Road rebuilding issues; Sala Thai closes; MLS club comes to town Tuesday
Plus a bakery in Grosse Pointe Park is making progress, a Ferndale radio station gets their streaming wings and more
Hey friends, it’s Wednesday. Three things real quick before we get started.
First: Welcome to the new people me, Engineer Randy and Producer Shianne met at All Things Detroit on Sunday. Appreciate you, and I appreciate all the listeners to the podcast who stopped by. You’re the best.
Second: Since I know we have so many new people, know that my analysis is always in italics.
Third: If you’re stumbling on this and haven’t signed up to get Daily Detroit in your inbox, here’s a signup form. Enough of you have said I need to put a signup form right in the written thing so… there you go. It’s there. It’s free. ⬇️
What to know…
» A new report says that there may be changes in future road projects in Michigan because of inflation and long-term neglect. Road reconstruction costs are up 125% in the last dozen years. Not only are prices for materials and labor going up, the longer we’ve let some road projects sit — often, many years and administrations longer than they should have — the bigger the bill gets because more work needs to be done. [Detroit News]
How to fix it? Honestly, the answer I’ve come to isn’t popular. Even before this recent rise in costs, Michigan spent the least per person on our roads in the Great Lakes. It’s simply going to take a lot more money, and maybe deleting lanes and roads we don’t need anymore as the state’s population is basically flat. With little popular support to raise that money, I don’t see anyone who’d get elected and making a bigger dent than we are now on this.
» The city of Detroit’s top lawyer says overtaxed residents cannot be repaid. State law, they say, prevents it. At issue is about $600 million of revenue that the city brought in based on incorrectly valued properties. [Bridge Detroit]
» What could metro Detroit learn from Columbia? Turns out, maybe quite a bit about thoughtful street design. 1.3 million people come out on Sundays to enjoy their streets by bike and other ways. [Model D]
» Highland Park may get a “smart neighborhood.” It would be on an electric micro-grid, independently powered through renewable energy. [Planet Detroit]
» The Royal Oak Theater is a step closer to demolition. Royal Oak’s planning commission voted 4-2 to recommend a five-story mixed use development that would replace the theater built in 1941, but keep the marquee. [ClickOnDetroit]
Despite some outlets saying that the theater “will” be demolished, advocates for the theater tell me in an email that they don’t think it’s over yet. There’s a meeting of the full commission on April 25.
» Building woes in Southfield. The Sapphire apartment buildings recently have had major issues with heat [WXYZ] and in the shadow of that, the former Plaza Hotel in their shadow is now up for sale. It’s been “flatlined” since 2010, and Southfield officials are eager to get something moving with the area. [Crain’s Detroit]
» There will be no Spark in the Park as Hazel Park officials deny a Cannabis-themed event that was to bring in 3,500 people. Residents had concerns about crowd size, noise and more. [Fox 2 Detroit]
» Ferndale Radio is now streaming online. The community radio station has been working for years to get online distribution for their music and local over-the-air programming, as their low power license limits their geographic reach. They’re based in the Rust Belt Market at 9 Mile and Woodward in downtown Ferndale. [Ferndale Radio]
» If you saw actor Tim Robinson around town last week, you might have been right. They were filming locally a pilot for HBO, “Computer School.” [Freep]
I’m most encouraged that Questlove wants to bring the TV show Detroiters back.
Where to go…
» Yum Village is now open until midnight. Chef Godwin Ihentuge beat Bobby Flay, and now his Afro-Caribbean food in the Milwaukee Junction/New Center area of Detroit is available later. Our late night options have been lacking since the pandemic hit, so this is good to see. [Yum Village]
» Should Comerica Park have a better bag policy? Currently, they only allow a 4 inch x 6 inch bag and no clear options. The concern is that with that small of a bag, it’s very inconvenient for women to comfortably come to a game. They’re also among the smallest bags allowed in Major League Baseball. [Twitter] and on [Apple Podcasts]
» Sala Thai in Eastern Market closed abruptly over the weekend. It was located for many years in the old Detroit Fire Department repair facility. I’ve eaten there many times. Their spot in Sterling Heights remains open. [Facebook]
» Boulangerie Le Rouge is coming along in the old Cornwall Bakery space on Kercheval in Grosse Pointe Park. It’s going to be a french bakery and ran by Trenton Chamberlain from Bricks Pizza on the same block. Roughly translated, it means “The Red Bakery.” Previous reports said it’d be open sometime this spring. [Instagram]
» Oak Park’s new trailway on 9 Mile is coming together. With play areas, seating, and games as the spring ramps up and construction completes, it’s an area many are proud of. We discussed it on the Tuesday podcast.
» Spin scooters get a Lyft. This is more of a “how to get there” instead of “where to go,” but Spin scooters are now available on the Lyft app. That means you’ll be able to book one more easily and on an app many people already have. Scooters have become quite the thing in parts of Detroit. The concept is expanding into college campuses and some suburbs.
⚜️ Le Rouge Report
» There are two big home matches coming up for Detroit City FC. Friday night against Birmingham Legion and Tuesday night against Major League Soccer squad Columbus Crew in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. [Tickets - not sponsored - but we’ll be there]
Soccer journalist Fletcher Sharpe previewed those two matches on our Monday show. Every Monday during the season focuses in large part on DCFC.
Here’s our postgame wrap-up of a 3-0 win against the Michigan Stars last week from Keyworth. As the comedian Ozzy Man Reviews says, “Here’s me face!”
» After a 4-0 win against Atlanta United 2, Detroit City FC is now truly considered to be in the playoff hunt, which is huge for a team new to a higher professional league. [538] [USL Tactics]
Before you go…
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-Jer