Pontiac : In the News

This is the best it's been in years for job seekers in Oakland County, economists say. And the jobs pay well above the minimum wage.

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"On the heels of its strongest two-year job growth in almost 20 years, Oakland County's economy will add nearly 42,000 jobs through 2015, say University of Michigan economists...

In their annual forecast of the Oakland County economy, Fulton and colleague Don Grimes of the U-M Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy say that high-wage industries—with average pay of more than $62,000—accounted for more than half of the new private-sector jobs created during the recovery, a trend that will continue throughout the forecast horizon...

Overall, Fulton and Grimes say that Oakland remains among the better local economies in the nation, ranking 10th among 36 comparable U.S. counties on a series of measures that indicate future economic prosperity."

More here.

In Oakland County's downtowns these days, businesses that want to put a blank face to the street have to keep walking.

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"Last fall, a developer approached West Bloomfield trustees asking for a zoning change in order to place a storage unit business at Orchard Lake and 14 Mile. Then, a business owner approached asking for approval to open a fitness club in a former dealership on Orchard Lake Road.

"The new businesses didn’t conform to our (zoning)," said Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste.

The requests were for properties in the township’s "town center" — defined back in 2007 as Orchard Lake Road between 14 Mile and Maple roads. In the area, zoning rules require active first floors, not blank walls, which was intended to make that area more appealing to people walking...That desire is enthusiastically echoed in communities across Oakland County."

More here.

In a good comeback story, Metro Detroit is no. 14 in the country in terms of percentage job growth from 2011 to 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More here.

Detroit's economy is facing forward. Now it just needs some new verbiage.

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"Former heavy manufacturing hubs around the Great Lakes like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, and Milwaukee often get roped together under the heading of "post-industrial" (when, that is, we're not otherwise identifying them by their prevalence of rust). The term poses at least two problems, though: Industry still exists in many of these places, and the very notion of defining them by their relationship to the past can hamstring us from planning more thoughtfully for their future.

"You've got the 'post-war,' you've got 'post-modern,' you've got 'post-9/11,'" says Paul Kapp, an associate professor in the school of architecture at the University of Illinois and an editor of the book SynergiCity: Reinventing the Postindustrial City. He was speaking Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Planning Association (hosted in what's often considered the post-industrial city of Chicago). "You get to a point," Kapp says, "where you've got to say, 'When does post-something end and you do something new?' I think with 'post-industrial,' we're at that opportunity now. I think it's now time to come up with a new term."

More here.

A great, comprehensive article on how the 7.2-square-mile greater downtown Detroit is growing posher by the minute, it seems, and how and why its deindustrialized metros (and certain Detroit neighborhoods) are landing the creative class.

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"Two of the top 10 creative class tracts are in Birmingham; two are in Bloomfield Township, and another is in Bloomfield Hills, home to some of the priciest real estate in the U.S. and the Cranbrook educational community. Designed by Finnish architect  Eliel Saarinen, the architecture critic  Paul Goldberger  called Cranbrook "one of the greatest campuses ever created anywhere in the world." University of Michigan's  Little  points out in an email to me: "Cranbrook graduates have added to the cutting edge design and creative communities of Detroit and the nation for decades."

Another top creative class tract is in nearby Troy, a sprawling middle-class suburb with excellent public schools, and the site of a high-end mall, the Somerset Collection. Two are in Huntington Woods, a leafy neighborhood that boasts such notable amenities as the public golf course  Rackham and the Detroit Zoo. Two more are in the "Grosse Pointes" — Grosse Pointe Farms and Grosse Pointe Park — the communities of choice for many of Detroit's old industrial magnates, whose lakeshores are lined with sprawling Gilded Age mansions."

More here.

What's better than a rodent on water skis? Why, nothing, of course. Twiggy, the water skiing squirrel sensation will be featured at the Home & Garden Show (March 9-11) at the Silverdome in Pontiac. Be there or be sorry.

Excerpt:

"Aside from performing, Best said the Twiggys’ other important duty is promoting water and boat safety.

Best said her squirrels have performed all across the world, in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda, Paris, France and Germany. She has appeared in numerous books, magazines, newspapers, and on television shows all over the world."

Read and watch the rest here.

There's a double threat of indicators in what would otherwise be just another sporting event in Metro Detroit. (1) An International Soccer showdown will be taking place at the Pontiac Silverdome, showing that the new owners are working hard to revitalize the venerable venue and (2) there's enough of an international community in Metro Detroit to attract such an event.

Excerpt:

"This International Soccer Tournament features four international teams to compete in Detroit. The soccer teams are: River Plate of Argentina; UNAM Pumas of Mexico; Ferencvarosi FC and Vasas FC of Hungary. The teams will fly to Detroit for this special match tournament from European matches.

The tournament schedule begins with the teams arriving on February 2 and playing warm-up and practice games at the Silverdome on February 3."

Read the rest here.

Metro Detroit's most famous chin, Bruce Campbell, returned to his old stomping grounds for this past weekend's FanFare convention. He then dropped in with director Sam Raimi, who is filming Oz: The Great and Powerful in Pontiac at Raleigh Michigan Studios. He took a few minutes to answer five questions from the Freep.

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"We always hold out hope to film in Michigan, but there are other places, other countries, that make it very appealing. We've done so much work in New Zealand, that's where we may end up doing it, ironically.

Michigan and the film business and the incentives -- that's been interesting. Seems like that big welcome mat has been taken away. It's been fun to see that resurgence of the industry there -- with people like Clint Eastwood and Drew Barrymore and now Sam working there. We'll see what happens when the dust settles.

The thing is, I think Detroit -- and Michigan -- is a viable place to shoot for other reasons than the money. But it's also hard to justify why one industry is getting such a big break."

Read the rest here.

In 1984, still a number of years from the end of the Cold War, the film Red Dawn hit theaters with the story of a group of kids fighting against the invading forces of the Soviets and Cubans. It starred a young Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, and C. Thomas Howell. Well, it's coming back... and it's in Pontiac. Except this time it's not the Cubans teaming up with the Soviets. It's the Chinese, and there's no Swayze.

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A southeastern Michigan community will be doing its best Spokane, Wash., impression next month.

That's when crews will be in Pontiac to shoot scenes for the upcoming remake of the classic 1980s film "Red Dawn." The city is about 20 miles north-northwest of Detroit.

Downtown Development Authority director Sandy McDonald tells The Oakland Press filmmakers will be in Pontiac for two weeks at the end of September and a few days in October.

Read the entire article here.

Child gardeners in Pontiac are cultivating not only land, but life skills as well. The program is part of the Cities of Promise that is aimed to curb poverty in blighted areas with decreasing population.

Excerpt:

The project began this spring after the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency and Lighthouse of Oakland County -- both based in Pontiac -- received a $10,000 grant from the Cities of Promise initiative.

Officials from both organizations also contributed a combined $6,000.

Employees of the human service agency supervise eight children taking care of a garden on North Johnson Street, and Lighthouse has 20 children maintaining a garden in the middle of the city's Unity Park neighborhood.

The children are receiving help from Michigan State University Extension volunteers to create 4-H clubs and business plans for how they will sell the produce. The children will use the proceeds to reinvest in their gardens.

Read the entire article here.

Michigan is in a bit of a transition, as you may have already noticed. But what better way to illustrate this than when Pontiac's new movie studio buys one of GM's Pontiac Centerpoint buildings for its new home. From one industry to another, right? Of course film won't replace autos, but it shows that there's something else... besides cars.

Excerpt:

The group of investors planning a $75 million movie production and training facility in Pontiac has closed on a land contract to purchase one of the Pontiac Centerpoint buildings from General Motors Corp.

It's a benchmark in a project that's been in the works for more than a year -- which started, oddly enough, when its driving force considered leaving Michigan.

Linden Nelson, an entrepreneur turned real estate developer, was ready to move out West, he said. What stopped him was a conversation with Alfred Taubman, founder of Bloomfield Hills-based Taubman Centers Inc.

"He said, 'You're not leaving Michigan,'" Nelson said. "He said 'Michigan's been good to you, you need to be a leader.'"

Read the entire article here.

Not everyone goes to Cancun for spring break. Some people don't go anywhere. And some other people stick around and volunteer their time to improving metro Detroit. It's called Alternative Spring Break. And instead of sunscreen and sand in the shorts these kids have a hammer and nails and toolbelts.

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Alternative Spring Break participants not only give up potential time in the sun relaxing, they also forego trips to volunteer in hurricane-damaged areas along the Gulf Coast. Instead, they perform service projects to help those in need elsewhere. Detroit is one of several non-disaster locations.

About 50 students are working in metro Detroit, building wheelchair ramps in Detroit and Warren and performing service projects at Vista Maria in Dearborn, the Lighthouse Path in Pontiac and Franklin Wright Settlements in Detroit.

The student volunteers are from several different states. Many were here last year for the inaugural program and are returning this year as project site leaders.

Read the entire article here.

A Pontiac resident just moved into the metro areas first "green" house. No, not where you grow tomatoes and tulips, that would be just too cold during the winter. Camisha Byrd now lives in a "green" built, eco-friendly, energy-efficient 1,200 sq.-ft. home.

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Earlier this year, Byrd and more than 200 volunteers built the single-story house, the first environmentally friendly home Habitat for Humanity has erected in southeastern Michigan.

With all the low-energy features, Byrd will cut her use of utilities 30 percent to 50 percent, saving her up to $1,000 a year.

"We are embracing greenness to the fullest of our capacity," said Sally LePla, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County. "We're demonstrating you can build attractive, affordable green homes."

With the help of the Clawson-based building and design firm Gontina, the 1,200-square-foot dwelling was constructed according to the strictest standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The building is awaiting LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the federal agency.

Read the entire article here.