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The Blight-Fighting Solution For Saving 40,000 Detroiters From Eviction [Next City]
It’s an intensely private affair — losing your home — aired out in public with a bright yellow flag. Some residents who want to stay in their homes know nothing about the options available. Handshake deeds made with distant relatives generations ago leave homeowners hamstrung without proper ownership. And, every October, people wake up to find their homes auctioned off on the Internet.
Haunting Photos Show Forgotten — And Forbidden — Buildings In America [The Washington Post]
This genre of photography is sometimes called “ruin porn.” But Holubow, like most of the photographers who turn their lenses on similar subjects, dislikes the term, saying it is pejorative and makes the work seem — inaccurately — exploitative. He says he is trying to tell a story about these places and create something aesthetically and conceptually provocative, not just “look at the hole in that wall.”
Huge Fishing Pier, Outdoor Center Set For Detroit River [Detroit Free Press]
“It’s one of those transformational projects for southeast Michigan,” Hartig said. “This is going to turn that perception (about the Detroit area) on its ear. … This is going to help connect people to this amazing resource in our backyard.”
36 hours of Arts in Columbus [Scene]
It’s fascinating to see the similarities between Cleveland and Columbus in person (passion for sports, sprawling metropolises centered around water, etc.), and the visit also illuminated differences, including Cleveland’s Rust Belt imagery and ethos as opposed to Columbus’ more diversified economy and university atmosphere.
Destination Cleveland Summit Aims To Excite Young Professionals, Downtown Residents For RNC And Beyond [Plain Dealer]
“The idea is to get them ready for what is going to happen next year,” said Jennifer Kramer, a spokeswoman for Destination Cleveland. “They’re living down here. They’re going to see it. The more we can prepare the people downtown, the better experience the delegates will have.”
America’s Poorest White Town: Abandoned By Coal, Swallowed By Drugs [The Guardian]
In Beattyville (KY) it is the drug epidemic, which has not only destroyed lives but has come to redefine a town whose fleeting embrace of prosperity a generation ago is still visible in some of its grander official buildings and homes near the heart of the town. Now they seem to accentuate the decline of a main street littered with ghost shops that haven’t seen business in years.
Jeffersonian Springs Resort in W.Va. Sells for $560,000 [West Virginia Public Broadcasting]
… many people in Monroe County are hoping that the resort will re-open one day — in some form. Not only because it may bring more jobs, but also because it reminds them of their history, when visitors from all over the world used to come to southern West Virginia for their vacations.
City Of Cleveland Recovers Forgotten Viktor Schreckengost Sculpture, Restores To Former Glory [Plain Dealer]
The sculpture — depicting the Earth, the sun, the moon and its eight phases, and the 12 signs of the zodiac and their constellations — was dismantled and warehoused in the early 1990s, while the airport underwent a massive renovation. Since then, the components made of aluminum and colored enamel literally gathered dust and soil.
Banner photo: Kentucky River, Beattyville, KY by Karen Roussel
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