Photo courtesy of Courtney Henriette


Soon two more will be appear in Brooklyn's Bushwick. It's courtesy of yet another New York entrepreneur, who teamed up with locals Courtney Henriette and Brad Greenhill, that is finding opportunity in Motor City.

Click HERE for more information on Katoi! 
TaNisha Prater's clothing store is one of 37 businesses that opened last year in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood.
Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times

When Christopher Prater and his wife, TaNisha — Detroit natives who returned home after 12 years in Atlanta — went scouting for a location for the clothing boutique they planned to open, he was horrified by the address of a spot she suggested. It was on Cass Avenue, a once-blighted strip with a sordid history of drugs and prostitution.

“I told her very adamantly and vehemently that there is no way in the world I’m taking my sons to Cass,” he said. “To my mind, that was no place to be at 12 noon, much less 12 midnight.”

The neighborhood Mr. Prater found, when he was finally lured out to look, bore few traces of the one he remembered.

Now called Midtown, the area is one of Detroit’s most striking economic-revival success stories and a veritable haven for small businesses, which had been among the biggest casualties of the city’s urban decay. Coffee shops, yoga studios, restaurants and clothing boutiques now fill spaces that sat empty for decades. The district’s retail vacancy rate has fallen to 10 percent, down from 22 percent six years ago, and its residential occupancy rate tops 97 percent.

Nearly every business is locally owned, though a few national chains are creeping in. Whole Foods arrived two years ago, and Carhartt, the Michigan retailer known for its rugged work clothes, is preparing to open its first Detroit store.

Years of dogged, incremental work went into the district’s renaissance, much of it led by the nonprofit development group Midtown Detroit Inc. But those who live and work in the area also point to a more unusual catalyst: the Wayne State University police department, which has become the primary security force in Midtown.

This is no ordinary campus police squad. The department, which spends most of its time operating beyond the university, has invested in high-tech security equipment that looks as if it came straight from the set of “C.S.I.” Since most small businesses operate on razor-thin margins and cannot afford the financial toll of even petty crime, the force has been one of the area’s biggest assets, residents and owners say.

“We couldn’t operate here without them,” said Christina Lovio-George, who has run a public relations firm in the neighborhood for 33 years.

All of Wayne State’s officers are commissioned by the Detroit Police Department, with the same enforcement powers as the city’s force. The department’s hiring standards, though, are stricter: Wayne State requires its officers to have a bachelor’s degree, while city officers need only a high school diploma. The two departments collaborate closely, and of the 1,362 arrests made in Midtown last year, 61 percent were made by Wayne State’s officers.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 


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Sue Marx 
In 1988, Sue Marx won an Oscar for her documentary, "Young at Heart," about her widower father's romance with a widow in her mid-80s. But before she was hitting the red carpet, she was in charge of putting Detroit in its best light. 

Thirty years ago this week, the filmmaker was awarded a contract to produce "Detroit Means Business" as a way to sell the city. Such well-known Detroiters as Lee Iacocca, Walter McCarthy, Esther Edwards and Dave Bing all made appearances.

Crain's called Marx to catch up with changes in the film industry and changes in the city. When we reached her, she was deep into an archival review of her professional life. She was a prolific filmmaker, starting her career in the early 1970s at WDIV-TV (then WWJ-TV), where she created the "Profiles in Black" series that featured Stevie Wonder, Rosa Parks, Marvin Gaye and others inside their homes and workspaces. 

That work has all disappeared over the years, but she's sifting through her more than two-dozen Emmys for such projects as a series on the Detroit Zoo that featured narration by James Earl Jones, Jeff Daniels, Tim Allen and more. She's also reflecting on more than five decades in Detroit, having followed her husband from Lake County, Ind.


You've done so many high-profile films; do you remember "Detroit Means Business"? 

I remember it very well. That film and another one we did about a year later, both of them were done during Coleman Young's early years and they both won awards. It's been buried for so many years, so I called someone at the Free Press because of their film festival. Maybe it's time to show them again.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 

 Dan Gilbert is determined to get his beloved Detroit up to speed, and making sure the city has fast internet is one way to do it.

The entrepreneur and owner of Rocket Ventures announced on Twitter on February 23rd the introduction of Rocket Fiber to downtown Detroit. He wrote on the social media platform, according to Detroit cbslocal, “Yes, it’s true. Rocket Fiber coming to downtown Detroit in near future. Fast as Google or faster. Details in a few weeks.”

Rocket Fiber should provide internet to downtown Detroit that is 100 times faster than what exists in the average home. The advanced fiber-optic network will be in the downtown benefiting government offices and businesses and will grow to other neighborhoods. President and CEO of Rock Ventures, Matt Cullen, said told Crains Detroit that it is a “generational leap forward.”

Click HERE For The Full Article!
Photo taken by Jessica Archer at Wayne State University 


In February 2015, Bridge Magazine announced its first-ever rankings for thousands of Michigan schools as the 2014 Academic State Champs. More than 3,200 schools (traditional public schools and charters) were judged on state and national test scores over three years, with student income levels factored in for each school.

Four DPS elementary schools and three middle schools were ranked on the list of Bridge Magazine’s Academic State Champs:

Elementary Schools
Thirkell Elementary-Middle School*
Chrylser Elementary School
Davison Elementary-Middle School*
Dixon Educational Learning Academy
*Ranked among the Top 10 Michigan Elementary Schools

Middle Schools
*Davison Elementary-Middle School
Burton International Academy
Clippert Academy
*Ranked among the Top 10 Michigan Middle Schools

Martin Luther King, Jr. Education Center, a DPS-authorized charter school, was also ranked as one of the Top Schools in Michigan by Bridge Magazine.

View the full list of Academic State Champs in Michigan



A photo posted by Justin Verlander (@justinverlander) on
Jude Angelini, better know as Rude Jude, is a 37-year-old Pontiac native who first met Eminem at a rave in Detroit back in 2000. Now he's working for Slim Shady on the rapper's Shade 45 SiriusXM station. (Courtesy photo)

First it was "Entourage," now Mark Wahlberg reportedly has plans for another HBO comedy series.

This one, according to Yahoo! News, has some Metro Detroit flair.

Wahlberg will reportedly produce "Hyena," a series adapted from the autobiography of Jude Angelini.

Angelini, a Pontiac native, is better known as Rude Jude on the SiriusXM hip hop program "The All Out Show."

It airs weekdays on Shade45, Eminem's station.

The title of Angelini's book represents what Angelini believes is his identity, one that's hard to relate to other species or classes.

Angelini told MLive.com last year he felt like an outsider his whole life, and filed 219 pages illustrating that.

"It's autobiographical short stories, and it goes from me growing up out there in Michigan to me living here in LA," Angelini said. "Just the wild stuff that I did and how I became what I am basically."

This 37-year-old rose from a collector of odd jobs like gay bar bathroom attendant and stripper pole cleaner at an 8 Mile club in Detroit to a Los Angeles-based author on the rise.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 



The organizers of the weekly Slow Roll bike rides in the 'D have "special permission" to ride the Grand Prix course then return to Campus Martius for more Grand Prix fun and socializing at the Fountain Bistro.

Come on out and ride this May 27, Wednesday night Downtown in the 'D

When Slow Roll bikes start getting posted you know it is getting close to Spring in the 'D

Get your bike tuned up - warmer weather is near!

Click HERE For More Information! 



We've reached peak bacon and that's just fine

Little Caesars is rolling out a deep-dish pizza with a crust wrapped in 3.5 feet of bacon.

Promoted with the tagline “in bacon we crust,” the pie is “an 8-corner deep dish pizza wrapped in decadent whole strips of thick-cut, crispy bacon, and then topped with pepperoni and even more chewy pieces of savory bacon goodness,” according to a news release.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 



Metro Detroit’s technology economy is among the tops in the nation, according to Automation Alley’s Technology Industry Report.

The report, presented Thursday at Automation Alley’s Technology Industry Outlook at the Colony Club in Detroit, was compiled by the Anderson Economic Group of East Lansing. It bench marked the metro Detroit region against 14 other high-tech hubs across the nation.

“You have a technology industry in metro Detroit that is the equal to all of Silicon Valley,” said Patrick Anderson, who found Metro Detroit comparable in terms of number of jobs, employers and occupations. “Right now you have the technology weight of Silicon Valley right around you, and it has been building for the last 10 years.”

Detroit was measured against other regions across the country, including San Jose, Calif.; Seattle; Austin, Texas; Chicago; and Boston for job creation, business creation, innovation and education.
The report analyzed data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Center for Education Statistics for sectors including defense, chemical, life sciences advanced manufacturing, related and other technologies along with STEM education.

In many of these areas, the report found metro Detroit ranks highly in the following categories:


  • First nationally in the number of advanced automotive industry jobs and establishments.
  • First nationally in the number of engineering technology degrees earned.
  • First in the Midwest in the concentration of tech-focused jobs.
  • First nationally in the number of architectural and engineering jobs.
  • Second in the Midwest in the number of utility patents issued.
  • Third nationally in the percentage of total employment in the technology industry.
  • Third nationally in the number of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees earned
  • Third in the Midwest in the number of technology establishments.

Not surprisingly, metro Detroit had the most advanced automotive establishments with 462. But it is not just the traditional assembly plant — advanced manufacturing facilities are building state-of-the-art vehicles.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 
Pork Shoulder Confit - Selden Standard 

This afternoon the James Beard Foundation released its list of semifinalists in the 2014 Restaurant and Chef Awards via livestream. Over the next month, this "long list" will be paired down. On Tuesday, March 24, the finalists will be announced. Finally, the winners of the Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards will be honored at a dinner on Friday, April 24 at Pier Sixty in New York City. The winners of the Chef and Restaurant awards will be announced at the official Awards Gala & Reception on Monday, May 4, 2015 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This is the first time the awards will take place outside of New York City.


2015 James Beard Foundation Awards - Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists

Best Chef: Great Lakes

Myles Anton, Trattoria Stella, Traverse City, MI
Abraham Conlon, Fat Rice, Chicago
Marc Djozlija, Wright & Company, Detroit
Curtis Duffy, Grace, Chicago
Paul Fehribach, Big Jones, Chicago
Phillip Foss, EL Ideas, Chicago
Micah Frank, Black Market, Indianapolis
Greg Hardesty, Recess, Indianapolis
Eric Heath, Cleveland-Heath, Edwardsville, IL
Andy Hollyday, Selden Standard, Detroit
Brian Huston, Boltwood, Evanston, IL
Anne Kearney, Rue Dumaine, Dayton, OH
Thomas Lents, Sixteen, Chicago
Ryan McCaskey, Acadia, Chicago
Daniel Orr, FARMbloomington, Bloomington, IN
Jonathon Sawyer, Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland
David Tallent, Restaurant Tallent, Bloomington, IN
Paul Virant, Vie, Western Springs, IL
Erling Wu-Bower, Nico Osteria, Chicago
Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia, Chicago

Click HERE For The Full List! 




Click HERE for Fellow Barber's Website!

Detroit Native Wins Bravo's "Top Chef"




Shaka Senghor spent 19 years in prison for murder. Since his release in 2010, he’s become a teacher at the University of Michigan, a published author, a sought-after speaker (his 2014 TED talk is a must-see), and an MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, which is how he and I met. Senghor paid his debt, and he’s a one-person testimonial to the value that exists in everyone.

And he doesn’t want to be the only one.

There are currently two separate, parallel debates taking place in Silicon Valley about the future of its workforce. One is about how the technology industry can be more diverse. Much of the effort to that end has focused on encouraging girls and people of color to embrace tech at a young age. The other conversation centers around immigration reform. Industry leaders argue that it’s vital to lure the talent necessary to fill the engineering jobs at companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Dropbox. This is why Mark Zuckerberg created the lobbying group Fwd.US, although its record has been spotty.

I’m all for promoting tech and welcoming immigrants. But neither of these are enough. Not when there are more potential Shaka Senghors behind bars. There are more than 1.5 million prisoners in the United States, many of them nonviolent drug offenders. Our society is just now coming to terms with the cost of letting these people rot away in jail for decades. When rehabilitated ex-cons reenter their communities, they face a jarring cultural disconnect. Not only is it hard to find employment, it’s challenging to adapt to a world that presumes ever more technological ­literacy. When Senghor went to jail, laptops and suitcases were indistinguishable in size. The only talking car he’d ever heard of was on Knight Rider. But when he was released five years ago, "It was really like, ‘Welcome to an urban episode of The Jetsons!’ " he tells me.

Senghor admits that he still struggles with life beyond bars, and he’s made it his mission to help reintroduce others to society, including an immersion in tech. He’s teamed up with Van Jones­—founder of Rebuild the Dream, onetime Obama green jobs czar, and CNN ­commentator—on #Cut50, Jones’s initiative (with Newt Gingrich!) to trim by half the U.S. prison population. Senghor believes his efforts can help reduce recidivism.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 
Looking out on Detroit from Dan Gilbert’s 10th-floor office in the Compuware Building, which he finally acquired this fall. His holdings also include the tan building on the left, the white building in the center, the white building in the background and the dark building on the right.



Even after bankruptcy, bailouts, massive population and job loss, nightly arson and widespread decay, Detroit still has plenty going for it. It's a beautiful old city built on America's original tech industry — cars. In this weeklong Re/code special series, Liz Gannes examines the fast-moving efforts of a hometown billionaire and others to revive Detroit, starting from its center. Sparking this rebirth: Tech startups that draw from the region's engineering heritage and promise to help restore Detroit's long-lost claim as a capital of innovation.

When was the last time you thought about Detroit?

You probably think you already know the story of the city — and that it’s over. From the golden age of American invention and productivity to $50 houses and “ruin porn,” in less than 50 years.

And you’d be right. Detroit is not what it once was. Founded in 1701, called the City of Champions in the 1930s (and “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss in the ’70s), it’s a city long in decline, plagued with decay and lack of opportunity.

Some 1.9 million people lived within the city limits in 1950. Now fewer than 700,000 people fill the same space. Detroit went bankrupt. Giant factories have lain stagnant for decades. Arson fires burn every night. There’s only one major grocery store in the entire town.

What killed Detroit? Municipal incompetence, labor conflicts, crime, race tension and global competition. Hubris and innovators’ dilemmas and brain drain.

But Detroit, especially downtown Detroit, is rebounding — and fast. For two centuries, the city’s motto has been “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.”

Today, it might actually live up to the ideal. Near-death experiences like the 2008 automotive crisis (GM and Chrysler went bankrupt and were bailed out, while Ford took a big loan and restructured) and municipal bankruptcy (completed in an efficient year and a half this past December) have effectively wiped the slate for what’s next.

Like elsewhere across America, Detroit fits into the modern narrative of young go-getters with new ideas migrating back to urban centers. Unlike other regions such as San Francisco, the usual barriers to growth and reconstruction are much lower.

Billions of dollars are pouring into real estate, renovation and startups — notably, technology startups. But for Detroit’s resurgence to be sustainable, today’s up-and-comers need to turn good ideas into an actual industry. For the first time in decades, that is not such a crazy long shot.

What better place than Detroit to stage the next wave of innovation? It’s the birthplace of the personal car, the assembly line, Motown and Madonna.

What better place than Detroit to stage the next wave of innovation? It lives at the intersection of arts and invention. It is the birthplace of the personal car, the assembly line, the escalator, the paved road, the urban freeway and the radio news broadcast. It was the epicenter of music innovation: Detroit blues, gospel, jazz, rock, R&B, house music and hip-hop. We’re talking Motown and Madonna.

Today, people mainly go to Detroit because they have business or family there. In my case, it was both. My father was born and raised in Detroit, and my family has been running a steel-cutting plant in Detroit since 1959. I visited Detroit over the past several months to report this Re/code special series about a city in transition.

In 2014, some 248 new technology companies were started in Michigan, and private investment in tech startups totaled $770 million, according to the Michigan Economic Development Commission. In 2014, for the first time ever, there was more venture capital activity in Detroit than Ann Arbor.

In many ways, Detroit’s present has little to do with its past. Those new urban workers are invading the husk of a city built on automotive jobs and the single-family houses they paid for.

The next Detroit is a city of startups, growing like a coral reef built on top of the shipwreck of the last generation.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 


I recently went on a short vacation, driving down Highway 401 and Interstate 75 from Toronto to Florida’s Gulf Coast. From there, I went on to Miami and Miami Beach, before flying back north; first to New York, then back home to Toronto.

On the drive down, I took the opportunity to visit some of the cities along the way. Once I crossed the border and entered Detroit, my route followed Interstate 75 all the way. The great highway, 2,875 kilometers (1,786 miles) long, goes from the Canadian border at Sault Ste. Marie south to Naples, Florida, and via Alligator Alley to just north of Florida on the Atlantic Coast.

Interstate 75 passes through Detroit, Cincinnati, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Tampa; all were stops along the way. Four of those cities — Detroit, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Tampa, all are either building, or have completed, new streetcar lines. Tampa’s TECO Line is a vintage heritage streetcar (like those in New Orleans and Memphis), the other three are modern streetcar lines that are, or will be, similar to those in Portland and Seattle — short urban circulator routes. Nearly all streetcar routes built in the last decade have followed Portland’s model of a modern circulatory streetcar; older systems, such as Tampa’s (or those in Memphis and newer lines in New Orleans) are heritage-type streetcars, using vintage or replica equipment on lines that are part of the regular transit system, but geared more to tourists and occasional riders.

Unlike light rail, (think Calgary’s C-Train, or Los Angeles’ Gold, Blue, Green, or Expo Lines), the new streetcar systems being built in the United States have short stop spacing, usually run in mixed traffic (or in separate lanes on city streets), and are often built to promote urban development, tourism and/or local transit ridership. The systems planned or being built here in Ontario, such as Ottawa’s Confederation Line, or Kitchener-Waterloo’s ION line, should be considered as light rail (though ION will be partially running in city streets in Uptown Waterloo and Downtown Kitchener).


IMG_5469-002
Former DSR tracks, last used in 1956, are removed as construction progresses on the M-1 streetcar, January 4, 2015

DETROIT


After crossing the border, I made a quick stop in Detroit to see the progress on the M-1 Rail streetcar.
The 12 stop, 5.3-kilometre (3.3 mile) streetcar route, now under construction, will run on Woodward Avenue, Detroit’s main street, from Congress Street, downtown near the river, up to Grand Boulevard, in the New Center district. The streetcar line will link the reviving downtown core, three major sports venues and live theatres, Wayne State University and the fabulous Detroit Institute of Arts, and Detroit’s Amtrak Station.  (MAP)

Near Wayne State University, the roadway was being rebuilt to accommodate the new tracks; crews had dug-up the old streetcar tracks last used in 1956. Detroit once had a very extensive streetcar system that was one of the first to be publicly owned (Detroit and Toronto were pioneers in this respect); Detroit’s Department of Street Railways (DSR) even had a fleet of modern PCC streetcars in the post-war era. But the Motor City opted for buses, and it, with state and federal financing, was busy building a network of freeways to serve that rapidly decentralizing urban area. The M-1 streetcar is scheduled to open in 2016; 60 years after the last Woodward streetcar pulled into the carhouse in Highland Park for the last time.

The route will mostly operate in curb lanes, much like other modern streetcar routes in Portland, Seattle, and the new Atlanta Streetcar discussed below. Interestingly, only the central section will have overhead wires; downtown and in New Center, the streetcars will operate off of battery power.

In a city emerging from bankruptcy, Detroit’s short streetcar is being built mostly with private money; downtown business interests and some public institutions, such as Wayne State University, are contributing most of the funds. These business interests include the owner of the Detroit Red Wings and Tigers, pizza magnate Mike Illitch. Illitch’s firm, Olympia Developments, is looking to build a new arena for the Red Wings right on the streetcar line. Dan Gilbert, the head of Quicken Loans, centralized his company’s offices downtown and is one of the line’s biggest backers.

Certainly the line will be an improvement and spur more development along Detroit’s most famous avenue; it will connect most of Detroit’s major trip generators. But the rest of the city is sprawling, largely poor and blighted,; the public transit system, D-DOT, has been forced to make major cutbacks in the last few years.  The city and federal governments preferred to build a bus rapid transit system that would serve suburban commuters as well as city residents; this is the main reason private funds are being used for this project.

Click HERE for the full article! 
(Photo: Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press)

Everyman's hard-workin', hard-walkin' commuting hero finally got a car.

Detroiter James Robertson, whose daily marathons of walking to a suburban factory job made him an overnight media celebrity, registered total surprise as he walked into the Suburban Ford dealership in Sterling Heights, expecting just to "get some brochures," said Blake Pollock, the UBS banker who befriended Robertson last year while passing him on the road and began giving him lifts in bad weather.

This week, Pollack has shepherded Robertson through a media frenzy.

Instead of brochures, Robertson had a sea of reporters waiting -- and a bright red new car.

And what car did he choose? Forget the glitz that car buffs ogle each year at Detroit's auto show. Robertson, true to his modest roots and humble nature, will drive the model that he repeatedly said he admired, in terms that surely delighted legions of marketers in Dearborn: a Ford Taurus, because "it's simple on the outside and strong on the inside – like me."

Click HERE For The Full Article!


Experience winter in Detroit like never before at Meridian Winter Blast. Meridian Winter Blast returns February 6th, 7th, and 8th to Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit! Meridian Winter Blast features winter activities, live entertainment, and delicious local restaurants for the whole family to enjoy.  

Some of the great winter festivities include:

  • Bedrock Zip Line Adventure 
  • Snow Slide
  • Snow Shoeing
  • FREE Ice Skating on Campus Martius rink 
  • Flagstar Bank Ice Garden
  • Marshmallow roasting 
  • Skating Demonstrations presented by W.H. Canon, and many more!


Detroit’s music scene will be on display on two stages, with more than 50 entertainment acts performing!

Hop inside the Taste of Detroit food and vendor tent to sample delicious Metro Detroit restaurants and shop from local stores and artisans. Meridian Winter Blast will also feature a special Kid Zone! Throughout that event there will be several Comfort Stations where guests can warm up!

Meridian Winter Blast has an exciting history here in Detroit. In January 2005 Winter Blast, formerly known as Motown Winter Blast, kicked off as the official countdown to Super Bowl XL in Detroit. Winter Blast attracted more than one million people to Detroit during the Super Bowl! For the past 10 years Winter Blast continued to attract Metro-Detroiters to the exciting revitalized Downtown Detroit area!



Click HERE For More Information! 
Got a bit of tech savvy and want a high-paying, high-growth job? There's a city for you.

A new report from the Brookings Institution ranks America's cities according to the percent of the workforce employed in what it calls "advanced industries." This means the industry spends a lot on R&D and has a high number of workers in science, technology, engineering and math-oriented roles.

advanced industries cities

Detroit gets high marks for its diversity. In addition to autos, the city has robust advanced battery and software industries, among others.

"The best-positioned cities have specializations in multiple areas," said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program.

Click HERE for the full article!

1. Mudgie’s Deli (Detroit)

 
The best grub to get at this Detroit deli is definitely the homemade special, which is called the Mudgie. This sandwich consists of beef brisket, house-made vegetable cream cheese, roasted turkey breast, romaine lettuce, red onion, and Brownwood Farm’s Kream Mustard on an onion roll.
(Submitted by Chrissy Jones, Facebook)
Click HERE for the full list! 




Leaving home in Detroit at 8 a.m., James Robertson doesn't look like an endurance athlete.

Pudgy of form, shod in heavy work boots, Robertson trudges almost haltingly as he starts another workday.

But as he steps out into the cold, Robertson, 56, is steeled for an Olympic-sized commute. Getting to and from his factory job 23 miles away in Rochester Hills, he'll take a bus partway there and partway home. And he'll also walk an astounding 21 miles.

Five days a week. Monday through Friday.

It's the life Robertson has led for the last decade, ever since his 1988 Honda Accord quit on him.

Every trip is an ordeal of mental and physical toughness for this soft-spoken man with a perfect attendance record at work. And every day is a tribute to how much he cares about his job, his boss and his coworkers. Robertson's daunting walks and bus rides, in all kinds of weather, also reflect the challenges some metro Detroiters face in getting to work in a region of limited bus service, and where car ownership is priced beyond the reach of many.

But you won't hear Robertson complain — nor his boss.


James Robertson, 56, of Detroit, walks toward Woodward Ave. in Detroit to catch his morning bus to Somerset Collection in Troy before walking to his job at Schain Mold & Engineering in Rochester Hills on Thursday January 29, 2015. James walks 21 miles daily round trip to his job.Robertson's roundtrip commute requires a bus ride each direction as well as nearly 21-miles of walking consuming 22 hours of his day before beginning again throughout the work week.

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