$1.25 million for retail on Jefferson

The Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan is sponsoring a $1.25 million program through the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation to spark retail development along a 3-mile stretch of East Jefferson from Downtown to McClellan St., near the eastern end of Belle Isle.

Gleaners goes green

Model D has a nice article about the public/private collaboration behind Gleaners' "green" renovation of its historic warehouse.

Good news in Gratiot Woods

The Free Press has a positive story on the turnaround of the Gratiot Woods neighborhood on the city's east side. The effort has been led by the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, one of the dozens of community development groups working with little fanfare to empower residents and revitalize neighborhoods (some, due to limited funding and capacity, with more success than others).

Scrummage moving to the East Side

Scrummage University, the bizarre young-hipster hangout, is moving from its current space in Eastern Market to an abandoned toy factory at Van Dyke and Davison on the city's east side. (Hat tip: Web Vomit and Metroblogging Detroit.)

The new location has a few obvious advantages, like 10,000 square feet of space and a parking lot, but it's still a very odd choice. I worked with the community development corporation that operates in that area this summer, and I just don't see Scrummage meshing well with the neighborhood. For one, the new location's across from Mt. Olivet Cemetery (where my grandparents are buried). The cemetery won't appreciate its new neighbors. It's also totally on its own. That strip of Van Dyke is almost totally dead, and there are no other music or arts venues anywhere near. A sudden influx of white, suburban teenage hipsters will surely be noticed. It may have flown under the radar in Eastern Market, but Scrummage will stick out glaringly in its new digs.

But I give them credit for their daring. I've only been to Scrummage once (the intense Dan Deacon show in July), but I'll have to visit the new venue to see what they make of it.