Oil and the Suburbs

Creating a theme with today’s earlier post on transit: some predict that rising oil costs will also force a return to city living, no matter how hard suburbanites fight. The Detroit Evolution Lab is screening The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream on Tuesday night. It’s aptly named, given the film’s stark outlook, and fuels the fire for a move downtown.

Cleveland GLUE Cohort Hits the Airwaves

Hey there Forest City - have I told you lately that I love you?

Sarah and I have visited fifteen GLUE cities since December and connected with over 24.

We love every single one, but I have to admit - the Cleveland team’s ability to build enthusiasm for Great Lakes mega-regionalism, idea sharing, and inter-city collaboration is hard to beat. If you don’t believe me, check out this short piece from WKSU radio.

Transit Ridership Booming!

According to the New York Times, public transit ridership is up five to eight percent in metropolitan areas, due the cost of gas (of course, that’s in cities that HAVE extensive transit systems).  Nothing like economics to spark a culture change.

Are you taking the bus more?  Is your city considering expanding services?  Comment here.

What do molten metals, public art, and the Buffalo Science Museum have in common?

3,2,1 - launch! After months in WordPress limbo (thank you WordPress) and thanks to the hard work of Brett and Alyssa at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, GLUEspace is ready for prime time. Well, it’s actually ready to schedule its prime time debut.

On Saturday June 21st from 7-10 PM, the Buffalo Museum of Science will host the first of four community web launches. Local interpretation of the celebration’s theme (Community Transformation, Reinvesting in the Urban Core) is encouraged for each iteration, but all launch events will combine public art, storytelling, and community engagement and education.

Artists and molten metal magicians Simon Griffis and company will treat guests to a starlight “pour”, but that’s not all.  The evening will also include performances by other local artists and a series of smaller conversations around the issues that matter to GLUE most:

• Environmental Justice & Sustainability

• Responsible Economic Development

• Empowerment of Communities & Individuals

• Quality of Place

• Civic Participation & Government Transparency

**** Are you an out of towner that wants to join us for that weekend? Do you want to help with the launch in Buffalo, St. Louis, Duluth, or Detroit (dates for other three events forthcoming)? Email glueteam@gluespace.org.

More details in the coming weeks.

GLUE Flyer HERE

Want to take the rust out of “rustbelt?” If you’re visiting this site, probably.  Print this up and hang it in your window to help us build our network.  Thanks again for making us look good, Serene.

GLUE flyer

Michigan Policy Summit This Weekend

The second annual Michigan Policy Summit, this Saturday, May 10, in Lansing, promises to be a bonanza of progressive movers-and-shakers.  It launched last year to serve as an alternative to traditional policy conferences, and, according to one of last year’s attendees, it’s a unique opportunity to meet allies in community organizing, labor, the environment, and other brands of activism - and with good representation from the state’s urban centers.  The theme - Rebuilding Michigan - has never been more apt.  If any readers attend, please email glueteam@gluespace.org to let us know the most exciting news or ideas you pick up.

Update - Buffalo Can Come Back

Remember our friend Anthony Armstrong’s post about recent controversial remarks regarding Buffalo’s economy?   He was writing in advance of a panel discussion with the provocateur in question, Profesor Edward L. Glaeser.

GOOD NEWS:

You may now view the forum, Resurrecting Buffalo:  A Forum and Conversation with Harvard Professor Edward L. Glaeser, Author of “Can Buffalo Ever Come Back?”, in its entirety on the WNED-TV website, where you will also be able to access Professor Glaeser’s presentation:

http://www.wned.org/features/ResurrectingBuffalo/default.asp

Some Rust Belt Cities Plan for Shrinkage

From Walker Evans, Columbus, OH - Thanks, Walker!

Last month I was pointed toward an interesting article on CNNMoney.com about Youngstown’s plan for shrinkage. I recall discussing the idea with Kyle Ezell last summer as it was making the news rounds under the name of “planned decline,” and I think was being directed at a different North-East Ohio City (I can’t recall if it was Akron or Canton or Cleveland). Needless to say, Kyle did not like the idea.

Personally, I’m kind of torn on this topic.

I hate to see historic structures destroyed, but at the same time there’s no sense in letting buildings rot beyond repair when there’s no one to move back into them. It’s sort of like keeping junk in your basement. It could be worth something some day if you wait long enough, but until then it’s just material taking up space and collecting mold and dust.

I do think some cities such as Youngstown are going to have to wait a long time before their urban cores start to grow again no matter what they do. And I’m not sure in the long-term how much a concept like this will help or hurt. Young Professionals are a hot commodity that every city in the great lakes region are fighting for, but YPs alone cannot fix the problems that Youngstown is facing.

It’s definitely going to be one of those “wait-and-see” scenarios. In Columbus we thankfully don’t have the same type of decline problem (our downtown has actually had residential growth in the past decade) but we’re all still cursing and moaning over the fact that we’ve lost a lot of buildings to parking lots and highways over the past half century. It had to have been a good idea to someone during a certain point in history though. I don’t think 50 years ago most people could have imagined it would be a problem for today’s citizens as urban renewal swings back into style and highways have become less of a technological marvel and more of an eyesore.

Same goes for replacing the railed Streetcar system with buses. We used to have a fully functional passenger rail system throughout our city (map here) but it was ripped up (you can still find some old tracks left on a few streets). It made perfect sense at the time to rip it out. Gas cost a fraction of what it does today and the autobus was an amazing piece of technology (when was the last time you heard a city bus called that?). There was really no way to foresee how things would shape up decades down the road. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Anyway, I guess the unanswerable question here is whether or not this urban planned decline will be a move that Youngstown and other shrinking cities will be thankful for taking, or regret taking in the mid-to-late 21st century.

Revitalizing Older Cities Task Force Coming to a Pittsburgh (Carnegie) Near You

Thanks to Melissa in Chicago and Grant in Pittsburgh for sharing.

Any of you in PA free next Monday? The Northeast-Midwest Institute, is (in their own words) a ” Washington-based, private, non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to economic vitality, environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and Midwest states.” Can’t shake a stick at that. They also have a strong Great Lakes focus. You can sign up for their newsletter at www.nemw.org.

Revitalizing Older Cities Regional Forum

Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA) will host Envisioning Our Economic Future: A Revitalizing Older Cities Regional Forum on May 12 at the Carnegie Council Chambers in Carnegie, PA. The forum will help build the federal agenda for the Revitalizing Older Cities Task Force and Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition. The forum will focus on opportunities and challenges faced by communities and their manufacturers in today’s global economy. For more information contact Morgan Jones at Rep. Murphy’s office, or Diane DeVaul at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The event starts at 8 am. Registration is free and open to the public.

Historic Fabric in the City’s Quilt

From Randy Vines in St. Louis:

St. Louis GLUEster Michael Allen was interviewed recently on KWMU’s (local NPR affiliate) “St. Louis on the Air” about the importance of preserving our built environment.  In an age of soulless suburban sprawl, our city’s historic fabric has become its leading competitive advantage.  Listen here.