Detroit in 20 years Article... How realistic is it? (Nashville, Atlanta: condo, crime)

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by allenk893

It's not only a goal and vision that Detroit needs. Most of the people in the city need to participate and contribute to make it a reality. Without their participation, it won't happen. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Detroit's population consist of people with poverty-level mentalities and no honor. So it's going to be alot harder than what people think for the new plans to commence. If the city government is smart, they'll further invest in those tax cuts for Hollywood they've been successful in as well as the medical and technological sector so they can drive asians and whites to the city.

Actually if your logic were accurate, the inner cities in the US would never have gentrified. It doesn't take a combined effort of those already living there for gentrification/improvements to happen, it takes those willing to make the change who also happen to have the funding. I'm quite familiar with the gentrification process in Washington DC as I had originally moved there in the mid-1980s when it was not too unlike Detroit. What happened there over the course of 15-20 years was astounding in terms of upgraded housing and commercial expansion in response to the new wave of residents moving in and those unwilling or unable to adapt, out. One can already see the same process happening in Downtown Detroit neighborhoods like Midtown where Whole Foods Market's recent arrival has signaled to other commercial interests that things are taking off, much like my old Logan Circle neighborhood in Washington DC which in a move was shocking to many, landed it's Whole Foods store in 2000.

Whole Foods CEO tells Bloomberg new Detroit store 'exceeding our wildest expectations' | MLive.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_C...ashington,_D.C.

[xfactor85]

Originally Posted by Deezus

Considering how much vacant land Detroit has, no one really has to "kick out the poor people". In the end a lot of poor people are going to leave as it is, because it sounds like the job market is better in other places rather than Detroit.

For better or worse, cities are going to try to attract people with some money to gentrfying neighborhoods to rebuild their tax base. Cities can't function without someone(or something) to pay for them--they sometimes even end up bankrupt. Maybe Detroit has potential for some sort of startups(which are going to attract a more professional class to begin with, but overall might improve the total local economy)--odds are though that it's not going to become a manufacturing powerhouse again... Or is that a remote possibility?

That is only partially true. I remember in a college econ class discussing migration, studies done actually show that it wasn't the poorest people that were migrating, it was actually the people who were poor but not destitute that were migrating. Therefore, in my opinion, over the past 10 years, I think all the people that can move, have already moved out of Detroit and the only people left are the destitute poor people who can't afford to move.

[eschaton]

One thing that these rosy portrayals of the future of Detroit don't seem to get is Detroit is not an "urban city" and thus is unlikely to really attract many gentrifiers to a large degree. The city destroyed most of its old 19th century neighborhoods during urban renewal (e.g., before it really went south). Most of the housing stock are detached early-to-mid century homes (bungalows and the like). In highly gentrified cities where the more urban neighborhoods become prohibitively expensive you begin to see some appeal for this kind of neighborhood, but they are essentially suburban in form, and not the sort of houses that people will move across the country just for a chance to snap up and restore.

I could see the core of Detroit (Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, etc) becoming an attractive mixed-use area similar to Center City Philadelphia and housing around 100,000 people one day. But it's going to be surrounded by neighborhoods which are in decline or still falling apart, and the the city as a whole will continue to shrink.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by eschaton

One thing that these rosy portrayals of the future of Detroit don't seem to get is Detroit is not an "urban city" and thus is unlikely to really attract many gentrifiers to a large degree. The city destroyed most of its old 19th century neighborhoods during urban renewal (e.g., before it really went south). Most of the housing stock are detached early-to-mid century homes (bungalows and the like). In highly gentrified cities where the more urban neighborhoods become prohibitively expensive you begin to see some appeal for this kind of neighborhood, but they are essentially suburban in form, and not the sort of houses that people will move across the country just for a chance to snap up and restore.

I could see the core of Detroit (Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, etc) becoming an attractive mixed-use area similar to Center City Philadelphia and housing around 100,000 people one day. But it's going to be surrounded by neighborhoods which are in decline or still falling apart, and the the city as a whole will continue to shrink.

Good point, as it may be the most sprawled out city outside of the Sun Belt, with a couple of exceptions. I think that much of the urban development will be in and around Downtown or in neighborhoods near a main thoroughfare like Woodward or Vernor.

I also think that the city could see new urbanism in areas that are currently desolate as well. So, it could see brand new neighborhoods, if everyone is on board with it and if the interest is there.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by eschaton

One thing that these rosy portrayals of the future of Detroit don't seem to get is Detroit is not an "urban city" and thus is unlikely to really attract many gentrifiers to a large degree. The city destroyed most of its old 19th century neighborhoods during urban renewal (e.g., before it really went south). Most of the housing stock are detached early-to-mid century homes (bungalows and the like). In highly gentrified cities where the more urban neighborhoods become prohibitively expensive you begin to see some appeal for this kind of neighborhood, but they are essentially suburban in form, and not the sort of houses that people will move across the country just for a chance to snap up and restore.

I could see the core of Detroit (Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, etc) becoming an attractive mixed-use area similar to Center City Philadelphia and housing around 100,000 people one day. But it's going to be surrounded by neighborhoods which are in decline or still falling apart, and the the city as a whole will continue to shrink.

You're talking about two different areas of the city. All of the renderings (which are current construction projects) are in the core. There's not much focused on the out areas of the city, not that there really needs to be anyway. Most of the outer neighborhoods are roughly similar to the inner-ring suburbs and would likely have the same sort of residents and growth patterns.

In reference to Philly, those mid-century homes are as about as far from Downtown Detroit as Philly's international airport to Center City. Or from Center City to Northeast Philly.

No one really expects the downtown core to affect those neighborhoods in a considerable degree and, in fact, that's a common complaint among Detroit residents.

[Jwo85]

Originally Posted by xfactor85

Hey guys I found this article about what Detroit could be in 20 years. How realistic do you guys think this "vision"(or hallucination) really is?

This Is What Detroit Could Look Like In 2033 ... And Beyond

Personally, After living in Metro Detroit for almost a quarter of a century, I frankly think the article is full of crap. There aren't enough middle class jobs to support that many people in Detroit. Where would the current residences live?

In Detroit Middle-class neighborhoods that seem to be popping up across the city now

[Jwo85]

Originally Posted by jtur88

The 'after' pictures are just artists conceptions of buildings that could be built on any razed leveled lot anywhere, including, I guess, Detroit. What does it matter what building was previously there before the wrecking ball?

Detroit was a burning war zone in the 60s, and made a "comeback". How many chances to they get?

Articles in the on-lline Huffington Post website are just a joke.

I went to go show someone where a restaurant was at on google maps and I did a streetview. I thought I was in the wrong area because on google streetview it just showed a empty weed grown lot. Present time it has restaurants and businesses with modern looking Condos. That area is still not yet done booming and new places keep being built and renovated.

[SouthsideTillIDie]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

So essentially you're saying keep prosperity out of Detroit?

What Gatsby is saying is that the poor often get phased out of "change", and aren't apart of the decision making decisions when inner city communities are revitalized. Those neighborhoods end up being revitalized for future residents and not the current residents who had been asking for amenities, healthier food choices, betters schools, safety, etc all along from their city representatives and were neglected. Keep in mind that the resources brought into gentrified communities are the same resources that people who lived in the hood had lobbied for already. This concept of inner city residents not caring about their communities is bullshyt, yet changes are often made without their inclusion on the process. I'm a community organizer, I've seen corporations and businesses go into slums and revitalize areas without offering locals a seat at the table. Yes it's good to bring businesses who invest and add revenue into inner city communties, but CURRENT residents want say-so and a sense of inclusion because they were there in the trenches fighting for resources for those same communities through thick and thin BEFORE it was "trendy" or "hip" to live there but yet gentrification allows people to come to these communities after the fight and reap more rewards than those community residents who had fought for years for amenities and resources.

[Republic of Michigan]

Detroit needs to be completely razed between I-94 and Jefferson from Dearborn to Grosse Pointe with the exception of Corktown, parts of Mexicantown, Downtown, Midtown, New Center, Woodbridge, the Motown Museum, Eastern Market, Indian Village, East English Village.. Relocate everyone else and completely raze the entire area. Then raze then areas around city airport, the entire city of Highland Park, the area between Boston-Edison and New Center, and the area between 8 mile and McNichols between Woodward and I-75. This is actually very similar to the Detroit Future Project vision.

But I have no idea what you do with the hundreds of thousands of uneducated, undisciplined, and unemployable population base? 80% of the population is fatherless, 50% are on public assistance, 50% functionally illiterate, 25% graduate from high school, 5% are ready for college education. The crime index is beyond control. Homicides, assaults, burglaries, arson, narcotics trade...etc make Detroit a city which is engaged in a low intensity civil war. There is no semblance of government service. Basically Detroit is a 3rd world city surrounded by wealth. For the poster who mentioned that other cities have suburbs like Detroit, he is wrong. I have been to every major city in the USA and there are only a handful that have expansive wealthy suburbs like Detroit. (LA, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago. DC has dynamic suburban areas but the housing stock does not compare)

[Dawn.Davenport]

The pictures are pretty, but what would happen to the poor people who live in Detroit now?