Detroit has been alight with discussions of and proposals for large-scale Urban Agriculture projects. In addition to land use, local economic and community engagement concerns, large-scale Agriculture in an urban setting provides us an opportunity to look into the environmental impact of farming. After the screenings we’ll discuss the films and share info on local groups working in Environmental Health.

On the third Wednesday of every month Eastern Market Corporation, Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit and Detroit Evolution partner to present DETROIT ABIDES – A FREE Movie Night in Eastern Market. Detroit Abides screens a movie on a sustainable topic, explores the topic at the local level through discussion and support from regional groups and businesses, and creates a space to meet like-minded people from all walks of life & grow an active, healthy community. For this casual event, please bring a comfortable seat. Shed 5 is located at the corner of Russell and Alfred St. Parking is available in the lots adjacent to the Shed.

Big River – A King Corn Companion
http://www.bigriverfilm.com
Following up on their Peabody winning documentary, the King Corn boys are back. For Big River, best friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis have returned to Iowa with a new mission: to investigate the environmental impact their acre of corn has sent to the people and places downstream. In a journey that spans from the heartland to the Gulf of Mexico, Ian and Curt trade their combine for a canoe––and set out to see the big world their little acre of corn has touched. On their trip, flashbacks to the pesticides they sprayed, the fertilizers they injected, and the soil they plowed now lead to new questions, explored by new experts in new places. Half of Iowa’s topsoil, they learn, has been washed out to sea. Fertilizer runoff has spawned a hypoxic “dead zone” in the Gulf. And back at their acre, the herbicides they used are blamed for a cancer cluster that reaches all too close to home. Run-time: 27 minutes

HealthyTown – Detroit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIYASqPAF6g
Bill Couzens, the film’s Director, will join us for this screening. HealthyTown – Detroit documents organizations working to bridge the numerous Environmental Health gaps in Detroit through prevention. The film features Earthworks at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Local Motion Green, Childrens Hospital of Michigan, the Kresge Foundation and Kids Kicking Cancer. Run-time: 25 minutes

NEXT MONTH: join us in Shed 5 on June 16th when we will feature the full-length documentary Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action. “Fierce Light is a journey around the world looking at a vast range of people protesting social issues and examines the notion that social action is most effective when it is deeply rooted in some form of spirituality.”

For more information or to get involved call Detroit Evolution at 313.316.1411

It’s not everyday you see a car parked in the new Dequindre Cut.

But it was legit.

There were three artists adding graffiti. By the end of the day, their work was complete.

Model D has an article discussing this trail enhancement project.

Acting as project curators, CAID director Aaron Timlin and curator of graffiti art Tom Stoye selected four artists to create original murals along the Cut. Three writers — MALT, PHERS and TEAD — have completed murals on one wall near the Gratiot portion of the Cut, with an additional piece by GAME to be created in the same area this coming weekend.

According to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, other non-commissioned grafitti continues to be added in other parts of the Cut.

We should also note that the sidewalk improvements from the Dequindre Cut to Eastern Market along Gratiot Avenue appear to be nearly complete. This is a major improvement.

article by Todd Scott

According to the Detroit News:

Fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror would no longer be outlawed under a bill that won passage in the Senate today.

The chamber voted unanimously for a measure that strikes down a law that says items dangling from the rearview mirror are a no-no.

“We understand there are many distractions in cars, such as cell phones or GPS systems, but we did not feel that a rosary or air freshener was in the same league,” said Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, sponsor of the bill. “This will help make it legal to do what thousands of Michigan residents already do — hang a memento from their mirror.”

Great job!

Now let’s look at some bicycle safety bills the Michigan Senate has not passed or voted on.

• Senate Bills 529 & 530 which “enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users” according to the League of Michigan Bicyclists.
• Senate Bill 531 which stipulates that driver education “shall include information concerning the laws pertaining to bicycles and shall emphasize awareness of the operation of bicycles on the streets, roads, and highways of this state.”

Bicycle advocates in the state of Washington are also pursuing a Vulnerable User Bill. (Seattle PI via How We Drive)

Advocates for a new law argue that families of those killed or maimed deserve greater sense of justice than a traffic ticket brings. However, a conviction for negligent driving doesn’t carry much steeper punishment. Typically, a first-time offender gets probation or a deferred sentence.

“Do they need an automatic license suspension or do they need driver retraining. These are the questions that we should ask,” Hiller said. He noted that people who don’t control their vicious dogs face more criminal culpability than drivers for negligence behind the wheel.

We’re not sure if that last sentence is true in Michigan.

But, if the Michigan House and Governor follow the Senate’s lead, fuzzy dice will be safe again Michigan.

<strong><a href=”http://www.m-bike.org/”>Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator</a></strong>

Pontiac Theater IV announces Auditions for its upcoming community
theater production of The Producers.
Auditions are NOV 9, 10, 11 2009 at the Ruth Peterson Center at
7:00 pm to 9:00pm
990 Joslyn Road Pontiac, MI 48340
Show dates are March 19,20 26,27 2010
Please bring a prepared song to sing and tap or dance shoes.
Due to the nature of “The Producers” we ask that all auditioners be 16
years of age or older
for further info please visit www.pontiactheatreiv.org

Time Magazine recently bought a house in Motown as part of their Assignment Detroit project. Why? In their words, “As a story, Detroit has been misunderstood, under reported, stereotyped, avoided and exploited for decades. To get it right, we decided to become stakeholders.”

Their project includes a blog and one of it’s early entries was about biking in Detroit.

In Detroit, there are cars. And then there is something known as non-motorized transportation.

That means bicycles, y’all.

Believe it or not, people in the Car Capital of the World love their bikes. And there is a huge movement to create a culture here that is friendlier to two wheels than four.

Yep. Believe it.
Alleycats in Detroit

Model D once again has some great coverage of Detroit’s biking scene, include this article on Alley Cats (which also drifts into the Tour de Troit and greenways…)

Since 2006, [Ron] Shelton has organized Alleycats in Detroit. These unsanctioned cycling races draw riders from throughout the metro area to compete in a crisscrossing sprint down streets and through intersections. Participants fly from checkpoint to checkpoint, collecting clues and directions to their next destination while dodging cars and other riders. The course tests both the riders’ knowledge of the city and their guts as they navigate a virtual collision course that backtracks and veers over 35 miles.

“People don’t realize it, but in Detroit, we have ridiculously wide roads that are ready to be converted to include bike lanes,” [Shelton] says. “Michigan has a lot of potential for cycling and has many fantastic trails already.”

Aaron Wagner, an organizer for the annual Tour De Troit agrees. “Definitely there’s been an upswing in biking in Detroit,” he said. “With the opening of the Detroit RiverWalk and bike shops like the Wheelhouse and the Hub, it’s gotten a lot more people into it. We’re seeing more people leaving their cars at home and riding their bikes to work.”

Don’t forget that the next Alleycat is in Hart Plaza on October 30th. The time has not been posted yet but we’re guessing it’ll be after the critical mass ride.
Tour de Troit

And finally Model D and Tom Hendrickson have made a great video on this year’s Tour de Troit bike ride. Tour Director Bil Lusa provides some commentary on the ride.

Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator

De light? Okay, bad pun, but it certainly seemed that most of the 2,000 cyclists who rode in this years Tour de Troit were enjoying themselves.

And for many, it shined a light on bicycling in Detroit and the city itself — the good stuff along with the blemishes.

For one reason or another, this event has not received a great deal of media coverage. That seemed to change this year as WXYZ had live TV coverage during the morning of the event, some of which is on their web site.

The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press also published post event summaries with photos.

State Representative Rashida Tlaib was also at the start and seemed very pleased to have so many cyclists in her Southwest Detroit district.

One very memorable (albeit unplanned) event during the ride was when the 100+ metric century cyclists passed the 30-mile riders heading the opposite direction on E. Grand Boulevard. Video of the larger group is on YouTube and it gives some idea of how large this event has become.

Compared with last year, this event grew by a whopping 80%. What’s going to happen next year? Will there be 3,000 cyclists?

It’s a great question and one that the Tour de Troit leaders are already discussing.

Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator

Chef Anthony Bourdain, the show’s punk-rock aficionado and proud New Yorker posted on his blog about his visit to Detroit and other rust belt cities.

I think that troubled cities often tragically misinterpret what’s coolest about themselves. They scramble for cure-alls, something that will “attract business”, always one convention center, one pedestrian mall or restaurant district away from revival. They miss their biggest, best and probably most marketable asset: their unique and slightly off-center character. Few people go to New Orleans because it’s a “normal” city — or a “perfect” or “safe” one. They go because it’s crazy, borderline dysfunctional, permissive, shabby, alcoholic and bat sh!t crazy — and because it looks like nowhere else.

From a cycling perspective, this is certainly true.

For instance, the super popular Tour de Troit bike ride doesn’t start in a Wallmart parking lot. It starts in front of a amazing yet decaying 1913 Beaux-Arts train station. The route doesn’t take you past a repeating background of national chain stores and restaurants. You won’t find a Heidelberg Project or a Hamtramck Disneyland or a Dequindre Cut in the suburbs, much less anywhere else in the world.

And you won’t find as many major streets with such minor traffic.

Biking in the city of Detroit is like nowhere else. As we mentioned before, we don’t just fit the bike-friendly mold that other cities are chasing and that’s just fine. Let’s celebrate and hone what we have while not trying so desparately to hide the blemishes that aren’t hurting anyone (like old Tiger Stadium.)

But off the soapbox and back to Bourdain’s blog, he does continue with a focus just on our fair city.

Detroit. Where just about everything cool originated. As angry as one gets looking at block after block of abandoned row houses in Baltimore and wondering how the hell that happened, it’s mind boggling to see how far Detroit has been allowed to fall. But what a truly magnificent breed of crazy-ass hardcase characters have dug in there. Of all three cities we visited, Detroit, oddly enough, even while looking the jaws of death straight in the face, remains closest to being a true culinary wonderland. This is due entirely to the successive waves of migration and immigration from all over the world, when people came to MAKE things in America — each group bringing their own food and traditions. Detroit IS the story of America, for better — and worse, and I think we’ve missed that, allowed ourselves to look away. Detroit, after all, made us who we are. Literally. A country of cars, highways, car culture, upward mobility, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and what were once, unlimited dreams. Whatever happens next, Motown, Eminem and the Stooges’ “Fun House”, at least, shall surely outlast the automobile.

So, how does one tie together a post on Detroit, the Michigan Central Station, Tiger stadium and biking?

Eminem’s Beatiful video seems to do just fine. (Not safe for work, so watch it at home if you have to.)

Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator

Obesity’s not just dangerous, it’s expensive. New research shows medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for an obese person than for someone who’s normal weight.

Overall obesity-related health spending reaches $147 billion, double what it was nearly a decade ago, says the study published today by the journal Health Affairs.

RTI health economist Eric Finkelstein offers a blunt message for lawmakers trying to revamp the health care system: “Unless you address obesity, you’re never going to address rising health care costs.”

Earlier this week we covered a new report from the CDC that gave strategies on how to reduce America’s obesity rate. Those strategies included investing in our communities to make them more walkable and bikable.

More bike lanes, more sidewalks, etc.

So if obesity costs $147 billion annually, with roughly half financed by Medicare and Medicaid, how much does the federal transportation bill invest in bicycle and pedestrian facilities?

Biking To Beat Obesity

$541 million in 2008 or 0.7% of the obesity-related Medicare and Medicaid costs.

This is further justification to take a more holistic approach to transportation funding. It’s not just about mobility and concrete.

Wise investments in more livable, walkable, and bikeable communities can reduce obesity and the related federal medical spending — as well as everyones health insurance costs.

Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator

You may already know that Detroit is a leader in urban agriculture. This week you have the opportunity to witness it firsthand.

Wednesday evening, August 5th, is the 12th Annual Detroit Agriculture Network Tour of Urban Gardens and Farms.

This year’s tour will highlight a selection of prosperous, innovative, and visually stunning gardens and farms that are contributing to the new food system through bio‐intensive urban agriculture and commerce between local restaurants and farmer’s markets. The Garden Resource Program Collaborative (GRPC) works to support the emergence of a new, sustainable food system in Detroit through a network of more than 517 backyard gardens, 244 community gardens, and 46 school gardens. The GRPC facilitates resources, education, and training of urban gardeners, farmers, and community leaders through a variety of programming.

The bicycle tour will “weave through gardens located in the Cass Corridor, Woodbridge, and Greater Corktown.” At the end of the tour will be locally-grown food and refreshments created by local chefs!

There is also a bus tour option, but it is full as of today.

All tours start at the Catherine Ferguson Academy (2750 Selden in Detroit.) Sign in begins at 5pm and the tour starts sharply at 6pm.

There are still a few open spots on the bike tour.

Register ahead of time by contacting Ashley Atkinson at 313‐237‐8736 or via email at aatkinso@umich.edu. The tour fee is a sliding scale from $1 to $20 which offsets costs and helps “grow Detroit’s agricultural movement.”

And for those that can’t make it August 5th, there is a Garden Bike Tour on August 15th just south of the border. It’s part of Windsor’s 2nd Annual Summer Harvest Festival. (via Bike Windsor)

Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator

The Hub of Detroit is a great resource for Detroiters looking to get a great deal on a used, functional, and often hip bicycle.

Located in the Cass Corridor, they also help Detroit youth get into bicycling and bicycling repair.

Here’s a great opportunity for a nice afternoon ride in Detroit that will help fund their youth education program:

Saturday August 1st, 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM @ The Hub of Detroit, 3611 Cass Ave.

Join the youth graduates of The Hub’s Earn-A-Bike program on a city of Detroit bike tour. ?This is an opportunity for the youth, ages 6-18, to take the bikes they have built during the program on the road and ride with adult role-model cyclists.

* Route includes the Eastern Market, Heidelberg Project, Riverwalk, Downtown, Cass Corridor, and more places of interest along the way.
* Ride ends at the U-M Detroit Center for refreshments and snacks.

Register Online: http://safestreetsyouthride.eventbrite.com/

All proceeds will support The Hub’s youth education programs.

$25 Adult Tickets
$10 with Student ID

Todd Scott Is The Detroit Greenways Coordinator