Detroit destroys itself to save itself

[Z77 3]

 Kinda depressing but i guess its what has to happen. Makes you kinda want to go back in time and see it when it was thriving.

 

Detroit wants to save itself by shrinking

AP – A vacant house near City Airport is seen Feb. 23, 2010 in Detroit. After decades of decline that gutted …

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By DAVID RUNK, Associated Press Writer 

– 

Mon Mar 8, 4:33 pm ET

DETROIT – 

Detroit

, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.

Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.

Near downtown, fruit trees and vegetable farms would replace neighborhoods that are an eerie landscape of empty buildings and 

vacant lots

. Suburban commuters heading into the city center might pass through what looks like the countryside to get there. Surviving neighborhoods in the birthplace of the auto industry would become pockets in expanses of green.

Detroit officials first raised the idea in the 1990s, when blight was spreading. Now, with the recession plunging the city deeper into ruin, a decision on how to move forward is approaching. 

Mayor Dave Bing

, who took office last year, is expected to unveil some details in his state-of-the-city address this month.

"Things that were unthinkable are now becoming thinkable," said James W. Hughes, dean of the School of Planning and Public Policy at 

Rutgers University

, who is among the urban experts watching the experiment with interest. "There is now a realization that past glories are never going to be recaptured. Some people probably don't accept that, but that is the reality."

The meaning of what is afoot is now settling in across the city.

"People are afraid," said Deborah L. Younger, past executive director of a group called Detroit 

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

 that is working to revitalize five areas of the city. "When you read that neighborhoods may no longer exist, that sends fear."

Though the will to downsize has arrived, the way to do it is unclear and fraught with problems.

Politically explosive decisions must be made about which neighborhoods should be bulldozed and which improved. Hundreds of millions of federal dollars will be needed to buy land, raze buildings and relocate residents, since this financially desperate city does not have the means to do it on its own. It isn't known how many people in the mostly black, blue-collar city might be uprooted, but it could be thousands. Some won't go willingly.

"I like the way things are right here," said David Hardin, 60, whose bungalow is one of three occupied homes on a block with dozens of empty lots near what is commonly known as City Airport. He has lived there since 1976, when every home on the street was occupied, and said he enjoys the peace and quiet.

For much of the 20th century, 

Detroit

 was an industrial powerhouse — the city that put the nation on wheels. Factory workers lived in neighborhoods of simple single- and two-story homes and walked to work. But then the plants began to close one by one. The riots of 1967 accelerated an exodus of whites to the suburbs, and many middle-class blacks followed.

Now, a city of nearly 2 million in the 1950s has declined to less than half that number. On some blocks, only one or two occupied houses remain, surrounded by trash-strewn lots and vacant, burned-out homes. Scavengers have stripped anything of value from empty buildings. According to one recent estimate, Detroit has 33,500 empty houses and 91,000 vacant residential lots.

Several other declining industrial cities, such as 

Youngstown, Ohio

, have also accepted downsizing. Since 2005, Youngstown has been tearing down a few hundred houses a year. But Detroit's plans dwarf that effort. The approximately 40 square miles of vacant property in Detroit is larger than the entire city of Youngstown.

Faced with a $300 million budget deficit and a dwindling tax base, 

Bing

 argues that the city can't continue to pay for police patrols, fire protection and other services for all areas.

The current plan would demolish about 10,000 houses and empty buildings in three years and pump new investment into stronger neighborhoods. In the neighborhoods that would be cleared, the city would offer to relocate residents or buy them out. The city could use tax foreclosure to claim abandoned property and invoke eminent domain for those who refuse to leave, much as cities now do for freeway projects.

The mayor has begun lobbying Washington for support, and in January Detroit was awarded $40.8 million for renewal work. The federally funded Detroit Housing Commission supports 

Bing's

 plan.

"It takes a true partnership, because we don't want to invest in a neighborhood that the city is not going to invest in," said Eugene E. Jones, executive director of the commission.

It is not known who might get the cleared land, but with prospects for recruiting industry slim, planners are considering agricultural uses. The city might offer larger tracts for sale or lease, or turn over smaller pieces to community organizations to use.

Maggie DeSantis, a board member of 

Community Development

 Advocates of Detroit, said she worries that shutting down neighborhoods without having new uses ready is a "recipe for disaster" that will invite crime and illegal dumping. The group recently proposed such things as the creation of suburban-style neighborhoods and nature parks.

Residents like Hardin want to keep their neighborhoods and eliminate the blight.

"We just try to keep it up," he said. "I've been doing it since I got it, so I don't look at nobody trying to help me do anything."

For others, Bing's plans could represent a way out.

Willie Mae Pickens has lived in her near east-side home since the 1960s and has watched as friends and neighbors left. Her house is the only one standing on her side of the street.

"They can buy it today. Any day," said Pickens, 87, referring to city officials. "I'll get whatever they'll give me for it, because I want to leave."

[Easy Bakes 253]

Interesting plan, Anti- sprawl.

[alex48111 9]

Thanks for sharing that , great article, but the concept of farming empty lots in other cities in Europe are already happening. Dave Bing is on the right track

[newcrusader92 0]

This is something we should keep in mind should our own metropolises start to crumble. It is similar to rebranding. Thanks for sharing the article.

[saltandsauce 0]

Unfortunatley the people of Detroit live in a ring around downtown Detroit (which is crap - it means that they live in the US equivelant of Milton Keynes which has no redeeming features or discernable centre) if they wanted to/were able to they could close the suburban office parks and relocate companies if they wanted to revive the "city" the residents could then move into big middle class homes (the land is vacant) near downtown but of course that's not going to happen. they should close that skyride thing too. and closing that skyride has nothing to do with the recession btw

i'm just worried that the remains of Detroit will die if it has no centre. it can happen, look at British towns with huge 1960s redevelopments (ripped the heart out and there isn't anything appealing about the place anymore)

[warrior 169]

(which is crap - it means that they live in the US equivelant of Milton Keynes which has no redeeming features or discernable centre)quote>

Do you even live in MK? Have you been there. It makes more sense than towns like Aylesbury, and the center of MK is more obvious than the center of many other towns, like Aylesbury.

As for features, you don't see this is many cities:

And are you forgetting the shopping center?

[/rant]

Anyway, sounds good that they are shrinking it from the sounds of it even though I dont know much about the place at all and have never even been to America. They should shrink it so much that ther's just one massive skyscraper surrounded by fields : )

Jonathan

[newcrusader92 0]

Originally posted by: saltandsauce

Unfortunatley the people of Detroit live in a ring around downtown Detroit (which is crap - it means that they live in the US equivelant of Milton Keynes which has no redeeming features or discernable centre) if they wanted to/were able to they could close the suburban office parks and relocate companies if they wanted to revive the "city" the residents could then move into big middle class homes (the land is vacant) near downtown but of course that's not going to happen. they should close that skyride thing too. and closing that skyride has nothing to do with the recession btw

quote>

Surely they could create incentives.  In the D.C. area, it seems that people are moving back into the city itself - developers are replacing some developments, creating new ones, and cleaning up others.  Stores and apartments in the entire metro area are being built very close to Metrorail stations and other mass transit stops.  As gasoline prices continue their upward climb this spring, there will be more people who will be looking at their options for cutting costs and commuting time.

I wonder if the idea of moving into vacant homes is not being considered by city leaders because of the possible loss of tax revenue, or because the bankers/mortgage companies are still trying to get their cut.

I wish I had been paying attention earlier and not have been thinking so much about a strategy for SimCity regions.  But, in real life, having farm land closer to the city could help promote sustainable living - healthier food, less impact on the environment, lower energy and transportation costs.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Cities must (will?) devolve eventually.  As the economy becomes more in tune with the ecology, this kind of thinking becomes inevitable.  The real problem is physical communication.  There have been utopian speculations to the effect that the human race can die out in a decadent society where no person ever meets any other.

[Boggy1 45]

I wonder just how feasible the plots of land will be to develop agriculturally. Brownfield sights are generally full of waste products. And what about foundation stones? And lawn pesticides? Gas pipes..water pipes.. There will be a whole host of problems, even though the idea seems to be a very good one from the outside.

[pckiller 1]

I can tell you one thing that they need to do, is fix their roads. It is like driving on the moon's lunar landscape with all the potholes and craters. I think driving on a cheese grater on be smoother.

[Skimbo 304]

That's an interresting plan to handle such an situartion^^

[Msprintz 25]

This is a just one small step in the right direction for Detroit.  Removing mostly vacant suburbs, will allow for redevelopment of new transit oriented suburban centers.  What then isn't occupied by dwellings ( which should be a sizeable area ) can be put to use agriculturally or reclaimed by nature itself. 

Of course for this plan to succeed there needs to be a regional mass transportation system developed ( perhaps these funds could help create a commuter railway to replace the auto-centric highway system ). 

[saltandsauce 0]

Originally posted by: warrior

(which is crap - it means that they live in the US equivelant of Milton Keynes which has no redeeming features or discernable centre)quote>

Do you even live in MK? Have you been there. It makes more sense than towns like Aylesbury, and the center of MK is more obvious than the center of many other towns, like Aylesbury.

Jonathan

quote>

a shopping centre is not a city centre, you might find shopping in the centre but the centres of cities ten to have various uses such as residential (upmarket), office space, retail, transport (train/bus stations) and hotels/tourist related things. a shopping centre rarely covers more than retail (you might find a hotel and a car park in it but that's all)

besides i also said "look at towns with huge '60s redevelopments" if you read my post and Aylesbury has huge '60s developments in the centre and is hence - dull

[newcrusader92 0]

Originally posted by: Boggy1

I wonder just how feasible the plots of land will be to develop agriculturally. Brownfield sights are generally full of waste products. And what about foundation stones? And lawn pesticides? Gas pipes..water pipes.. There will be a whole host of problems, even though the idea seems to be a very good one from the outside.quote>

I don't think anyone said that the conversion was going to be easy! 

In many metropolitan areas, not every square inch has been developed fully, places where you would find foundation stones, pipes, power lines, and pesticides.  In Fairfax County, Virginia, there are still many areas untouched by development, even though the county is considered a _{urban one.  I don't know the geography of Detroit that well, but if there are any untouched areas near the city, it shouldn't take as much work to convert them to farm land.  Those areas could get converted first while people figure out what to do with neighborhoods which have been abandoned.}

[warrior 169]

The shopping centre/Xscape were 2 examples of features MK has.

You will find there is residential, (eg the new sainsburys complex), office space, it has a rail station. And will soon have a redeveloped coach station, it has hotels. But doesn't have much tourist stuff as I can see anyway., because it's not actually a city. So basically except for all the big cities. London, Manchester, etc you are saying all towns are basically dull.

Jonathan

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Deionn 137]

You can't build a transit system if no one rides it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

We won't take it back no matter how much foreign aid Obama offers.

[hmm 17]

I hope that the city of Detriot has a very good public relations department, because the most of the people in these targeted inner ring suburbs are probably working class residents, minorities and the elderly, which historicaly have been underepresented in the US. This project can be spun by a clever polititian or a special intrest group as an attack on socio-economic classes, which can easily kill this intelegent, but controversial plan. I really hope it works for Detriot because this strategy can be used in other declining manufacturing belt cities like Buffalo and Niagra Falls, both of which have similar problems with a decling industrial base, and vast sections of abandoned and decrepid inner city homes.

[CHR 2]

I think it would cost more that the farm land is worth to clean up the old buildings. Roads and building foundations would be a pain to remove. I would suggest forcing people to move out, and then just abandoning the areas, not paying for services and allowing the buildings to collapse.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

All kidding aside, the idea of urban gardens, vegetable or flower, is hardly new.  As for "farming" tracts of inner city land, the idea of trying to grow stuff on polluted, contaminated and otherwise destroyed real estate doesn't make much sense unless there are unlimited funds for recovery of the soil. 

And if they are going to do that, then there should be ordinances passed that only organic farming can be practiced.  No chemicals of any kind may be used.  That means there is only one type of acceptable fertilizer, and of course you need to encourage the urban farmer to produce his own manure pile.  These areas will have to be quite large to support the necessary livestock.  The advantages of a full mixed farming cycle are clear, and this is needed to be called farming.  Just having a veggie patch doesn't count.

[piccboi824 1]

Yeah, but the thing is, DC isn't a failing city with a lack of job opporunities. New residents continuosly move to DC because of the government presence, and companies setting up shop there. This isn't happening because there aren;t any new jobs coming in to Detroit, meaning there isn't in any demand for more housing, which means no more development. Those vacant lots are empty for a reason.

[BoxCarRacer 1]

It's just like in SimCity, its easier to manage a city of 30,000 spread around 20 dense blocks than 100 "undense" blocks.

[nofunk 1,935]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa

A wise choice, IMO. Detroit is a grand city, an old city, and a city to respect. While painful to do, perhaps it is necessary to rebuild from the start, so that they are not so dependent on a particular industry. However, the road will be rough, considering that most Detroit workers are involved in manufacturing.quote>

Originally posted by: piccboi824

Yeah, but the thing is, DC isn't a failing city with a lack of job opporunities. New residents continuosly move to DC because of the government presence, and companies setting up shop there. This isn't happening because there aren;t any new jobs coming in to Detroit, meaning there isn't in any demand for more housing, which means no more development. Those vacant lots are empty for a reason.quote>

Originally posted by: BoxCarRacer

It's just like in SimCity, its easier to manage a city of 30,000 spread around 20 dense blocks than 100 "undense" blocks.quote>

These are all excellent points.

Detroit is struggling with a predominantly poor population (which means a poor tax base and a high demand for services), a severe lack of job opportunities, and the costs to maintain services and infrastructure across an area that used to hold 2 million people. You can't attract residents if you don't have jobs, and you can't attract jobs if you have crumbling infrastructure and city services that are stretched to their limits. As painful as it is going to be to shrink, shrink Detroit must.

As someone who has lived and worked in the city for years, I see firsthand every day the great things Detroit has to offer, but I also see what is holding the city back. Vacant land as far as the eye can see; houses and even neighborhoods blighted and collapsing; poor infrastructure and services: all of this contributes to a very poor image of the city, which discourages people and businesses from locating here. If there is one thing the city could do to save itself, it would be to improve its image by knocking down these blighted neighborhoods, replacing vacant lots with parkland and agriculture, and making existing neighborhoods denser, so city services truly can be effective.

It's a long and hard road, but a necessary one for the city to travel. And I can't wait to see when it gets to the other end! (How's that for optimism?!)

[Patricius Maximus 236]

Before anyone extolls the virtues of such a plan, think about who will be impacted. The owners of the houses and property will be forced against their will by the government to move and to have their property destroyed. Think about that. Such an action is a direct aggression upon these people.

Is it for the good of society or some other collectivist abstraction? I think not. If you support such a plan, you would think differently if it was you, your house, and your property that was clearly and unethically being aggressed upon by your government.

Let the people be.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

One assumes that you've never been to Detroit.  It used to be a fine, bustliing metropolis, but that has passed.  The city is now largely an abandoned ghetto of the improverished in the areas under discussion.  A hands off attitude is what got them there in the first place, so are you advocating that they stew in their own juice?

As there is no will for urban redevelopment, why not try agricultural redevelopment in such areas.  There are several advantages:

• Cleaner air from the growing greens
• Better use of vacant or unproductive land
• Upgrading of living conditons

[newcrusader92 0]

Originally posted by: piccboi824

Yeah, but the thing is, DC isn't a failing city with a lack of job opporunities. New residents continuosly move to DC because of the government presence, and companies setting up shop there. This isn't happening because there aren;t any new jobs coming in to Detroit, meaning there isn't in any demand for more housing, which means no more development. Those vacant lots are empty for a reason.quote>

We're not out of the woods here, not yet.  Rumors of a new wave of foreclosures coming to the D.C. area have been flying around for days already.  And, given the battle going on at Capitol Hill, I wouldn't be celebrating - not with people worrying about how to pay for the latest and greatest government program.

D.C.'s unemployment rate is hovering around 10%.  It may be better than Detroit, but by D.C.'s standards it is not good.  The government and military are not the only games in town.

Anyway, when I read the article earlier, I was thinking about sustainable living.  That is something that leaders are trying to push for in the D.C. area.  If other cities are working toward it, why can't Detroit?  This is the perfect opportunity for the city to work in that direction.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Originally posted by: newcrusader92

Anyway, when I read the article earlier, I was thinking about sustainable living.  That is something that leaders are trying to push for in the D.C. area.  If other cities are working toward it, why can't Detroit?  This is the perfect opportunity for the city to work in that direction.

quote>

Money, its all about the money. They will be scraping the bottom of the barrel just to get this plan rolling, let alone turning it into some king of green utopia. That being said, there are probaly tax credits to be had (and such things) for using energy effecient materials, but, again, it comes down to money.

[Larks2242 251]

Originally posted by: deion30296

You can't build a transit system if no one rides it.quote>

Well you could but there would be no purpose just a waste of money, sadly stuff like that happens alot.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: SimHoTToDDy

Originally posted by: newcrusader92

Anyway, when I read the article earlier, I was thinking about sustainable living.  That is something that leaders are trying to push for in the D.C. area.  If other cities are working toward it, why can't Detroit?  This is the perfect opportunity for the city to work in that direction.

quote>

Money, its all about the money. They will be scraping the bottom of the barrel just to get this plan rolling, let alone turning it into some king of green utopia. That being said, there are probaly tax credits to be had (and such things) for using energy effecient materials, but, again, it comes down to money.

quote>

That hits the nail firmly on the head.  This needs seed money (no pun intended) before any tax credits can be claimed.  All these credits are after the fact.  If you have to borrow to get going and the interest on the debt is more than the credits, then where are you?