Changing Gears

Let’s face it: Detroit’s reputation as the Motor City is unshakeable. But it’s gaining ground as a city for cyclists. Racing enthusiasts have revived a velodrome, cycle clubs are growing, it’s easy to find a bike tour and tourism officials took journalists on a ride around Detroit last year. Grown Men on Bikes, a Detroit … Continue reading →

This week Changing Gears is taking a closer look at the Midwest Migration, and we’re talking with people who have left the region. Reporter Peter O’Dowd met with some of those former Midwesterners living in Austin, Texas, and brings us this report: The Brookings Institution reports that 20-somethings fled Detroit and Chicago at the end … Continue reading →

Detroit has a lot of vacant land. That much, you’ve probably heard by now. On Sunday, the Detroit Free Press took a look at efforts to put that land to use, and along the way, the paper rounded up some eye-popping statistics you might not have heard: There are more than 100,000 vacant residential lots … Continue reading →

Apparently, the phone has been ringing off the hook over at Detroit’s planning department.  It’s all because of a few lines uttered by Mayor Dave Bing in his State of the City address last week. (You’ll find them about 30 minutes in.) “This week we sent out over 500 letters to property owners in Hubbard … Continue reading →

The surge Chinese manufacturing over the past two decades has gotten a lot of attention – and a lot of concern – in the industrial Midwest. It’s easy enough to see what the effects have been here. We’ve seen it in the empty factories that no longer make things. We’ve seen the increase in products … Continue reading →

On Monday, there will be word on the new members of a growing collection across the Midwest: vacant churches. The Archdiocese of Detroit is expected to officially announce which parishes will close or be combined with others across a six-county region, and the Detroit News says that could result in 39 fewer churches. Vacant churches … Continue reading →

Everyone who wanders through Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood sees the empty Esquire Theater and asks, “why don’t they do something with it?” Now, the 1938 movie palace is about to be reinvented — as a steakhouse. DelFrisco’s Restaurant Group plans to open a DelFrisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in the theater at 58 East Oak Street, … Continue reading →

Detroit is a city that fascinates a lot of people. Its story is not a simple one, though it has sometimes been a dramatic one. So maybe it’s not surprising that we seem to hear every week about a new documentary film being made about Detroit. Changing Gears hasn’t had a chance to see all of … Continue reading →

Our mission at Changing Gears is to report the economic transformation of the industrial Midwest, through the stories of people driving and experiencing this change. Recently, our stations aired an hour-long encore presentation of our favorite series from the fall, as well as other stories from throughout 2011. Have you ever wondered if small business … Continue reading →

Changing Gears recently reported on Empty Places throughout our region — buildings, vacant lots, corporate campuses — and what people were doing to deal with these spaces. Lee Bey, a blogger at our partner station WBEZ, posed a question about what happens to Chicago Public School buildings when they’re slated to be closed, especially when … Continue reading →