What will/could downtown Detroit be in the future? 2020-2030 (Canton: mover, neighborhoods) - Michigan (MI) - City-Data Forum

MS313 · 07-24-2011, 09:50 PM

Downtown Detroit is right across the river from Canada, headquarters of alot of company's, lots of events down there, accessible from many freeways, 3/4 professional sports teams are there, the 3rd biggest college in MI (Wayne State University) is there, 3 casino resorts there and another one across the river, plenty of museums, greektown, people mover, the theater district (2nd largest in united states after Broadway), Historic architecture, of course plenty of clubs, bars, and restaurants, the riverwalk is already a place to be and it's not even done yet, people are starting to move back downtown, and the best part is it's STILL PLENTY of space and opportunity in the downtown area for people to start something new.

Some idiots think they should just blow it up and start over, and some people think it's on it's way to being the next great downtown. I think it's headed toward the right direction but if they diversify the economy I think it could defiantly be on it's way to a worldwide destination. Might be a long road but it could happen. So what do you think downtown Detroit will be in 2020-2030? and what do you think it could be?

Cronous81 · 07-24-2011, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarvinStrong313

Some idiots think they should just blow it up and start over, and some people think it's on it's way to being the next great downtown. I think it's headed toward the right direction but if they diversify the economy I think it could defiantly be on it's way to a worldwide destination. Might be a long road but it could happen. So what do you think downtown Detroit will be in 2020-2030? and what do you think it could be?

Downtown Detroit will likely be a fortress guarded by legions of cops against the ravenous horde that is the rest of Detroit. GM may eventually move out, citing the safety of its employees.

RingWalk · 07-24-2011, 10:48 PM

Improved core downtown with neighborhoods either empty or about the same. The decent factory jobs for uneducated people that built those neighborhoods are gone and are not coming back.

porchpickup · 07-24-2011, 11:26 PM

Hopefully what I heard about it becoming an "inspiring" area for young Artists and Designers is true.

Although it cannot be compared to factory jobs that employ thousands, it would act as a catalyst for other trades to move in.

detwahDJ · 07-25-2011, 06:41 AM

Detroit will diversify and expand outward from downtown as it did in the past. The present-day activity occurring downtown is a seed being planted. It will never become culturally vapid like Arlington VA for instance. Detroit is too culturally rich and its people too proud to let that happen. Things are in flux and it has a rich history and potential which people are waking up to.
So history will repeat for the better, and in a different form not as dependent on a single industry. That is happening now, and the only people who don't know it are pretty much the brain-dead from afar.

Tyryztoll · 07-25-2011, 07:56 AM

Not gonna happen in our lifetime. The Detroit media plasters images and stories of these crooks like Kilpatrick, Riddle, and Conyers on their front pages day after day after DAY. Investors and enterpeneurs, critical to the revitalization of downtown and Detroit as a whole, see this crap and don't want to come anywhere near that town. I know I wouldn't.

Let's be even more honest. Detroit has to be re-integrated if it is to ever be the town the OP speaks of. The wall of segregation between Detroit and it's suburbs must fall. All the pieces are there, as already mentioned. It has to become a place that people want to not only be at, but STAY at. More than just taking in a game or a show and then blasting back to a suburban safehouse. Unfortunately, the damage inflicted to Detroit by bottom feeders such as Coleman Young and Kwame Kilpatrick - along with the people that elected and re-elected them - is not something that is a quick fix. It's gonna take decades, if not more.......and that's presuming it will ever happen at all. Bottom line: the people who want nothing to do with Detroit currently need a reason to want something to do with it, rather than taking their skills and business elsewhere........including the Detroit suburbs. Will they ever have that reason?

I just got back from Pittsburgh. That town is the model for what Detroit could have been. It is an amazing, vibrant town that rose out of an industrial bog to become one of the most photogenic and bustling cities in America. Pittsburgh took what they had and built upon it. Its residents had a vision for the future......something Detroits clearly never did. Through cooperation and hard work, that vision was realized. Detroit doesn't even have its vision yet. They're still too busy leaning on the auto industry, rather than seeking the economical diversification that Pittsburgh used to reinvent itself. I think it's gotta be pretty obvious by now that unions and cars are not going to bring Detroit back to national prominence.

detwahDJ · 07-25-2011, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northman

Not gonna happen in our lifetime. The Detroit media plasters images and stories of these crooks like Kilpatrick, Riddle, and Conyers on their front pages day after day after DAY. Investors and enterpeneurs, critical to the revitalization of downtown and Detroit as a whole, see this crap and don't want to come anywhere near that town. I know I wouldn't.
Let's be even more honest. Detroit has to be re-integrated if it is to ever be the town the OP speaks of. The wall of segregation between Detroit and it's suburbs must fall. All the pieces are there, as already mentioned. It has to become a place that people want to not only be at, but STAY at. More than just taking in a game or a show and then blasting back to a suburban safehouse. Unfortunately, the damage inflicted to Detroit by bottom feeders such as Coleman Young and Kwame Kilpatrick - along with the people that elected and re-elected them -
---I just got back from Pittsburgh. That town is the model for what Detroit could have been. --- I think it's gotta be pretty obvious by now that unions and cars are not going to bring Detroit back to national prominence.

** Like I said, things are in flux. Was Pittsburgh not in flux at a point? I did mention diversification.

Everything you touch upon was in my post. Why ignore my points, then repeat them...
A key word you used is "currently" - that's a given. That's why i mentioned "flux".
** Entrepreneurs taking an interest in Detroit are in the financial news.
** Articles in the local media "day after day" saying how great the past govt was is not correct. Where did you get all this?
** You're talking racial re-integration as the key - things are becoming clearer....
And Detroit keeps re-electing bottom feeders -so you consider Bing a bottom-feeder. Please say why you think more caucasians is the key to Detroit's success.

Retroit · 07-25-2011, 09:03 AM

I predict drastic improvement after ForStarters becomes mayor.

Tyryztoll · 07-25-2011, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by detwahDJ

** Like I said, things are in flux. Was Pittsburgh not in flux at a point? I did mention diversification.

Everything you touch upon was in my post. Why ignore my points, then repeat them...
A key word you used is "currently" - that's a given. That's why i mentioned "flux".
** Entrepreneurs taking an interest in Detroit are in the financial news.
** Articles in the local media "day after day" saying how great the past govt was is not correct. Where did you get all this?
** You're talking racial re-integration as the key - things are becoming clearer....
And Detroit keeps re-electing bottom feeders -so you consider Bing a bottom-feeder. Please say why you think more caucasians is the key to Detroit's success.

Did I mention Bing? No, I didn't. He's a good man, but he's fighting a war holding a butterknife. He needs outside help. Young and Kilpatrick were hooligans. Bing inherited their mess. You berate me for not reading your post and then you can't digest something as simple as that? Unbelievable.

Furthermore, why do you play the race card by mentioning caucasians? My assertion was that all races - rather than just one (80% of one) living and working together for a common cause would be a good thing. What, you subscribe to the Ray Nagin "Chocolate City" agenda? Yeah, that's worked about as well down there as it has in Detroit. Racism goes two ways , you know.

Yes, I believe re-integration IS the key. But not for the reasons your knee jerk and totally thoughtless response would propagate.

Yes, Pittsburgh was in flux......30 years ago. Its citizens took an interest in their city. Detroits haven't.

RingWalk · 07-25-2011, 11:21 AM

One thing I think people underestimate in Detroit is the number of "hipsters" or whatever you want to call them you need to really have an impact on a neighborhood. This has happened in many neighborhoods in Chicago but you literally need a constant flow of thousands if not tens or hundreds of thousands of young people moving in to change the character of a neighborhood. For instance a neighborhood like Bucktown in Chicago, which 15 years ago was very dangerous, is now fairly stable and nice, but there are something like 40,000 young future yuppies in it--half the population--and its western border is still pretty iffy.

That's like the entire city of Canton descending on one Detroit neighborhood. You really need a massive influx.