The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which opened in July, creates the first direct highway-to-highway link between Ontario’s Highway 401 and Michigan’s I-75, enabling up to 26,500 vehicles to cross daily. The span may help relieve international gridlock, but for the  residents of Detroit neighborhoods near the bridge, like Delray, it is part of a much larger story — one shaped by long-standing concerns about health and quality of life.

Despite an encouraging outlook overall, the report suggests significant work remaining for the city’s economy to produce widely shared success. The economists estimate 34.4% of Detroit’s primary earners attained a living wage in 2024, compared with more than 44% of Cleveland’s working residents and nearly 60% of those in Chicago.

For Ron J. Stefanski, the path from Detroit to national influence has always been guided by one belief: talent is everywhere – but opportunity is not. Today, he is the creator and host of DisruptED, a growing Detroit-based podcast and leadership platform recorded out of Newlab at Michigan Central. Through conversations with educators, technologists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders, DisruptED explores how learning and work are evolving in a rapidly changing, AI-driven world.

Josephine Majid has always been good at drawing and recently took an interest in buildings, especially the homes in her neighborhood on Detroit’s East Side. The rising junior at Detroit’s Renaissance High School had been considering architecture as a career but wasn’t sure it was right for her. When Josephine learned about the ArcStart program at Taubman College, it sounded like a perfect opportunity to gain that hands-on experience.

There are nearly 100 cards in the exhibit: anniversary, birthday, holiday, get-well wishes and thinking of you messages. Assistant Professor of Health and Human Services Vitalis Im is the chief curator of “Postmarked from the Inside.” The exhibit runs through Sept. 30 at the U-M Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward Ave. There is no admission cost and it’s open to all.

The median household income in Detroit is arguably the most significant barrier in preventing retail from opening in Detroit.
The city could offer tax credit incentives that reward employers who hire local residents. Detroit could effectively model an incentive-based program to create a virtuous cycle of attracting national and regional retailers while simultaneously increasing wages for residents.

When Larry Brinker Jr. drives through Detroit, he passes buildings that tell the story of his life. Ford Field. Book Tower. Comerica Park. Little Caesars Arena. The Motown Museum expansion. These landmarks shape the city’s identity—and in each of them, Brinker’s company left its mark in the glass, steel and structure that brought the projects to life.

Their capstone, the Detroit Community Compost Collective Program, was funded by a community grant to test composting initiatives across Detroit at three levels: backyard, community and urban farm. During Fall 2025, the program worked with 76 backyard compost systems, 32 community compost locations and six urban farms in Detroit.

As a government employee, Taylor Mitchell faces obstacles in her sustainability work, including funding availability, political impacts and a lack of resources, but she does have a platform to implement the visionary creativity and passion she developed as a SEAS student and Detroit resident.