Community action/Detroit

| Map | |
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| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 42° 19' 53.58" N, 83° 2' 47.91" W |
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Detroit.
News
Recent Canadian wildfires are record-breaking – and will threaten US air quality for days, Eric Holthaus, theguardian.com (May 30, 2025)
Michigan accuses big oil of being ‘cartel’ that fuels climate crisis and high energy costs, theguardian.com (Feb 05, 2026) — In first-of-its-kind complaint, state accused four fossil fuel majors and US oil lobbying group of climate disinformation
New grant program asks residents to ‘throw shade,’ foster climate resiliency in Flint, flintbeat.com (Aug 02, 2023)
The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies, theguardian.com (Feb 15, 2026)
Local Barley Becomes Local Booze at a Wisconsin Distillery Prioritizing Ag Sustainability, insideclimatenews.org (Feb 09, 2026)
These US states want polluters to pay for the rising insurance costs of climate disasters, theguardian.com (Feb 08, 2026)
Introducing Katcha: An African Democratic Innovation Network, demnext.substack.com (Feb 19, 2026)
The planet’s other forest crisis, latimes.com (Feb 19, 2026)
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics, theguardian.com (Feb 19, 2026)
Networks and sustainability intiatives
International events
Global or International events
Feb 02, 2026 (Mon) — World Wetlands Day, Feb 2, annually, worldwetlandsday.org
Feb 20, 2026 (Fri) — World Day of Social Justice, Feb 20 each year, un.org
February 21 - March 1, 2026 (Sat - Sun) — Real Bread Week, annual, international celebration of additive-free bread and the people behind its rise, sustainweb.org
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Each week 3 different short videos from across the world.
Community networks, Community action/Finland, Community action/Peru / ...This week's featured UK videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
Detroit video
Community involvement
- Lower Eastside Action Plan, Detroit. Community-driven project designed to engage people in a process to transform vacant land and property into uses that improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods and surrounding areas. LEAP on facebook
- Pedal to Porch
- Detroit SeeClickFix, for reporting community issues to the city
Food activism
City Commons, cooperative of Detroit farms - Detroit Black Community Food Security Network - Detroit Dirt, compost company working to turn forgotten parcels of land in Detroit into urban farms that not only feed, but revitalize community - Detroit Food Policy Council - Earthworks Urban Farm
Community resources
- Citizens data initiative: DetroitData, Collaborate, compile, and share open data for effective community-based decision making in Detroit.
Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
Sharing
Maps: Detroit Solidarity Economy v2
Sustainable transport
The QLINE is a 3.3-mile-long (5.3 km) streetcar system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Opened in 2017, it connects Downtown Detroit with Midtown and New Center, running along Woodward Avenue for its entire route. It is supplemented by the Detroit People Mover, which serves as a circulator route in downtown Detroit, and also connects to DDOT and SMART bus routes as part of a comprehensive network of transportation in metropolitan Detroit.
Cycling activism
- Detroit Greenways Coalition, Advocating for better bicycling and trails since 2007
- Slow Roll Detroit
- Let's ride, Detroit, MoGo, Metro Detroit's non-profit bike-share organization
Detroit is flat with an extensive road network and a number of recreational and competitive opportunities for cycling. The city has invested in greenways and bike lanes and other bicycle-friendly infrastructure. Bike rental is available from the riverfront and tours of the city's architecture can be booked.
The city has a cycling heritage, and first embraced cycling during the "golden age" of the 1890s.
Cycling Maps
- SEMCOG publishes various walking and cycling maps including the Southeast Michigan Regional Map for the region around Detroit.
- OpenStreetMap offers a cycling map view for the city and elsewhere.
- Google Maps also offers a cycling map view for the city and elsewhere.
- The Detroit Greenways Coalition has an on-line Detroit Bike+Parking Map, which is the Google cycling map overlaid with bike parking locations.
Open spaces
Detroit RiverFront Conservancy
Trees, woodland and forest
The Greening of Detroit is a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental organization whose mission is to inspire the sustainable growth of a healthy urban community through trees, green spaces, healthy living, education, training and job opportunities. The Greening serves communities in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck, Michigan.
News archive
- Eco-friendly 'green' district launched in Detroit, Jun 7, 2017...@detroitnews
- Detroit Imagines a Citizen-Led Smart City, May 31, 2017...citylab.com
- Public, not private, interests now rule riverfront plan, Mar 11, 2017...@freep
- Re-imagining the Civic Commons: A 21st Century Vision for Detroit, Feb 15, 2017...civiccommons.us
- Detroit's new LED streetlight network is illuminating the city while cutting its emissions, Jan 25, 2017...fastcoexist.com
- The Detroit Collective That Fuses Cycling and Storytelling, Dec 2, 2016...citylab.com
- America's first sustainable urban agrihood is growing in Detroit, Dec 1, 2016...@CurbedDetroit
- Detroit Vacant Lots Make Room for Green Stormwater Design, Jun 9, 2016...Next City
- Banding Together to Build a Better CSA, November 10, 2015...resilience.org
- Why bike commuting is taking off in the nation's car capital, October 27, 2015...FastCoExist
- Saying Goodbye to Grace Lee Boggs, October 6, 2015...YES! Magazine
- Open-source Mapping Supports Social Justice Work in Detroit, September 16, 2015...Shareable
- How This Woman Is Helping Revitalize Detroit, One Garden At A Time, June 4, 2015...huffingtonpost.com
- Can soup change the world? March 13, 2015...BBC News
- A brief introduction to Detroit's civic tech ecosystem, September 30, 2014...modeldmedia.com
- Detroit: Citizen-led growth, May 1, 2014..NewStart
- World's largest urban farm planned for the city of Detroit, Hantz Farms, April 2, 2009
About Detroit
In the 2010s, several initiatives were taken by Detroit's citizens and new inhabitants to improve the cityscape by renovating and revitalising neighbourhoods. Such include the Motor City Blight Busters and various urban gardening movements.
Planning and development in Detroit includes efforts aimed at enhancing Detroit's economy and quality of life. In 1970, the private group "Detroit Renaissance" began to facilitate development in the city, while its successor, Business Leaders for Michigan, has continued to facilitate development into the 21st century. Projects have included new commercial facilities, revitalization of neighborhoods, hospitality infrastructure, and improvements to recreational and public facilities, such as the QLine.
| Authors | Phil Green |
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| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Cite as | Phil Green (2017–2025). "Community action/Detroit". Appropedia. Retrieved February 26, 2026. |