Wetlands are easy to overlook, especially their importance. They may look like unassuming acres of native plants, wet soil, and trees, filled with frogs and other amphibians and animals. That is, until your basement floods, your favorite lake turns green, the shoreline at your lakeside home erodes, or the spring night chorus of frogs you usually enjoy goes silent. These aren’t wastelands but an assembly line of working landscapes – part sponge, part kidney, part nursery – tha

Recently a long-time Birmingham resident asked me a troubling question: "Can we call ourselves a walkable city if we're not a safe city?" Everything we love about Birmingham is grounded in the perception and reality of public and personal safety. Unfortunately, threats to those promises have been building and largely ignored for years. The creep of commercialization into our residential neighborhoods through short-term rentals (STR) and unchecked efforts to turn our downtown

Robert L. Ziegelman FAIA, developed a love of art at an early age; today he is an award-winning architect. “As a child, I was actually more interested in art than building. And I played basketball and tennis. I went to Cass Tech in Detroit. I had already decided I wanted to be an architect at 13-years-old. They had an architectural curriculum and basketball at Cass Tech. So, it filled both desires.” Ziegelman went on to get his undergraduate degree from the University of Mich

In 2019, Kyle Astrein Driver’s life was saved by 47 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after she experienced a sudden cardiac arrest in her sleep. She has since become a vocal advocate for the importance of learning CPR. “There are about 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests nationally each year and the survival rate is only about 10 percent. As in my case, survival rates improve if CPR is done immediately,” she explained. At the time of her cardiac arrest, the

Six years ago, Wendy Friedman moved to Birmingham from the Chicago area and wasted no time getting involved in the community. “I’m not one for sitting around – I’m a doer,” she commented. Friedman grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and moved to New York to prepare for a career in broadcast journalism. She earned a BFA in journalism from New York University and a master’s degree from New York Institute of Technology. Her interesting career journey has included broadcast journ

Michigan-based Greyson Clothiers is expanding its footprint across the state with the upcoming opening of its newest location in Birmingham. The performance golf, lifestyle and activewear brand is scheduled to open its new storefront in October at 205 N. Old Woodward Avenue, the former longtime home of Cristions Fine Linens & Downs. The Birmingham location will mark Greyson’s 12th store and its fourth location in Michigan. The brand’s current retail presence includes location

For 10 years, Voila Boutique has brought European-inspired style to Birmingham. sisters Pascale Forster and Carole Viadero first opened the women’s fashion boutique in Grosse Pointe in 2011. With many of their customers traveling from Birmingham to shop at the store, the sisters saw an opportunity to bring Voila closer to them. In 2016, they opened a second location at 395 Hamilton Row in Birmingham, where the boutique has since become a destination for shoppers seeking disti

InvestWise Financial, a full-service wealth management firm serving clients across the U.S. for more than 30 years, has announced plans to construct a new, owner-occupied office building at 36977 Woodward Avenue redeveloping a long-vacant, highly visible corner at Woodward Avenue and Quarton Road in Birmingham. The three-story, approximately 9,300-square-foot building, expected to open in early 2027, will serve as the firm’s permanent headquarters. The project represents an $

Interior construction is underway on the corner of W. Maple and N. Bates Street for women’s retailer J.Jill. The store will occupy 284 W. Maple Road, the former home to outdoor outfitter Moosejaw. J.Jill is a national women’s lifestyle brand that provides apparel, footwear and accessories designed to help its customers move through a full life with ease. Primarily catering to women ages 40 and older, the brand represents an easy, thoughtful, and inspired style that celebrates

Last month, our annual Golf Classic reminded me of something simple: the same things that make a golf outing successful, are the same things that make a community strong. When people from different backgrounds come together for a common good, it is a pretty formidable combination. Community partnerships can expand lifelong learning, independence and connection for older adults. That is why our partners are so important to Next’s success, and the Golf Classic was a testament t