Zoo Camp For All
My son, Nico, loves the zoo. He’s eight years old, and going there inspires, engages, and delights him in a way that few other activities or places can.
Moving from Brooklyn to Detroit Is The Best Thing I’ve Done For My Children
I say this because it's true and because I just read a column by Aaron Foley that offered a bleak – if sarcastic – warning to New Yorkers attracted by the Move to Detroit billboards.
Hardboiled Coffee: Why Neighborhoods Need Mom & Pop Shops
Hardboiled Coffee Co. opened on a cold February day in 2013. I stopped by a few days before and found the doors locked and no one inside. I was so eager for a real coffee shop in Beverly, I didn't check to make sure of the grand-opening date.
A Tale of Two Cities: Why Chuy Garcia Won’t Turn Chicago Into Detroit
In 1983, shortly after Harold Washington was elected mayor of Chicago, Richard Mell, a white alderman, approached the African-American mayor with this plea: “Don’t make this city suffer for 300 years of injustice against your people.
Cleveland: City of Tomorrow
At Tech Central in the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library, you can experiment with three-dimensional printing. These days it is mostly a curiosity for kids to experiment with.
Requiem For A Slaw Dog
A few days ago, I watched as Steve’s Lunch smoldered and crumbled while firemen hosed out a blaze that had completely destroyed the place.
Steel Grit
The year was 1976. I was a college student going down to US Steel to apply for a summer job. I had never been there before, but it was one of those places that lined the Mahoning River, over which I had driven a million times.
There’s Always Next Year
My father was born in 1949. If you’re a lifelong Indians fan, his birth year is significant. Chances are, you’re shaking your head in sympathy or smiling ruefully right about now. My long-suffering father has never seen his beloved team win the World Series.
On The Rouge
Of all the fathers and sons I know, I’m fairly certain my dad and I are the only ones who would spend part of a hot spring Wednesday afternoon peering into a sewer grate. However, this is not just any sewer grate.
Harvard and Cleveland
After college, I returned to Cleveland and hung out at Case Western Reserve University as much as possible. I wanted to stay in the college bubble. I wasn’t ready for the world. I helped my dad in the real estate business, and that was too real.
How To Make A Building Fall
One Saturday morning when I was eight, my dad took my brother and me downtown to watch a building get blown up. Thousands of people came out to celebrate the event, as strange as that sounds.
Requiem for Northland Center
Northland Center is the oldest suburban shopping mall in the Detroit region, and will likely close soon. Located in the inner-ring suburb of Southfield, north of Detroit, in a field in the southernmost part of its county.