Capturing Detroit
Bill Rauhauser, 95, has spent decades documenting Detroit and its people. After working in relative obscurity for much of his life, he's finally started to earn some recognition.

“While many contemporary photographers of Detroit turn their lenses to abandoned buildings and landscapes, Detroit's most famous photographer has always focused his lens on people,” writes Glen Morren in Model D.

Cincy’s beer boom
In its heyday, Cincinnati was the third or fourth largest brewing center in the U.S., and you can still find the names of early brewery masters scattered about as parks, street names and beer labels.

Now beer is back, in a big way. Following a national trend -- the number of breweries is now back to 1880s levels, say experts -- the craft beer economy in Cincy is booming.

In fact, brewers are having trouble keeping up with demand. “Even as the number of breweries enters double digits, the city’s beer entrepreneurs continue to be challenged -- in a good way -- by Cincinnati's love of local brew,” writes Kyle Stone in Soapbox.

Cleveland’s new leaders
The City of Cleveland is attracting top talent, and young African-American leaders are among those finding new opportunities.  

“I’m not sure it’s that I had a plan that Cleveland is the place I wanted to be, but I had such a good experience that I began thinking that Cleveland is a place I could be,” says education advocate Bishara Addison. “The longer I’ve been here, I’m convinced that Cleveland is the place I should be.”

Addison is one of four African-American leaders profiled by Brandon Baker in Fresh Water Cleveland.

Toronto women more than ‘lean in’
“Innovation requires vision in an arena where women are notoriously outnumbered by men,” writes Kelli Korducki in Yonge Street. “It also requires support. In Toronto, both can be found in spades.”

Korducki’s article profiles top female founders and innovators in Toronto, a city that has a growing girls’ club.   

Twin Cities artist reimagines 'home'
Oskar Ly is a French American Hmong living in St. Paul. She grew up in a traditional household where her mother was always sewing, and as she got older, she decided she wanted to make her own fashions. Today, she’s an arts activist working to connect her culture with the larger Twin Cities community.

“We're losing our language by the generation,” she tells Nicole Rupersberg in Creative Exchange and The Line. “Because of a long history of being persecuted, Hmong people never had the ability to capture their language… even something as simple as the alphabet [doesn't exist]."

Ly’s latest art installation reimagines ‘home’ on a vacant site in Saint Paul.

How Memphis became a cycling city
The Bluff City has built over 60 miles of bike lanes in recent years, writes Michael Waddell in High Ground.

“Memphis was recently named the ‘Most Improved City’ for cycling, and this shift toward a bike-friendly culture was not accidental. Through coordinated strategy and investment of government, community and business, the Bluff City has seen a cycling awakening.”

Memphis recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the Hampline bike-and-ped project.

Make no small plans, says PGH
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto wants to attract 20,000 new residents to the city by 2025. How? “By investing in residential development and thinking young,” writes Marty Levine in Pop City.

Some of the city's strategies include new housing development, investing in neighborhoods that haven't seen development and creating amenities that attract new businesses and young people.

This is a historic moment for the Steel City, which has at last begun to reverse decades of population loss. Other cities will be watching closely to see if Peduto’s big bets pay off.  

Food startups north and south
Teach a man to fish… You know the rest. One Tampa entrepreneur is taking this to heart by creating a fish farm, putting this ancient practice at the center of his 21st-century urban farm.

“Budding urban farmers from West Coast to East Coast journey to Morningstar's Pasco County facility to soak up the lessons of sustainability,” writes Jan Hollingsworth in 83 Degrees.

Entrepreneurs up north are tapping into the local food movement, too. That’s especially true in Pennsylvania, with local food startups selling everything from fresh roasted coffee to gourmet sesame paste.

Philly's Rob Seufert of Epic Pickles started by making pickles for his neighbors. "Next thing I know, they're knocking on the back door with cash in hand looking for pickles, and the business was born," he told Lee Stabert of Keystone Edge and Flying Kite.

Destination dining in Denver
“Competition in the restaurant industry is growing increasingly fierce,” notes Gigi Sukin in Confluence. “As ambitious restaurateurs throughout Denver attempt to cozy into the stomachs and hearts of their customers, the experience involves more than just a tasty meal.”

From hipster cool to just plain cozy, interior designer Xan Creative has designed some of Denver’s most eye-catching restaurants. Confluence chronicles this rising trend in appealing to diners’ senses not only through the food, but through design as well.