New East Riverfront Plan... what do you think? (Detroit, St. Clair Shores: appointed, real estate)

[MS313]

Me and I believe some other posters on here think that way too much of the waterfront in Detroit and metro Detroit are privatized instead of having public access to most of the shore. But this plan will partly change all of that. How do you guys feel about this? Anything that makes the waterfront more public... I like it. I love the beach idea too. Imo the suburbs that border the shoreline should be working to make their water access public as well. Less private beaches and houses with docks and more Lake Erie Metroparks, and Metrobeaches, and riverwalks.

Detroit's riverfront plan includes a beach, more parks, fewer condos
www.yourdetroiteastriverfront.org
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k0t8hqir00...FINAL.pdf?dl=0

[Geo-Aggie]

The first week we lived here, we drove out to St. Clair Shores to see the lake. We drove north, south, and then north again and realized there was no where we could access the damned water! We ended up driving up to.. I believe Harrison Township.. to find a boat launch where we could park, get out, and see the lake without houses, or private, or neighborhood beaches in the way. I was really quite disappointed with the whole experience.

A few months ago we drove down to Detroit and saw the riverwalk. We parked right at the beach, walked to a light house, to a recreation center, then down the sidewalk some more. We saw jogger, cyclists, families, - all those things you'd expect to find recreating near the water. It was beautiful.

Guess which one we've been back to?

The plans city and state leaders put out last week to make more of the riverfront public get a resounding "Yes!" from me. This is the kind of thing that brings people to your city. I kid you not, if Detroit Public Schools weren't such a mess (or I didn't have young children) I would happily have moved to one of the stable neighborhoods bordering the Greater Downtown area. The city is really headed in the right direction. (Actually I'm probably stretching the truth some there, the city income tax and longer commute to my office would have worked against it too, but my point is Detroit is desirable relative to what anyone would've thought 3-4 years ago and things like this will only continue to improve the situation.)

[animatedmartian]

To be fair, the riverfront was always planned for public use in some shape or form. Only the public areas were often disconnected either by parking lots or vacant industrial sites. Even as far back as the 80s, the city had planned parks along the waterfront. Chene Park was one of the early parks having been built in 1984. Of course, it was kind of isolated and mainly used for concerts. This newer plan makes the parks bigger and more connected to each other (also entirely more green).

The Riverwalk (the main connection of all the waterfront parks) didn't really come into focus until the 2000s, mainly after GM had renovated the Ren Cen to be more pedestrian friendly. Prior to that, the space in between the Ren Cen and the water was just a parking lot. In the 80s, it was actually used the start/finish part of the F1 track that was downtown before the moved to Belle Isle. Check out how there's not even a barrier or guard rail along the water. The Ren Cen also just had a flat blank wall.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z8xhsxaryw


Long-time Detroiters probably used to remember the cement silos back in the day. The company that owned these actually were actually pretty against selling the land since these silos were their main cash cow. Of course now those silos are long gone and future Detroiters might not even ever know they were there.




http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...green-walkways

The major changes between the 2000s and now was what sort of development was expected to take place in the now prime waterfront real estate. There were a lot of condos planned for the riverfront about 10-15 years ago. Here's a few of them that just almost saw shovels in the ground:

That little fenced off square next to the Riverwalk parking in the recent picture above? This was what was planned for that spot.



The Atwater beach in the new plan was 10 years ago going to be this condo development. This is the vacant lot on the east side of Chene Park.



This was planned to be built on the vacant lot to the west of Chene Park. Condos would have started at $500,000 and go up to $2 million.



All of these projects were less than a year from starting before the economy crashed. All of these would have connected/directly abutted the Riverwalk or had some sort of attached park space. All of these would have been on these three highlighted lots. There were more condos planned in the vicinity.



The other more subtle difference in the newer plan is that the planned developments are a little more toned down yet modern and affordable. Additions are made to the warehouses and lofts from Detroit's industrial past rather than torn down like they would have been had the economy of a decade ago prevailed. I always thought this area would end up like Detroit's version of Chicago's Gold Coast; scores of million dollar high rise condos and townhomes up to the Belle Isle Bridge and possibly beyond. Though, the new plan is actually a bit more realistic and sustainable. Plus it's going to be something uniquely Detroit.

So technically the new East Riverfront plan isn't that new. But I see it as planners expanding on what's been successful the past several years. Which is always a good thing. It's nice to have more successes than failure... generally.

[brodie734]

Joe Louis Arena and the Renaissance Center were mistakes in terms of waterfront beautification. GM has done the best they can anf the Joe will be gone soon. I really love these plans, too.

[MS313]

Actually this is more like Chicago's coastline. Almost all of their lake is public access. Even in the Gold Coast, the condos are on the other side of Lakeshore Drive.

[North 42]

I'm very happy that the towers will be closer to Jefferson, with the low and mid rise buildings closer to the shore and parks. Orleans Landing already looks amazing from over here in Windsor!

[Retroit]

I think it is great. I'd like to see a ban on all construction between Jefferson and the river. Tear down dilapidated buildings. The northwest side of Jefferson could be developed into condos and apartment buildings.

[Coldjensens]

The pictures in the first post kind of look like idealized drawings of what the Western part is like now. The beach has me curious. I did not see a picture of a beach (did I miss it?). Unless there is a breakwater to disrupt the current, a beach will = a lot of drownings.

For the poster who could not get to the water, best options are Metrobeach, Belle Isle, and lake Erie metropark down in Newport.

[keraT]

I hope they don't develop it so much that parking will be an issue or very expensive to park. One thing I love about riverwalk now is I can get free parking in Milliken State or east of it. The place has not been discovered by to many people. I always thought it was prime property that can be developed to something great.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

The pictures in the first post kind of look like idealized drawings of what the Western part is like now. The beach has me curious. I did not see a picture of a beach (did I miss it?). Unless there is a breakwater to disrupt the current, a beach will = a lot of drownings.

For the poster who could not get to the water, best options are Metrobeach, Belle Isle, and lake Erie metropark down in Newport.

It won't be a literal beach that is on the water where you can swim. But there will be sand and beach-themed furniture.

http://www.dailydetroit.com/wp-conte...-rendering.jpg

http://detroit.curbed.com/2017/1/19/...rfront-detroit