Reinventing Pittsburgh: Part 1
When I first got to Pittsburgh, I did something foolish. I pulled over in a parking lot, grabbed my microphone and digital recoder, and headed straight for tailgating Steelers fans. "Mind if I grab you...
View ArticleReinventing Pittsburgh: Part 2
When Dennis Yablonsky took over Pittsburgh's main development group last year, everyone was telling him it was time to brag. "You know, we should be doing some kind of marketing campaign to let people...
View ArticleReinventing Pittsburgh: Part 3
Drive east from downtown Pittsburgh and you’ll pass a church. At least, it was a church. Today, the alter has been replaced with stainless steel casks of beer, and the pews are now a bar and tables....
View ArticleWhy removing freeways can be good for cities
(You can also see this story with more photos on the Changing Gears website ) Half a century after cities across our region and country built sprawling freeways, many of those roads are reaching the...
View ArticleGreat recession slows Midwest's "brain drain"
For much of the last decade, cities across our region have watched their recent college graduates flee to cities like Phoenix. It what might be good news for our region, new census data show the...
View ArticleCasino development in nearby Ohio
After years of watching its residents travel to Michigan, Indiana, or Pittsburgh for gaming, Ohio is getting in on the action. Cleveland kicked off its first casino development yesterday. Developers...
View ArticleLeadership Series: Cleveland's Quiet Mayor (Part 2)
Our Midwest reporting project Changing Gears is looking at the role of leadership this week. Yesterday, we heard about Detroit Mayor Dave Bing determined to remake his troubled city. Today, we hear...
View ArticleZoning out: Cities rewrite codes to transform their look
Zoning is the DNA of a community: it controls how you live, shop, and work. After nearly a century of many cities separating those uses, now, theyre going back to the future: trying to recreate an old...
View ArticleCanadian oil is boosting midwest economy, but at what cost?
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-976530.mp3 Green energy is often said to be the future of the Midwest economy. But old fashioned fossil fuels could be having...
View ArticleRoad Trip: Norwalk saves its company (Part 4)
When a company bears the name of its hometown, it can be hard to separate the two. Such is the case with Norwalk Furniture and the town of Norwalk in Northern Ohio. Sue Lesch is the towns mayor. It...
View ArticleRoad Trip: Orrville, more than a company town (Part 5)
Our Changing Gears team has been on the road this week traveling to some of our company towns in the Midwest. Changing Gears is a Michigan Radio project looking at the economic transformation of the...
View ArticleTaxing Cigarettes for the Arts
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-981280.mp3 Its a tough time for arts funding around the nation. Kansas, as an example, just cut all its state support. Its a...
View ArticleCoal regulations could reshape Midwest energy
The Midwest relies so heavily on one source of power that some call us the coal belt. Coal is cheap and plentiful, but thats about to change. A wave of government regulations is about to hit the...
View ArticleThe "Google of manufacturing?" One company shows a possible future
Depending on who you ask, American manufacturing is either the way out of our bad economy, or its dead. Whatever you think, theres no denying that manufacturing has changed. Thats the story of Thogus...
View ArticleCan health care be a magic bullet for the Midwest? (Part 3)
Detroit is the latest metro area vying to become a medical destination. The hope is that its hospital systems can draw patients from outside its region, helping the local economy. In short, Detroit...
View ArticleTeaching after a year in the crossfire
Its been a tough few years for teachers. Classes are bigger. Pay is down. Benefits cost more. And, in the last year, teachers across the Midwest have been at the center of collective bargaining fights...
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