WHAT TO DO AROUND TOWN

Grass roots effort remakes and remodels Hamtramck Festival into a community-run weekend with an impressive list of new sponsors and vintage performers (Mitch Ryder, right). We raise a glass and say "sto lat" to volunteers who understand that keeping it real is the only way to fly. 

Real estate agent Austin Black had found success selling the city for other firms, so he decided to strike out on his own with City Living Detroit, his Midtown brokerage. He talks with Model D about the city and opportunities that lay ahead.

John Hantz wants to put million over 10 years and create in Detroit what would be the largest urban farm in the world. The plan has critics, but it's also got a lot of people the world over watching Detroit.

71 Garfield is one of the coolest rehabbed buildings in Midtown. The live/work spaces are in a newly renovated, green building in the heart of the Sugar Hill District. Check out the before and after shots and look around inside in this video clip.

There's no party like a Detroit party. Especially when the people behind it are dedicated to raising the quality of neighborhood life through community action. Read about a special project Team Detroit is up to in high places in the heart of residential Midtown. Walter Wasacz meditates on the meaning of it all.

Organizations like R.E.C. Boyz, Mpowerment Detroit, KICK, LOCS, SPICE, and Ruth Ellis Center; and events like Hotter Than July, Fierce Hot Mess and Macho City are helping to change the social queerscape in Detroit. Terry Parris Jr. reports.

The times they are a-changin' in the D, and arts and culture are taking leadership roles in the future of the city. Check out the Heidelberg Project's Dancin' On The Street (DOTS) party this Saturday and celebrate the transformation of community life happening before our eyes.

Bwok right over to this multimedia presentation from Model D photographer Marvin Shaouni. Detroit had its first chicken race recently, and he captured the quirky display of the city's ag side.

NYC-based PSFK is all about big ideas for creatives, and they are hosting a salon-style discussion in Detroit on Thursday. Read about it here.

Dutch filmmaker Mascha Poppnek fell in love with Detroit while making the documentary Grown in Detroit. She discusses the movie and the city that inspired her in this week's Model D TV installment.

The cards are falling into place to bring light rail all the way down Woodward from downtown Detroit to 8 Mile Road, thanks to a big federal push. If it works as planned, you could be riding the line by 2016.

Developer Randy Lewarchik is turning the century-old Elevator Building near Detroit's Riverfront into a new economy hub. He talks with Model D about the project, promoting entrepreneurship, and being part of the Detroit village.

Which neighborhood will reign supreme in the inaugural Detroit City Futbol League championship, the Copa Detroit? We find out this Saturday, July 31, on Belle Isle. Find out more about the league in this week's Model D TV video. Vuvuzelas optional.

This event is a kind of a big deal -- 2,000 people hit the streets on bike for the Tour de Troit in 2009. Model D TV was there.

We love when Model D readers ask questions about Detroit. We receive them all the time via email and our Facebook page so, instead of simply answering them directly, we've decided to share our (ahem) collective wisdom to all in an intermittent feature called 'Ask Model D.' This week, development news editor Kelli B. Kavanaugh takes on egg rolls, cheap places to crash and shopping carts.