Ann Arbor AF Ann Arbor AF

Check out the week of events and updates at www.dogoodwork.org/houseparty
Registration for Jess' panel: History to Present Day: Race and Housing in Ann Arbor

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.
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Today we talk to Yodit Mesfin Johnson about the problematic promises of community “engagement,” and what it could look like to pivot more towards community-driven planning.  Yodit is presently co-leading (with Jess and developer partners Avalon Housing and the Ann Arbor Housing Commission) a community-driven planning effort for the mixed-use affordable housing project at Fourth and Catherine, a historically Black business and residential area in downtown Ann Arbor. 

Some programs we mentioned:
The affordable housing development at 121 E. Catherine, including the first and second public sessionsNEW’s Champions for Change programCome check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.
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We continue our Civic Therapy miniseries talking to Ann Arbor Public Schools parent Liz Lin about WTF Schools: amygdala parenting, Zoom kindergarten, why she almost ran for school board, and why she didn’t.
Links we referenced:
The Free Press article that broke the story of the lawsuitThe original lawsuit filing itselfThe form to sign up to make a comment to the Ann Arbor School Board. Next meeting is August 23rd.And you can email thoughts (and big feelings) to the Ann Arbor school board any time at boardofed@a2schools.org.Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.


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Our Civic Therapy miniseries continues with Reverend Donnell Wyche about WTF Transportation. We embrace our collective Big Feelings about kids being able to bike to school, e-bikes as a vector of radicalization, the just-proposed Driving Equality Ordinance, and the cost of not taking Vision Zero literally.
Links we referenced:
Transportation Alternatives Resource HubTransitCenterCome check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.
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In a continuation of our new miniseries, Civic Therapy, we are talking with Dan Adams about WTF, Library Lot.

Dan is a corporate attorney, local housing activist, and long-time bike person. He has lived in Ann Arbor since 2008 and grew up down the road in Dexter. In November 2022 he published a long piece in Damn Arbor about the current status of the Library Lot, how we got to this place, and what we should do to get out of it. He’s here today to talk about that piece and about the Library Lot, Prop A, and all the big mad feelings.

Referenced Articles
Damn Arbor: Guest Opinion: Desolate and Uninviting—The Failure of 2018’s Proposal A and the Future of the Library Lot – Dan AdamsDamn Arbor: Guest article: New Council, Who Dis? A Policy Wishlist – Jessica LetawCome check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.


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A proposed development with robust sustainability and affordability components, considered by many in our community to be a slam dunk for approval, hit a surprising road block this week. Join Jess and Molly for our first Civic Therapy session with Lisa Sauvé and Scott Trudeau: what happened to SouthTown, and why what happened points to some larger problems.

And hey, wanna check out HouseParty? Here's how you can.
Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.
(And y'all, yes, we did mark this explicit twice...there are a few more swears than usual in this conversation.)
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