About 8-Wood Blog

There are many things you can say about Detroit, but boring isn’t one of them. Life here is rarely dull or uninteresting. It’s too crazy to be.

I write mostly about the ways Detroit and Ferndale, where I live, are becoming more urbanized. In many ways, we’re playing catchup with the rest of urban America, because for so long we were — and still mostly are — a sprawling collection of suburban fiefdoms that defined themselves by what they were not: Detroit.

Now there’s new pride in the city proper, and I believe we’re seeing the beginning waves of reinvention. It’s partly, I believe, a response to massive pent-up demand for more urban amenities in this region. Hence the proliferation of bike lanes, loft apartments, population density, reimagined public parks, more vibrant downtowns, public art, the QLine, better transit, etc. So I write about that stuff, and I’m not afraid to tackle Detroit’s many daunting problems, including poverty, unemployment, a collapsing education system, crime, abandonment and hopelessness.

Daily Detroit Happy Hour Podcast

I also host this show and frequently post new episodes here. You can find all our shows over here, and you can download and subscribe in all the usual places.

Music Corner

Music helps make everything go down easier, so I sometimes share share what I love and know about it.

I got rid of my old AC/DC and Foreigner albums in fifth grade in the early ’80s. A friend had moved to the neighborhood from southern California and introduced me to skateboarding and his older brothers’ punk rock LPs. Shortly thereafter I discovered the Electrifying Mojo on local Detroit radio. I even got in to country music from sitting in all those bars in Tucson, where I briefly lived in the ’90s, and I also went through a heavy Joni Mitchell phase in college. Just so you understand where I’m coming from.

About me

Former journalist, corporate communicator and speechwriter turned freelance writer. 5-foot-7. Balding.

Photo by Andrew Duthie