one of history’s great design achievements: it multiplies the potential of the human body, allowing a person to travel much greater distances and at much greater speeds. The...
View ArticleRust Belt Refugees – May 2015
These profiles tell the story of “Rust Belt Refugees” – former residents of the Rust Belt who have for one reason or another moved on to different parts of the country. The post Rust Belt Refugees –...
View ArticleTent City in the Heartland: The Life and Death of the Chickahominy Indian...
I stood on the bridge and looked out over the scattered patches of tents that rose from the land like wild mushrooms, clustered yet separate. The post Tent City in the Heartland: The Life and Death of...
View ArticleHappy Independence Day! Pass The Tortillas, Por Favor!
Having lived fifteen years in a small town in a remote part of the Midwest -- dubbed Forgottonia in the 1970s -- possibly the most interesting change I’ve observed over time has been the emergence ......
View ArticleOf Rumor and Riot
In late summer of 1967, waves of rumors moved through metropolitan Detroit, announcing a series of race divisions across the city and between city and suburb. The post Of Rumor and Riot appeared first...
View ArticleOur Friendliness Will Save Us
“Can you tell me which one is the fennel?” I looked up at the voice, annoyed at being drawn out of my own panicky thoughts. The post Our Friendliness Will Save Us appeared first on Belt Magazine |...
View ArticleThe Sacred and the Profane in Pittsburgh
There is an entirely unremarkable looking brown-bricked, double-spired chapel in a steep neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh. The post The Sacred and the Profane in Pittsburgh appeared first...
View ArticleTied Together — And Torn Apart — By Parkways
Two months after moving to Buffalo, I found myself spinning my wheels. My car tires whined, getting no traction in the already-packed November snow. The post Tied Together — And Torn Apart — By...
View ArticleThe Chatpattey Room: Refugees Creating a Home — And A Business — In The Rust...
Nestled between a modern-day bistro and a jewelry shop, just inside of Akron’s North Hill neighborhood, sits a small inconspicuous building. The post The Chatpattey Room: Refugees Creating a Home —...
View ArticleWhat’s In A Vowel? In Search Of The Disappearing Short-A Rising
Last Thanksgiving, I was in Houston, visiting my wife’s family. “How far is it from here to Dallas?” I asked my sister-in-law. “To where?” she asked. “To Dale’s house?” The post What’s In A Vowel? In...
View ArticleA Helping Hand, From One Refugee To Another
Dzemal Bijedic knows what it’s like to be a refugee. He was just a kid when the bombs started falling on the Dalmatian city of Dubrovnik, his mother’s hometown. The post A Helping Hand, From One...
View ArticleOne Block, Two Businesses, Three Families: A Detroit Story
The building at Mack near Chalmers resembles thousands of Detroit properties: abandoned, in tax foreclosure, burned-out, dangerous, overdue for demolition. The post One Block, Two Businesses, Three...
View ArticleNot Just Another Soup Kitchen: Inside the Flint Community Cookout
“Hey, man, he got a spot,” says Kenny Lucas, pointing his thumb toward Dallas Schiestel, as another man joins the growing party in Riverbank Park, waiting for the Flint Community Cookout to begin. The...
View ArticleBuildings and Food: Walnut Way is Transforming its Milwaukee Neighborhood...
They sling a mean Reuben at Jake’s Deli on the corner of W. North Avenue and 17th Street on Milwaukee’s north side. That iconic sandwich, arguably the best in town, hasn’t changed much ... The post...
View ArticleRefugees In Michigan: The Story Of Loss, Belonging And America
Sometimes conflicts and the suffering that they bring force people to leave their homes in search of a place where they can survive. It’s not easy for refugees to leave everything behind: their house,...
View ArticleUntil Then We Deal: Punch Bowl Social And Being Black In The New Detroit
Nolan Finley, a columnist for the Detroit News, recently asked for the second time where the black people were in downtown Detroit. Has he been to Punch Bowl Social lately? Let’s talk about Punch Bowl...
View ArticleHamtramck: Where Diversity Rules
Residents of Hamtramck say they know the secret to a peaceful existence among those of varied cultural backgrounds and faiths: close living. On Evaline Street, cream-colored homes with balconies stand...
View ArticleSo Many Houses, So Little Money: How to Manage the Abandoned Properties of...
Let's say you're in McKeesport, one of the many suburbs in western Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County. You want to get to Pittsburgh, but want to avoid the incessant construction on I-376. The post So...
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