When does the opening of a Whole Foods generate national media attention? When the location is Midtown, Detroit.
Grist's Claire Thompson asks why this particular store opening is such big news. For one thing, she explains, outsiders think of Detroit as a “food desert.” But locals know that the city has a lot going for it, supermarket-wise, including the country's largest permanent farmers market.
Then there's Detroit's economy, which many Americans seem to have written off as a lost cause. Yet local and state politicians wooed Whole Foods with $5.8 million in tax credits and grants, in the apparent hope that the store will spur investment in nearby real estate.
The real cause of the excitement appears to be more insidious. “[W]hat seems to be causing the freakout over Whole Foods’ unlikely new location is just that: its unlikeliness, and the racist and classist assumptions underlying that assessment,” Thompson writes.
Yet Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb's claim that the new store will combat racism is equally overdrawn. “The notion that a bourgie grocery store could meaningfully address racial inequality is ridiculous,” Thompson argues. “If it has any effect at all, it could just as easily set in motion the kind of unchecked gentrification that deepens racial divisions.”
FULL STORY: Whole Foods opens in Detroit, threatens stereotypes everywhere

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

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

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.

From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service