Wildflowers vs. Ruin Porn

[deepwinter]

We're taking on the discussion of Ruin Porn as part of our Wildflowers of Detroit Kickstart. Read our essay here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...t/posts/121408

<snip>
Detroit will always be raw, because this is its identify. But the core spirit is in the WILD – unforced and fluid – not in the RUIN.
</snip>

[Steve bennet]

Who's doing what now?

[deepwinter]

Who's doing what now?

Not sure what you are asking here. I'll spare reposting about the project since it already appeared in a different thread [[how I found out about the forum actually).

[alleyc]

Who's doing what now?

On the who [[beside the link provided above to a post at detroityes):

This discussion board pays a lot of good attention to the buildings and history of Detroit. A few years after met the person behind this project, the tenants of the Park Shelton Apartments were being booted from their homes. School teachers who had lived there 40 years, etc. They were in a big and dark fight with the new take-over company. I introduced him to one of the tenants - 'how can I help.' He set up a private discussion board [[probably on his own server) for them to communicate while working through the battle for their homes. Not a big thing. But a thing, considering all were unknown to each other.

The what is explained on the Kick Starter page-
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ers-of-detroit

This comment by one of the backers has good foresight on what this project can do, and for Detroit.

"Donald Nordeng 4 days ago

I think this is one of the most interesting projects on Kickstarter. Positivity works, and I love the idea of looking for wildflowers in Detroit. One of the key concepts missing in city planning is how to bring natural spaces into cities. Just noticing what is naturally occurring is a big start. I hope you guys make your funding."

[Autoracks]

I prefer slumflowers

[deepwinter]

I prefer slumflowers

I dunno, slum has always seemed like a derogatory term to me. In my 7 years living in the city, I guess I hung out in a lot of 'slummy' places, but by and large those neighborhoods were also working people's homes, doing their best to get by and make a good life for themselves.

[alleyc]

I prefer slumflowers

Slumhives then? A friend of mine started keeping bees eight or so years ago.

In Detroit.

Because his suburban neighbors didn't want bees around. I guess they thought their fruit trees, grape vines, and tomatoes somehow produced on their own.

The honey from that first set of hives went on to receive the Michigan Beekeepers Association best of show award his first year. Following that he held a meeting with the MBA members in the Detroit lot. They wanted to see where such good honey from Detroit was being produced. They were a rough, able and friendly group from "outside of Flint, Saginaw..." who had probably not been south of Eight Mile in many years and enjoyed themselves immensely.

Hives in Detroit are nothing new. Richard Gerathy a retired beekeeper in Oakland county said when he was a teenager in 1959 he worked at a honey plant in Detroit on 12th Street, and they let him keep his own hives on their roof.

[Autoracks]

slumflower was a term i created for pretty girls in not so pretty neighborhoods

this thread was discussing ruin porn and wildflowers

[alleyc]

I can see your image connection. Pretty poetic.

[English]

Love it. Donated. Thanks for the link.

[deepwinter]

Love it. Donated. Thanks for the link.

And thank you! The project is 88% funded right now, we're really close with 24 hours to go. It's going to be a photo finish.....

[alleyc]

This open software project has an interesting potential to map in space AND time.

The basic principal is a geo-tagged photo [[of whatever your group's subject is) is taken by you, then uploaded to your site that has a 'receiving' map on it. The photo is dated and placed in its position. Now a year later another photo might upload to that exact same spot [[by having the same latitude-longitude coordinates "geo-tagging") that would show a change in action, effect, outcome in that spot.

It can be used on a state level, neighborhood, city, country side or county. Whatever you decide as your boundaries.

It's designed to be directed by the community - the constituents. The mapping is done by the people affected, rather than the other way around.

The software is also 'of the people.' There will be apps built for smart phones but ALSO for basic phones that can text and include a photo. As well, you could be phone-less and it will work - upload a digital camera photo. A camera's photo would have to be assigned an approximate latitude-longitude position to get it onto the map.

The phone applications, and the how to build the 'receiving' map would be part of Open Software of the Wildflowers of Detroit project that will be made publicly available once the project is funded at Kickstarter. Leave it to Detroiters to build something that is 'of the people.' The worker capital.

Join in for future potential.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-detroit/posts

Caveat: this was written by someone who is not building the software. There could be corrections. This is how I understand the theory. Or, this is how I would set it up for use if I weren't better at hammering than coding.

[deepwinter]

As of t minus 3 hours our project is 102% funded! Thanks to everyone who has supported this project and our perspectives on the city! This is going to be a great project for Detroit - we'll be posting planning documents in the Kickstarter blog and on winterroot.net, and we'll be starting the implementation in early 2012 with completion scheduled for early spring. In the meantime we have rewards [[tshirts, screen prints, and hoodies) to get out to the wonderful folks who have anted up and backed this project!! It's been a wild ride, but 102% worth it.

[English]

Thanks for your creativity. You're an asset to our city.

[Lowell]