October 19, 2025
What the Little Ghost burger joint tells us about development in Ferndale
This post is about parking, not Little Ghost hamburgers.
Detroit
Life, current events and buzz in the Paris of the Midwest. Don’t forget the Motor City!
September 28, 2025
Why are people so afraid of change?
A proposed rezoning in Royal Oak has sparked a dubious defense of single-family residential housing.
January 9, 2025
Ferndale eliminates single-family zoning despite bitter objections
The Ferndale City Council narrowly approved eliminating single-family zoning in a bid to boost housing affordability. Some residents were not happy.
June 13, 2024
Manhattan, Paris, Ferndale and why we can’t have nice things
The indefinite postponement of congestion pricing in New York City is emblematic of a larger issue: America has lost the ability to dream big and do great things. It contrasts with progress made here in Ferndale and in much more cosmopolitan cities like Paris.
January 6, 2024
Ferndale has new (not quite finished) bike lanes along Woodward
New bike lanes are in on Woodward Avenue in Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge.
May 27, 2023
In praise of the all-too-rare neighborhood business
The nicest surprise of the spring so far for me has been the opening of a new coffee shop down...
April 10, 2023
The Motor City desperately needs a new identity
Detroit’s long love affair with the automobile is starting to feel abusive.
August 11, 2022
If Northville can ban cars downtown, what other cities in Detroit could follow suit?
Recently, I tweeted out a story that said Northville, an affluent suburb of Detroit, had voted to permanently make its...
April 13, 2020
For better or worse, the coronavirus will change us
Nearly 25 years ago, I taught myself how to run by focusing on my breathing. It was a very different...
November 24, 2019
Let’s go to Minsk, comrades — a beautiful but complicated city
It’s been far too long since I last updated this blog — life has a way of intervening — and...
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