December 23, 2025

Cities Punch Above Their Weight Economically

by Keith Schneider1

  Here are two more reasons why Michigan and the American Midwest are slipping to backwater status in the United States, and why we can’t give up on the capacity of our governor and state lawmakers to help work Michigan out of its economic mess.  Fact one, according to a new analysis by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution: Six of the 80 old industrial cities lagging far behind in economic performance, population growth, job creation, and business development are …

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Inc. Magazine Hot Cities: Not One in Upper Midwest

by Keith Schneider3

The annual tally of American “Boom Towns” in the May issue of Inc. Magazine includes not one – repeat, not a single large, midsize, or small city in the Great Lakes region that qualifies among the nation’s top generators of new jobs. If the entire Midwest is considered, the only two cities that sneak onto the list are Springfield, Missouri (ranked # 20 among midsize cities) and Dubuque, Iowa (#15 among small cities).  The list does include some of our favorite Mode Shift …

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Flip: Take Me To The River

by Keith Schneider2

If you’re  plugged into Google Earth then check out how the Jane Goodall Institute blogs. Talk about moving people towards a subject. Just click on the “blog entry” link to each post. This is a terrific application of online reporting and experiential graphics. We’re looking into how to emulate it here at Mode Shift.

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Circle of Blue

by Keith Schneider5

Not long after he earned a graduate degree in journalism from Northwestern University Carl Ganter made a name for himself here in Traverse City, his hometown, as a young writer and photojournalist with an unerring grasp for great stories, and a superb eye for color, light, character, and drama. He could make an ordinary windmill, its blades lit against a dramatic dawn sky, look like the most exotic piece of energy technology ever invented. His wife, Eileen Ganter, …

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Fly By Curb Appeal

by Keith Schneider0

This part of Michigan, where sable sand and blue water meet, is rich in people of intelligence and talent who came from someplace else.  Texas and Ohio, New York and Arizona, Pennsylvania and Indiana and Missouri. They all have a story about how they got here.   And then there’s the story told by Jerry Linenger (see pix), a retired physician and astronaut who was raised in Eastpointe, just outside Detroit, and decided to settle in Leelanau County …

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Laura Dunn Directs The Unforeseen

by Keith Schneider5

Laura Dunn, a young Yale-educated director (see pix) who lives in Austin, Texas, is creating a stir at some of the country’s important film festivals, including Sundance, with The Unforeseen, a feature-length documentary about the consequences of runaway development and sprawl. Writer Dennis Conroy, who saw The Unforeseen at the San Francisco Film Festival last month, offered this assessment: “A modest real estate developer, [Gary] Bradley had big ideas. His concept was the 4,000-acre Circle C Ranch, an upscale subdivision—a …

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Barack Steps Gingerly Into the Realm of A Weakened Beast

by Keith Schneider0

Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois Senator Barack Obama skipped across the big pond on Tuesday and landed in Detroit, where he stirred a modest amount of interest by scolding American auto makers for letting the Japanese take command of the industry, and then offering a federal hand in contributing to the industry’s health care costs in exchange for convincing auto makers to increase fuel efficiency by about 1 mile a gallon per year.  [youtube]GpYkCNohmf8[/youtube] Big deal. Both ideas …

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The Proximate Principle: Open Space is Sound Fiscal Policy

by Keith Schneider3

  People adore parks. Most people also love open space. That applies even to the three Grand Traverse (MI) County commissioners who last month suggested that global climate change was a leftist conspiracy ginned up by Al Gore, and suggested that emailing the sun was a useful antidote.  A comprehensive study by the San Francisco-based Trust For Public Land, published in early March,  found sound economic evidence for why regions that embrace an aggressive program of park development and open …

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California Governor Tracks Back, Says He Supports High Speed Rail

by Keith Schneider1

  The push back by the old and new media to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut state funds to the agency overseeing the development of a 700-mile high speed rail network in California appears to have influenced the Republican governor’s view. On Friday, Schwarzenegger (see pix) published an op-ed in the Fresno Bee extolling a high speed system. Thanks to Marcel Marchon’s Trainblog for keeping us current. “The promise of high-speed rail is incredible,” wrote …

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High Speed Rail Cut Stirs Response in California

by Keith Schneider11

   PROPOSED CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL ROUTE   California Democrats have elevated building their state’s proposed high speed rail network to the top of their legislative priorities, according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The Daily Kos, one of the most read blogs in the country, noted the swirl of attention that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stirred with his proposal to cut $2.5 million in state funding to the California High Speed Rail Authority, the agency overseeing …

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