Summer Fridays, Midnight Basketball, and expanded Recreation Center hours – Mayor Sheffield is tackling youth opportunity head on with the same kind of focus we’ve seen in past administrations from Kilpatrick’s “Mayor’s Time” to the exponential growth of “Grow Detroit’s Young Talent” (GDYT) under mayors Bing and Duggan. The effort is powered by the United Way with groups from Slow Roll, Motown Museum, and the Joe Louis Greenway to Detroit Cultural Center, Detroit Parks Coalition, and the Detroit City Football Club. What is different in this Occupy the Summer effort is a clear focus on fun and opportunity rather than work opportunities and future employment – letting kids be kids.

I’m most excited that there is a map where you can search programs near you and filter by age groups, program type, ZIP code, cost, and even month and day of the week when programs are offered.