Rebrand Detroit as the Paris of the Midwest? (Dearborn, Cadillac: apartment, condo)

[MS313]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

But how do you suppose we do that with a government set up to govern a city that was twice it's population? Cut bus service? Cut police service? Raise taxes? Expand the city airport which will lower land values on the east side of the city discouraging less residents to live over there?

You can't make twice the amount of services with half the amount of taxpayers... Sometimes help comes in the form of doing something different.

Restructure. Detroit still has an average population density of about 5,000 -6,000 ppsm. There are PLENTY of cities with the same or larger land area than Detroit with a much lower population density that can still provide plenty of services to most of their city. Granted, they weren't built up the way Detroit was but you can still restructure if needed, it can be done. You cut services when you can't afford to keep them, not because the city is "too big". Debt is the source of the problem.

No one is trying to get twice the amount of services, we just need enough services to serve it's current population. And as I said before, there are cities with less density and more land area that serve their city just fine. Detroit just doesn't have the money. I agree with your last sentence (that was the point I was making in my first post), something different needs to be done to avoid them getting back into debt.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

Beirut was called the Paris of the Middle East...

Wow, you found a picture of an abandoned factory - in Detroit I bet. Excellent reporting...

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by detwahDJ

Wow, you found a picture of an abandoned factory - in Detroit I bet. Excellent reporting...

It was really hard to find...

Anway, back to the original point, a marketing campaign, any marketing campaign is not going to completely revitialize a city.

This whole scheme reminds me of a Simpsons episode.

“The easiest way to be popular, is to leech of the popularity of others.” – Patty Bouvier
“So we propose changing our name from ‘Springfield’, to ‘Seinfeld’.” – Selma Bouvier

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

It was really hard to find...

Anway, back to the original point, a marketing campaign, any marketing campaign is not going to completely revitialize a city.

This whole scheme reminds me of a Simpsons episode.

“The easiest way to be popular, is to leech of the popularity of others.” – Patty Bouvier
“So we propose changing our name from ‘Springfield’, to ‘Seinfeld’.” – Selma Bouvier

The OP said nothing about re-branding the city as it stands with a "marketing campaign" - in fact the opposite if you read it.
Quote: "I am proposing building a New Detroit...the area south of I-94 from Dearborn to Grosse Point."

[MS313]

Originally Posted by detwahDJ

Wow, you found a picture of an abandoned factory - in Detroit I bet. Excellent reporting...

It's the packard plant.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by 313Weather

I'm just sick of all of this "Detroit Works/Detroit Future City/rebrand Detroit" crap. We're not lab rats to be experimented on in the city of Detroit.

Just help us (HELP US, not take over/dismantle our government and remove any traces of Detroit's past because of how negative it may have been) improve the basic service we receive and the rest will fix itself naturally. Who knows, maybe the so-called depopulated areas will become re-populated again and won't have to be written off.

Agreed about basic services - especially crime control. Everything else should flow naturally imo. Problem is, other cities are not dealing real well with this problem either - so does that mean it's too heavy a lift?

[Cliffie]

Wow, aim for the sky, Republic! Or should we call you "Republique"? Honestly, I think the high-class-French thing is wildly out of style worldwide, not just here. It's not cool to be French the way it used to be. And witness the fact that Detroit is now about as French as a plate of chili cheese fries from Leo's Coney Island. It would be like bringing back Detroit as the jitterbug capital of the world. Maybe even the minuet, when I think how far back in time you have to go before Detroit is really heavily francais.

But I agree with you completely that getting more mileage out of Detroit's extremely rich history is more than worth pursuing. That, and the whole city needs a good scrubbing, repainting and sandblasting. One factor that keeps people from being attracted to Detroit is that all the prettiness and high class we have are secretly tucked away inside these hideously grimy buildings.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by Cliffie

Wow, aim for the sky, Republic! Or should we call you "Republique"? Honestly, I think the high-class-French thing is wildly out of style worldwide, not just here. It's not cool to be French the way it used to be. And witness the fact that Detroit is now about as French as a plate of chili cheese fries from Leo's Coney Island. It would be like bringing back Detroit as the jitterbug capital of the world. Maybe even the minuet, when I think how far back in time you have to go before Detroit is really heavily francais.

But I agree with you completely that getting more mileage out of Detroit's extremely rich history is more than worth pursuing. That, and the whole city needs a good scrubbing, repainting and sandblasting. One factor that keeps people from being attracted to Detroit is that all the prettiness and high class we have are secretly tucked away inside these hideously grimy buildings.

Yeah, but it seems to be a draw in New Orleans.

[Republic of Michigan]

My point is lining the boulevards with 6 to 7 story condos/apartments with the same architecture up and down the boulevard south of I-94. It is not unrealistic. Michigan Avenue, Grand River, Gratiot, Jefferson will all be developed in the next 20 years after Downtown and Midtown rise. The areas between Jefferson and I-94 from Dearborn to Grosse Pointe will be completely razed and cleared out (except corktown, Woodbridge and motown museum, Eastern Market, Lafayette Towers, West Village, Indian Village, and East English Village). So after 120,000 people are relocated, and thousands of houses and buildings are demolished and cleared, Detroit will need to reinvent its urban plan..meaning what to do with all that vacant land. In addition, Detroit will still have these sprawling boulevards unlike any other US city except DC. My point is that Detroit should take advantage of its boulevards. It could really become an elegant and unique city by its urban plan if these boulevards were Old World looking. Beaux-Art buildings all the same height, color..etc...cobbled stoned boulevards, and sculptured trees up and down these boulevards. This is turn will also combat some of the negative stereotypes of the city.

[Irapuato100]

Originally Posted by Republic of Michigan

My point is lining the boulevards with 6 to 7 story condos/apartments with the same architecture up and down the boulevard south of I-94. It is not unrealistic. Michigan Avenue, Grand River, Gratiot, Jefferson will all be developed in the next 20 years after Downtown and Midtown rise.

The City of Detroit is emptying out faster than ever.

On what planet do you anticipate development occurring all over the place over the next 20 years? Even downtown and midtown, practically nothing has been built, and basically 100% of new development is heavily subsidized.

Places like the Book Cadillac only happened because of massive taxpayer subsidies and have been largely failures. They can't sell the condo units, and the hotel goes for $100 a night much of the time. And the Book Cadillac would be called a "success" by most folks.