Greater Ohio is screening the two-part documentary “The New Metropolis,” which highlights the efforts of some of America’s first suburbs to reverse their long decline. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion about these suburban centers, their decline, and their reinvigoration. The screening will take place on Tuesday, November 24 at 7:30 pm at the Drexel Theater, located at 2254 E. Main Street, in Bexley, Ohio.

From Greater Ohio:

“Ohio’s First Suburbs are highlighted in “The New Metropolis,” a groundbreaking two-part documentary on the rise, fall and revitalization of America’s first suburbs. Produced by award-winning filmmaker Andrea Torrice, this is the first public examination devoted to the issues facing many suburban towns. Considered embodiments of the American dream, the first suburbs blossomed after World War II, bolstered by economic prosperity and government support. Now, many struggle with the same challenges as urban centers — growing poverty, white flight, crumbling infrastructure, abandonment and the continual lure of newer communities further from the cities.

The two 25 minute films are broken down as follows:
Episode 1, “A Crack in the Pavement,” narrated by actor Peter Coyote, follows the story of two Cincinnati area public officials and their efforts to keep their towns stable and healthy despite difficult times to repair and improve infrastructure and lure businesses.
Episode 2, “The New Neighbors,” narrated by actress Ruby Dee, focuses on two ordinary people, one black and one white, who made racial integration the centerpiece of revitalizing Pennsauken , New Jersey.”

The panel discussion that follows the screening will focus on the effects that sprawl has on first ring suburbs and what communities are doing to address these issues in Ohio. For information about The New Metropolis, click here.

Winter is coming fast. Representative Rashida Tlaib will host a Detroit town hall meeting on winter weatherization on Monday, Nov. 30, at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria of Southwestern High School, 6921 W. Fort St. in Detroit.

At the meeting, experts will share tips on how to save money on heating bills this winter, where to go for help if you need assistance paying your utility bills and ways you can make your home more energy efficient.Guests will include representatives from the city of Detroit Department of Human Services, DTE Energy and the WARM Training Center.

If you have any questions, call Rep. Tliab’s office at (877) TLAIB-12 or send an e-mail to her office.

Our weekly update from the Rust Wire bloggers:

Check out these great pictures of one of Pittsburgh’s most unique and wonderful features — its steps — by RW contributor Andy Moore.

Should transit agencies subsidize suburban commuters who may be traveling further? Or should they charge a flat fee to all riders, regardless of distance traveled? Join the debate and give us your two cents.

Ohio voters recently voted to allow casinos in their state. Does your city have them? What has your experience been?

A recent Wall Street Journal article about vandalism in Detroit’s vacant properties really ticked us off! Read it and tell us what you think.

Detroit has its share of historic architecture–and more than its share of vacancy and blight.  Consequently, the debates over historic preservation efforts in Detroit’s recent history have been contentious, to say the least.  And the stories about preservation here often say less about the value of a particular piece of architecture than they do about the transparency with which our city government makes decisions, the urgency of the other challenges facing the city, the possibility of re-imagining our physical landscape, and the passion of Detroit’s advocates.

Today I’m sharing an interview with Francis Grunow, who has been long active in Detroit’s preservation circles, including participation with the Friends of the Book Cadillac and four years as the Executive Director of Preservation Wayne.  Francis has been involved in many of Detroit’s recent preservation battles, and in our interview, shares the lessons from a few.  We talked specifically in some depth about the contrasting experiences of the former Madison-Lenox Hotel, which was demolished, and the Book Cadillac Hotel, which has become, as Francis put it, the “crown jewel” of Detroit’s downtown hotels.

We also discussed the different tools that preservation advocates can use, and whether preservation fights remain isolated battles, or are slowly changing the understanding of preservation as a lens and tool for re-making the entire city.  Listen to the interview HERE.

This post is a part of our November series on historic preservation, building rehab, and the triple bottom line.  During week one, we provided an overview of the argument for historic preservation, and last week we shared an interview with preservation advocate Michael Allen, about th relationship between preservation and other urban challenges, and how the Missouri tax credit has enabled preservation is St. Louis.

Photo of the restored Book Cadillac building by Brandy Baker for the Detroit News.

Even though it was 60 Degrees last Saturday in Detroit, this week is definitely reminding me that winter is coming. Niagara Falls, though, is still just as beautiful in the Fall as in the Summer; Satsun74’s photo shows the falls in cool contrast with the surrounding vegetation. We might see snow in Niagara Falls pretty soon, but Satsun74’s photo captures the falls right before the change. Thanks, Satsun74, for the very cool photo, and thanks to everyone to continue to contribute to the Flickr pool!

The Brookings Institution is sponsoring a conference called “Fiscal Challenges Facing Cities: Implications for Economic Recovery” on Thursday, November 19th at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and the National League of Cities will co-host a forum on city fiscal conditions, the responses being undertaken by creative mayors, and the implications for national economic recovery.

From the Brookings Institution:

“The current economic crisis is not only a national crisis; it is also a metropolitan crisis. And soon the downturn will bring a local government fiscal crisis. Given the normal lag time of 18–24 months between changes in the economic cycle and its impact on city fiscal conditions, local officials anticipate that the next year or two will bring large-scale city government layoffs, deep cuts to local government services, and halted or delayed capital projects. Just as federal stimulus package spending trails off, city fiscal dynamics could well place a serious drag on economic recovery.”

To register for the event or to find out more information about the conference, click here.

The Cleveland Startup Weekend will be next weekend, November 20th-22nd. The Startup Weekend is a type of hands-on conference that allows its participants to come up with interesting solutions to problems they set out themselves. This is definitely a unique opportunity to collaborate with a creative group of Great Lakes advocates in an intense, exciting way.

Here’s some information from Cleveland Startup:

“Founded in 2007 by Andrew Hyde, the weekend is a concept of a conference focusing on learning by creating. It is known for its quick decisions, ‘out of the box’ thinking (oh no, the buzzwords are attacking!), unique facilitation technique and letting the founders show what they can do. The program has already met with success in Boulder, Toronto, New York, Hamburg, Houston, West Lafayette, cleveland, DC and more.

The participants that attend a Startup Weekend decide what they want to tackle over the weekend and come out at the end with several developed companies or projects. Attendees are responsible for bringing the same desire and passion to the project and walk out of the room with the task at hand, in a short 54 hours. Sound intense? It is.”

You can sign up for the Cleveland Startup Weekend here, or learn more about the event here.

On a recent trip to St. Louis, my tour guides included Michael Allen, the detective, advocate, and blogger behind Ecology of Absence, a board member of Preservation Action, and the Director of the newly-formed Preservation Research Office.  Michael’s knowledge of the built environment of St. Louis is nothing less of encyclopedic–though unlike an encyclopedia, he takes immense and obvious pleasure in the small and large human dramas whose histories are told in buildings.

Michael seemed to point out a surprising number of communities in STL that have really been brought back to life by historic preservation efforts.  A big part of the reason is that Missouri has an extremely progressive historic preservation tax credit.  While the federal tax credit applies only to restoration efforts of buildings that are income-producing, the Missouri credit can be applied to non-income-producing buildings, i.e., homes.  This makes it possible for many middle-class homeowners to preserve

Listen to my interview with Michael HERE, for our conversation about the benefits of preservation as tied to a number of other urban challenges (e.g., can restored housing be high quality affordable housing?), the Missouri tax credit and its effects, and some new possibilities on the federal level for expanded tax credits that would help us all to preserve our urban fabric.

This post is a part of our November series on historic preservation, building rehab, and the triple bottom line.  Last week we provided an overview of the argument for historic preservation, and next week we’re taking the preservation conversation to Detroit. 

Photo, courtesy of Michael, shows him guiding a tour of the St. Louis Place neighborhood during Historic Preservation Week, May 2008.

Fickr pool contributor “ReallyBoring” from Chicago recently took this photo of Jackson Boulevard, part of a historic district of the city that is over a century old. ReallyBoring writes that, “the parkway on this historic stretch of Jackson Boulevard was restored at the insistence of residents in the 1970s, while many of them were just beginning to fix up the fine houses lining the street.”

While Jackson Boulevard has been beautified and is a common stop on visitor tours, other once-beautiful Chicago buildings have fallen into ruin. The 6th Presbyterian Church has recently suffered a substantial roof collapse, and now has been designated for demolition. The building is 140 years old, and has changed owners several times over the years. After falling into disrepair, the Chicago Housing Authority bought the church with the hope of restoring it, but the building continued to deteriorate and is now deemed unsalvageable.ReallyBoring, along with other local bloggers, has visited and exhibited the building online, but it is likely too late for the 6th Presbyterian Church. Throughout the Midwest though, historic buildings such as this church are crumbling and seen as valuable assets too late. Sustaining these lots and utilizing their beauty and outlay effectively is crucial to a city and necessary during this urban revitalization of the Midwest.

Thanks, ReallyBoring, for demonstrating how important building rehabilitation and preservation is to GLUE cities!

The 2009 Ohio Civic Health Symposium will be held in downtown Columbus at the Ohio Statehouse Atrium on Tuesday, November 10th. The conference will center around discussion and planning based on the 2009 Ohio Civic Health Report. Learn about key findings from National and State reports, discuss the findings of the report with elected officials and other citizens, and create a plan of action for how to increase community and political engagement across Ohio. The focus of this meeting centers on dialogue, deliberation and action plans regarding civic health in the state of Ohio.

Students, faculty, staff, community partners and elected officials passionate about citizenship and civic life are encouraged to attend.Register online or click here for more information about the conference. For questions about the event, contact Annie Miller, or Jen Gilbride-Brown.