Research & Rescue

Detroit still has a lot going for it

I don't know if it's just because I cling to memories of Detroit before it started its decline... or perhaps it's because I spent 6 years working in the Penobscot Building when many from the suburbs wouldn't cross 8 Mile. A recent blog piece at Urbanophile, The Other Side of Detroit, was a breath of fresh air. There are still some wonderful neighborhoods within the city of Detroit - Palmer Woods and Indian Village, for example. General Motors put a lot of money into riverfront development when they moved their headquarters into the Renaissance Center and the developers did a lovely job with the Riverwalk there. I still have some hard feelings over the eminent domain takeover and destruction of The Soup Kitchen but you can't have everything.

While I love the Santa Fe Farmers Market on a Saturday morning, I occasionally long for a a trip to Eastern Market for breakfast at Vivio's and a foray into R Hirt's for snobby snacks. The flavor of the immigrant population in metro Detroit, though more pocketed than some places, also means great restaurants and groceries, as well as vibrant and varied culture.

Sure, there are still abandoned buildings in the city and unemployment is high. Then again, we're in a nationwide recession. We've been in recessions before and Detroit was hit hard before. It's also bounced back and grown as community. Please, let's not relegate it to the status of ruins just yet.

Read Aaron Renn's piece at www.urbanophile.com

Road salt is poisoning water bodies

New Mexico uses sand on roads in the winter and I find it to be less than helpful and don't feel safe on snowy or icy roads. I do appreciate, however, a long-lasting vehicle and not having to try to clean salt of my shoes in the winter, like I did in Michigan. Can anyone tell me if it's feasible to use that pet-safe ice melter you can buy in stores nowadays? I would think that if pets aren't poisoned by it, it's probably better for the rest of us and our drinking water.

One of the most detailed investigations ever conducted in Canada into the fate of road salt has found that it is polluting groundwater and causing some streams during winter thaws to have salinity levels just under those found in the ocean.

The elevated salt readings were detected in Pickering, where researchers from the University of Toronto have been studying how the salt spread on highways, such as the 401, and other roadways through suburban sprawl affects water quality. They found that so much salty water from the community is ending up in Frenchman's Bay, a scenic lagoon on the shores of Lake Ontario, that the small water body is being poisoned.

"Our findings are pretty dramatic, and the effects are felt year-round," said Nick Eyles, a geology professor at the university and the lead researcher on the project. "We now know that 3,600 tonnes of road salt end up in that small lagoon every winter from direct runoff in creeks and effectively poison it for the rest of the year."

Read the rest of the original article at www.theglobeandmail.com

Detroit Area: Roeper Haitian Relief Choral Concert

Received via e-mail:

The Roeper Community Chorus along with the Rochester Children’s Choir and the Rochester Christian Chorus will present an impromptu concert. The concert will be at 3:00pm in the Upper School Gym on the Birmingham Campus. There will be a suggested $5 donation and 100% of the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross towards to the relief efforts in Haiti! We got this wonderful connection by our accompanist Dana Gress who also directs the groups joining us. We hope to make a small difference in the needs for Haiti!

 

Again, Sunday January 24^th @ 3:00pm. Birmingham Campus Gym. Suggested $5 donation.

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