As thousands of visiting Super Bowl fans converge on downtown Detroit, city officials are going to great lenghts to cover up the city's blight.
Critics "say much of this busy urban landscape is simply a façade designed to fool the more than 100,000 visitors who are expected to come here and generate an estimated $300 million in revenues in celebration of Sunday's kickoff at Ford Field.
Painted murals of football scenes cover the street-level entrances of one building, camouflaging a burned-out doorway of an abandoned structure... Along Woodward Avenue, visitors and locals can gaze at dozens of new window displays. But less than a third of the buildings have tenants. Ornate architectural renderings and balloon-colored shutters that hang as art cover up forgotten lobbies and empty shops.
...Since Detroit landed its bid with the NFL in 2000 to host the Super Bowl, city officials have been focused on one goal â€" putting a new face on the city's blight... For decades, city officials have been banking on Detroit's downtown area to help turn around one of America's most troubled urban hubs, which has been scarred by riots, crime and the flight of both its upper and middle-classes."
FULL STORY: A Still-Struggling Detroit Puts on Its Game Face

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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