Comments on: Back to the Land in Detroit?

By: T. Caine

T. Caine — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:56:49 +0000

Great article Sarah. I think it goes one step further where struggling, post-industrial cities are actually the best settings for us to begin to reformat our social norms of urban living. These cities are everywhere and they share common traits that leave them superior to our bellwether cities when it comes to instituting new, sustainable models. Some such characteristics are:

- Their depressed populations have lead to falling land values and vacant space, as you said, making acquisition possible on a scale that cannot be mirrored in cities like Boston or New York.

- They have a talented, trained, but largely unemployed work force left over from an industrialized age.

- Due to low business and occupancy volume, they often get significant portions of their city budget from state aid which means when it comes to instituting new regulations of urban living, they are less likely to bite the hand that feeds them.

- They are interconnected with our infrastructure system of rail, airports and highways. When combined with an old, study building stock they have all the bones of a successful city (the hardest part to create.)

Revamping cities like Syracuse, Providence, Hartford, Oklahoma City, Rochester, could be done with a fraction of the funds and much more freedom than greening the city of Miami or Chicago. Places like Detroit should be our priority targets.

By: Greg M

Greg M — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:35:23 +0000

How can you have a post like this without a link to Model D — the site about the positive entrepreneurial energy in Detroit? It’s pretty impressive.
http://www.modeldmedia.com/

By: rex

rex — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:54:07 +0000

Governments and corporations will never let this stand. They are too invested in political/economic growth to allow this to happen except in isolated pockets. People they cannot collect enough taxes from, or consumers that do not want stuff enough will never fit into visions of the global economy.

This redevelopment of Detroit is a crack in the vision of progressive civilization we have held as dogma since Descartes. Houses are <$1,000 because no bank will loan on them, because none will write fire insurance policies in downtown Motown. As soon as they build a community worth a rip they will be beset by criminals – elected or otherwise.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:51:02 +0000

In studies of Youngstown, another well known shrinking city, many residents preferred the lack of density. Some noted they were able to see the stars at night. Now whether or not that is sustainable is another matter. Ultimately what visionaries have in mind and long-term residents have in mind may not always be similar.

By: Todd Scott

Todd Scott — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:27:56 +0000

This discussion surely needs a link to the AIA Detroit study which covers this topic and proposes solution in greater detail.

My only comment on the Planning Pool article regarding densifying Detroit. “Densifying Detroit is problematic” but not for the reasons stated. Detroit has lost density for 50 years. This didn’t happen overnight and we shouldn’t expect re-densification overnight. It can happen (and is already happening) through some city policy changes, e.g. school closings, bus route changes. And as Allan Mallach noted, we shouldn’t assume people living in the sparsely populated areas want to remain there. In many cases, they may be stuck there. We need the tools to help them move to the more dense portions of the city.

So, I think the problematic part of densification lies in the politics. You don’t win popularity contests by closing schools, parks, bus routes, etc. It’s going to take some solid leadership to sell the resized Detroit and make the tough decisions necessary to make it reality.

By: James

James — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:02:42 +0000

Next American City magazine did a great piece on the Detroit Wheelhouse, a community-based bike shop that has become kind of a focal point for a lot of the livable streets advocacy work there. IIRC, they also just turned an abandoned rail right-of-way into the first section of a new multi use path. I think you may be able to access at least part of the article free on their website – it’s great to hear something other than bad news out of Detroit for once. As always, crisis = opportunity.

By: Jim Berry

Jim Berry — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:08:12 +0000

Detroit has an “after the dinosaurs” look and feel on the streets. The cars and traffic that I had to deal with as a urban cyclist thirty years ago are gone with the population. On a recent cycle tour of urban homesteads near downtown we encountered zero automobiles. In Detroit, bicycles are like the small adaptable species that survived the cataclysm. I wonder if the automobile culture’s fall from grace in the heart of the Motorcity is a precursor to the automobile’s demise everywhere? Any thoughts from where you stand?

By: brian

brian — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:01:47 +0000

vacant houses seems to also be really common in baltimore, along with really low rents. you can buy a house in some parts of downtown for the price of a car.