Motor City Blueprint

Right now I am watching a show on PBS called Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City. It is intersesting to me growing up there but there is also a lot of not so subtle analogy comparing the city's history to the need to revision a purpose for the country; a purpose that the makers believe to be investment in infrastructure (namely transit and heavy rail). So it's even cooler than a show that just talks about Detroit. They even mention a volunteer project that I took part in while at Michigan called Blight Busters. And they talk about the reclamation of urban space for agriculture; something unheard of ametroplitan area until now. Definitely check it out and explore the show's site.

The issue of squandered opportunity for rail investment is one that has been on my mind since the day of reckoning for GA with regard to rail a couple of weeks ago. Georgia received ony $750,000 of the $8 billion that the government gave out to states for investment in high speed rail infrastructure. It was a clear sign that the Feds can see how GA is operating and that the state need to get its act together. Here's the dispute between the governor and Representative John Lewis. The fact that $8 billion is a pttance is another issue. A parallel issue on my mind is the cutting of MARTA service (~half the bus service), but I'll get to that later.

If you're interested in more on Detroit check out this post and photos.