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The Weekly Wrap: A Looming ‘Five-Alarm Fire’ For Nonprofits
Tourists in Times Square. (Photo by Christopher Luther / Unsplash) Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the...
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Rotting Food, Rising Heat: How Michigan’s Landfills Help Drive Methane Pollution
Trash piles atop the South Kent County Landfill in Byron, Michigan. The landfill opened in 1986 and will be at capacity in around 5 years. (Photo by Nick Hagen / Planet Detroit) This story is the...
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In the Past 50 Years, We’ve Lost More Than 150 Majority-Black Neighborhoods
Researchers cite Washington, D.C.'s U Street/Shaw neighborhood as a historically significant Black community where developer-driven gentrification has caused cultural displacement. (Photo by Ted Eytan...
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Churches Are Closing – And Taking Their Economic Impact With Them
(Photo by Debby Hudson / Unsplash) Church bells that once called communities together are increasingly falling silent. Many churches, synagogues, mosques, meetinghouses and temples, once pillars of...
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Can Michigan Fix Its Food Waste Problem With Composting?
A bulldozer mixes a composting windrow at Spurt Industry's composting facility in Wixom, Michigan. (Photo by Nick Hagen / Planet Detroit) In a pocket of Detroit’s east side, Jøn Kent steps carefully...
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Turning Banana Peels Into Coasters, and Other Tales of Food Waste Innovation
Kameron Dye, Chief Business Officer, and Brittanie Dabney, CEO of Ecosphere Organics, in their workspace at NewLab. (Photo by Nick Hagen / Planet Detroit) Inside the historic Book Depository at...
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Why Planners and Policymakers Must Address Structural Barriers to Mobility
(Photo by Al Elmes / Unsplash) This is an adapted excerpt from “Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement” by Charles T. Brown. Copyright © 2025 by the author. It is reproduced here...
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New Landfill Rules Were Supposed To Cut Methane. Michigan’s Still Falling Short.
A truck drops off trash on the South Kent County Landfill. (Photo by Nick Hagen / Planet Detroit) Darwin Baas surveys Kent County’s landfill from the cab of a county truck, watching the steady arrival...
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A Missouri Tenant Union’s Uphill Battle Against Millennia Housing
A Springfield Tenants Unite rally in January 2025. (Photo by Zack Stockon / STUN) This story was co-published in collaboration with Shelterforce, the only independent, non-academic publication...
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Why Hasn’t California Enforced Its Post-Wildfire Rent Gouging Ban? Tenants...
A firefighter tries to extinguish flames at a burning apartment building during the Eaton Fire, Jan. 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. (Photo by Chris Pizzello AP Photo) As wildfires raged through Los...
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The Weekly Wrap: It’s Been Nearly Five Years Since George Floyd’s Death. Has...
Protesters in Uptown Charlotte on May 30, 2020. (Photo by Clay Banks / Unsplash) Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities...
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Reclaiming a Human-Scaled Vision of New York City
During the past 30 years, residents of successful historic cities such as New York have lived through escalating battles over demolition of old buildings and over the scale and design of new towers in...
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Trump Admin Is Undermining a Small Business Loan Program For Underserved...
A restaurant in New York City's Chinatown. (Photo by Khachik Simonian / Unsplash) The Trump administration wants to limit yet another program with a proven track record of expanding access to capital...
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What the Revitalization of a Detroit Park Teaches About Balancing Safety and...
Clark Park Coalition maintenance manager Zachary Benavides (left) plays soccer with young parkgoers including Clarence Spotted Wolf (right). (Photo by Brayan Gutierrez / Planet Detroit) This story was...
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These Urban Farms Are Filling the Gaps the Government Ignores
(Photo by JSB Co. / Unsplash) Rodrigo Martinez started working at Bonton Farms in 2018 while recovering from addiction. Now the Facilities Manager, he says the opportunity was more than just a job....
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Shifting Power & Resources to Communities From Policing: An Anti-Racist...
Michael Brown Sr.'s Chosen for Change during the 10-year commemoration of Michael Brown Jr. and the Ferguson Uprisings. From the left, Atif Mahr, Drew Joseph, Michael Brown Sr. and Dennis Ball Bey...
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It’s Still Possible To Build Community Wealth in an Era of Executive (Dis)Order
Downtown Iowa City, Iowa (Photo by Stevet20 / CC BY-SA 4.0) Late last year, Quinton Lucas, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, and Caitlin Lewis, Executive Director of Work for America, published an op-ed...
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The Weekly Wrap: Texas Goes Big on Single-Staircase Reform
A three-story, single-staircase building in Austin. (Photo courtesy Single Stair ATX) Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in...
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Qualitative Research Isn’t Optional
(Illustration by Getty Images / Unsplash) In a time of intense societal division, understanding across groups feels frustratingly out of reach. It’s not just differing opinions – we face a deep...
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Moonlight’s Impact on Pedestrian Safety Shows How Little Work Is Needed For...
(Photo by Ebrar Soytürk / Unsplash) A recent study shows that even a small amount of light could make a big difference in preventing pedestrian fatalities at night. Justin Tyndall, professor of...
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