Below are job openings with the SCA, a group that has been instrumental in building and improving the bike/hike trails at Detroit’s Rouge Park:

Detroit Community Crew Programs

You can make a difference this summer! Here’s your chance to be part of a program that promotes youth leadership and conservation! The Student Conservation Association is a dynamic, nonprofit national organization which encourages and supports youth in service to the environment. The SCA is currently accepting applications for Crew Leader positions with our 2011 Detroit Community Program.

Responsibilities: Co-lead, mentor and coach a crew of 10 students, ages 15-18, while completing various conservation service projects designed to build an ethic of community and environmental stewardship. Projects include trail and park maintenance, habitat restoration, neighborhood green space revitalization and urban agriculture. In addition, leaders will facilitate pre and post-program planning which includes crew training, environmental education and reporting. Program dates are July 11 – August 19. Mandatory, all expenses paid, residential training dates are June 1-10 (possible alternate dates).

Compensation: up to $3795 total salary depending on experience and crew length.

Qualifications: Be at least 21 years old; able to legally work in the US; have a valid driver’s license and clean driving record; First Aid/CPR certification, experience working with youth or young adults (ages 14-18); experience as a teacher or leader in an educational environment; experience with conservation or related skills, familiarity with and passion for the Detroit community.

How to apply: Send a cover letter and resume to the Detroit Program Manager at scadetroit@thesca.org. Please direct questions to scadetroit@thesca.org or 313.285.1247. Crew leaders are hired on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.

It’s often a challenge for the city of Detroit to compete with its suburbs in terms of schools, taxes, and city services. But there’s one feature most of the suburbs — especially the exurbs — can’t compete with Detroit: walkability and bikeability.

And this is critical as Gen Yers are less in love with cars and McMansions. They are shunning car dependence and showing a preference for more dense urban areas. And place matters.

So it’s not a surprise that Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is picking up on this.

Attracting young professionals to Detroit is a key piece to revitalizing the city and improving the economy, Mayor Dave Bing said Friday during his annual address to the business community.

Even as the city continues to lose residents, Bing said, young people are moving in and bringing creative ideas, fresh energy and investments with them.

That’s why Bing said he plans to make Midtown, a popular spot for young professionals and artists, an important component of his ambitious plan to reshape the city by creating denser neighborhoods with better services.

But Midtown has something most areas don’t — colleges, art galleries, bike paths, theaters, condos, boutiques and an eclectic assortment of bars and restaurants, all within walking distance of each other.

Okay, the bike paths aren’t in Midtown yet, but some are under construction and many more are planned.

While Bing appears to get it, we’re not sure other Metro communities do. But they should.

Theater of the Absurd

And if they don’t, they need to read this email from Andrew Basile, Jr., a patent attorney with Young Basile. It’s a must read.

If you don’t have the time, here are some highlights (emphasis ours).

We’d like to stay in Michigan, but we have a problem… Our problem is access to talent…  Most qualified candidates live out of state and simply will not move here, even though they are willing to relocate to other cities. Our recruiters are very blunt.  They say it is almost impossible to recruit to Michigan without paying big premiums above competitive salaries on the coasts.

Having moved here from California five years ago, I will testify that Metro Detroit is a very hard place to live.  Ask any former Detroiter in California, and you will hear a consistent recital of the flaws that make Metro Detroit so unattractive.  Things are spread too far apart.  You have to drive everywhere.  There’s no mass transit.  There are no viable cities.  Lots of it is really ugly, especially the mile after mile of sterile and often dingy suburban strip shopping and utility wires that line our dilapidated roads (note above). There’s no nearby open space for most people  (living in Birmingham, it’s 45 minutes in traffic to places like Proud Lake or Kensington).  It’s impossible to get around by bike without taking your life in your hands. Most people lead sedentary lifestyles. There’s a grating “car culture” that is really off-putting to many people from outside of Michigan.  I heard these same complaints when I left 25 years ago.  In a quarter century, things have only gotten considerably worse.

It truly is a great letter that shows how this area for the most part is not investing in place, nor walkability or bikability. And not doing a good job attracting young professionals, much less retaining those that are already here.

But if the Mayor has his way, Midtown will be an exception.

Of course Detroit has a strong automotive history. The first gasoline-powered car was driven in Detroit 115 years ago today — with Henry Ford biking behind it.

But we also have a strong beer brewing heritage, which is perhaps largely a result of Detroit, especially the eastside, being a major destination for German immigrants.

In fact by 1880, 28% of all Detroit households were headed by a German immigrant. At the same time, 62% of the workers in Detroit’s bars and saloons were German immigrants, which proves you don’t need to speak English to pour beers.

Last Fall as part of Detroit Beer Week,  Bil Lusa led a bike tour called BIKE-toberfest – Detroit Brewing, Past & Present. It included Detroit’s current breweries along with the historical sites such as Stroh’s, Pfeiffer, E & B, and Goebel.

Now the Motor City Bike and Brew Tours are offering something similar once a month from April through October.

Learn about Detroit’s brewing history from your own two wheels. Motor City Bike and Brew Tours presents a guided bike tour of Detroit breweries. Discover why the Motor City is a great bike and beer city!

There is a $24.99 fee but the tour includes lunch and drink vouchers.

As always, bike safely.

Yesterday I was on the Craig Fahle Show on WDET. The discussion focused on the last night’s Beaufait Greenway meeting and tomorrow’s Greater Riverfront East community meeting.

If you missed the program, the podcast is on line. The discussion on greenways begins at 1:04.

That 9-mile abandoned rail property that I mentioned is part of the planned Inner Circle Greenway.

For those who don’ t know, Fahle is a cyclist and a former bike mechanic at Alfred E. Bikes in Kalamazoo.

– Todd Scott

There’s been some very impressive planning underway that could eventually improve biking and walking in Detroit’s greater riverfront east.

Improve? Transform might be a better word.

This plan includes a little of everything from bike lanes to greenways to bicycle boulevards. The highlight might be a plan to extend the Detroit RiverWalk east to the Grosse Pointe Park border.

Want to learn more? On Saturday, March 5th from 10am until noon, everyone has the opportunity to review the current plan at the Northeast Guidance Center (2900 Conner at Charlevoix.) The meeting details are below.

We should also mention that a survey was completed prior to much of this planning.  The results clearly show an “if you build, they will use it” attitude from the area’s residents.:

• 85% of the respondents who do NOT walk regularly said they would be more inclined to do so if they had easy access to a greenway.
• 80% of the respondents who do NOT ride a bicycle regularly said they would be more inclined to do so if they had easy access to a greenway.
• 37% of respondents would be comfortable bicycling on a major roadway if a bike lane was present.

Given these very positive numbers, it seems one could readily justify the investment in building this walking and biking network.

So whether you live in this study area, ride through it, or are just interested, you should attend the meeting on the 5th.

More event details from the event flyer:

You are cordially invited to an open house to learn about the GREEN Task Force plan for a network of greenways throughout our lower eastside district (the Greater Riverfront East).

Greenways are paths (like the Dequindre Cut) designed for walkers, bicyclists, and others who want to get from here to there without using a car. Greenways can offer places for exercise; they can promote retail and other commercial growth along their routes; and they can forge healthy links between people and neighborhoods in different parts of the city.

In the Fall of 2010, many of you participated in surveys and conversations that helped us better understand how greenways could improve our community. Many of you also attended hands-on workshops that helped us map out where greenways could go throughout the lower eastside.

Now the GREEN Task Force is excited to be able to share with you the results of your input. We hope you will join us to view illustrations of the planned greenway routes and tell us which ones are your favorites. There will also be a short presentation that will give you an overview of the entire greenways planning project.

Outline

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Registration and Mingle
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM Presentation
10:45 AM – 11:45 AM View route illustrations and pick your favorites
11:45 AM – 12:00 Noon Wrap-Up

Refreshments will be served. Please let us know by Thursday, March 3 if you will be attending. Contact us by phone (313 444-0062) or email (thevillagesofdetroit@gmail.com).