I live in Detroit's Indian Village. We are a neighborhood "protected" by our recognition on the National Historic Register. That means, if I want to change my windows, I can't just call Wallside. I have to follow strict (and expensive) guidelines and I have to have all restoration plans approved by the Historic District Commission of Detroit. I'm not complaining. It was the neighborhood's historic integrity that drew me there in the first place.

But in an effort to replace every light in the City of Detroit, Mayor Duggan created the Public Lighting Authority. And because they fall under the Emergency Financial Manager, they claim to be outside the rules of the HDC or even the National Historic Register. So, they have given us until Nov. 30 to raise 180K to restore our original street lights, or they will replace them all with manufactured "historic" replicas that would cost twice as much. Oh, and we would pay for those too.

So why am I taking this to hubski? Because I have seen this community in action. Sure I would love it if one of you had an extra 100K to donate to the cause, but really I need your network. We are confident we can get a grant or even crowdfound all of it if we could just get the Mayor and the PLA to extend the Nov. 30 deadline.

So follow and share our twitter handle @IVStreetLights. The more followers we have, the better our chances are to win this battle and maintain the historic integrity of Indian Village.

Thank you in advance and hope to see many of you at this weekends Michigan meet up.

Callie