How well do you know your Detroit Districts?

[belleislerunner]

I was on the City of Detroit website earlier today and was going through the bios of the City Council members. One thing of particular interest was if you click on each face - and then the paperclip - it pulls up their bio as well as a "Map" of that district. I never really analyzed the Districts. A few things were interesting. This observation really relates to the entire conversation about development of "Two Detroits".

1) Most of downtown/midtown and then the east riverfront/New center reside in two members districts [[Raquel and Mary). That leaves almost all of the other districts void of representation as to "developments" within their district.

2) Each of the other districts tend to have a few pockets of stable neighborhoods within each [[e.g. East English Village) in Andre and Palmer/Sherwood in Cushinberry. What really surprised me was District 3.

Out of all the Districts in Detroit - this was was so isolated, or stood out, as the one that really lacked any development/critical mass of impressive housing stock, business base, industrial base or any economic backbone. Are there any hidden gems in District 3 or how did such a District get created?

If there was any District that was set up to fail - I'd propose it was this one. I can't think of one place within that District that I would ever even visit.

What's the backbone of this District or what will prevent the entire district from hollowing out?

http://www.detroitmi.gov/Portals/0/M...ist3_11x17.pdf

[dtowncitylover]

Well for one, I don't think the districts were set up for any one "to fail". If anything, they were created so that each district had representation so that there was local accountability and voices to city hall.

While you may be that there isn't any impressive housing stock [[as if that was a pre-req to district creation), it is home to Conant Gardens, probably the first black, middle class neighborhood in Detroit. It's also home City Airport, which has great potential if only the potential could be realized. And it is also the home to Dakota Inn Rathskeller, which sits on the border, yes, but in fact is on the east side of John R and therefore in D3. If you've never been, GO! It's a fun place to eat, drink, and be merry in the spirit of the old German rathskellers.

Scott Benson, the D3 Council member, seems to be a pretty competent guy.

[casscorridor]

If the districts were proper "boroughs" with their own governments and not just voting districts, their boundaries would be much more important. Hard to say whether devolving powers to some sort of newly created administrations would be more efficient or cause bloating.

But when it comes to the region, not many would argue that Metro Detroit isn't bloated. One solution could be to consolidate metropolitan area into one authority and mayor/council that would be in charge of transportation, water, policing, and other areas, while schools, local planning and other matters remain handled by the local town halls.

[gvidas]

Off the top of my head, and based mostly on squinting at the above linked map, here's a probably not comprehensive list of the businesses that I have personally patronized or otherwise had a direct interaction with in the past 5 years that are located within District 3:

- Federal Pipe & Supply
- J Fons Company [[a.k.a. The Dump)
- Marcus Hamburgers
- Buddy's Pizza
- Sikora Metals
- General Hardwood
- Spectrum Neon
- Great Lakes Power & Equipment
- Public Lumber

I'm pretty sure District 3 also includes the whole nor-ham/powerhouse neighborhood.

[EastsideAl]

I'm not really sure what you're driving at here, but the City Council districts were designed to conform to state electoral law in terms of being contiguous and relatively equal in population. There were 4 district configurations proposed under the new Charter in 2012, and this is the one that the City Council chose.

I'm not sure how else you would cut a district to represent the northern part of the east side. That area was always a mix of industry and working class and lower middle class housing. It was never a "destination" and never contained any special attractions or fancy areas. It was just a place for people to live and work.

It's certainly suffered over recent years, and lost a lot of population, businesses, and housing, which is why that district is so large. But any "development' in that area would likely be to try to keep and improve as much of what's still there as possible, and return it to being just a nice, affordable place to live.

[detroittrader]

Off the top of my head, and based mostly on squinting at the above linked map, here's a probably not comprehensive list of the businesses that I have personally patronized or otherwise had a direct interaction with in the past 5 years that are located within District 3:

- Federal Pipe & Supply
- J Fons Company [[a.k.a. The Dump)
- Marcus Hamburgers
- Buddy's Pizza
- Sikora Metals
- General Hardwood
- Spectrum Neon
- Great Lakes Power & Equipment
- Public Lumber

I'm pretty sure District 3 also includes the whole nor-ham/powerhouse neighborhood.

Great Post.

@dtowncitylover, Dakota Inn is District 2.....just by a block or two.

[mwilbert]

The districts don't have any administrative or economic meaning. They are just electoral areas--it is like saying that a Congressional district or a zip code is set up to fail. They aren't entities that have a purpose that they can fail to achieve, as long as they can set up voting machines and elect representatives or deliver mail.

I suppose if the districts were badly gerrymandered you could claim that they would fail in their task of representation, but that is clearly not what you were talking about, and it doesn't really make sense in terms of a single district anyway.

[dtowncitylover]

Great Post.

@dtowncitylover, Dakota Inn is District 2.....just by a block or two.

Yeah you're right! The District 3 map makes it look like John R is the dividing line, but the District 2 makes that clear. Thanks! Too bad that's Cushingberry though. But Buddy's is there!

[belleislerunner]

The intent may not have been to overtly set anyone up to fail, but I'd propose to you to prove me otherwise. We talk about the work being done downtown and in Midtown and the Riverfront and New Center.

Why isn't it making an impact in the neighborhoods people ponder? Some even use the tired cliche of "privilege" as it relates to two classes of Detroit.

Well here we have an entire District that has no assets. What are the three month, six month, nine month and year plans solely as they relate to District 3 and making it a more viable neighborhood? 1 out of 7 districts is 15% of Detroit alone.

I would hypothecate that because they have no industrial base, no business base, no upper middle housing stock - there will be no voice, specific to the concerns of District 3 and the entire District will largely be grass fields in 20 years.

[middetres]

Buddy's and Capers alone will keep District 3 viable!!

All kidding aside, there is plenty of industry and business in this district. Mound Road and Conner are both industrial corridors. Yes diminished from their peaks, but still active.

Davison still has lots of small-scale industrial activity.

Housing and retail were hit extremely hard in this district when the state repealed the city residency rules. Entire neighborhoods went from stable to urban prairie within 15 years.

The Osborn neighborhood has been working for years on neighborhood stabilization and betterment. Other neighborhoods are too. All is not hopeless.

NoHam is stronger than ever with the influx of Bengali immigrants.

Efforts are being made, but to suggest that the kind of development that's happening below the Boulevard and along the lower Woodward corridor in particular should somehow be spread out evenly across the city to make it fair for the entire city is completely antithetical to how cities grow.

It took Detroit 60 years of never-seen-before growth for Detroit to reach its population max in 1950. It took another 60 years for it to empty out. It will take at least 60 years of growth to fill its borders again.

[dtowncitylover]

The intent may not have been to overtly set anyone up to fail, but I'd propose to you to prove me otherwise. We talk about the work being done downtown and in Midtown and the Riverfront and New Center.

Why isn't it making an impact in the neighborhoods people ponder? Some even use the tired cliche of "privilege" as it relates to two classes of Detroit.

Well here we have an entire District that has no assets. What are the three month, six month, nine month and year plans solely as they relate to District 3 and making it a more viable neighborhood? 1 out of 7 districts is 15% of Detroit alone.

I would hypothecate that because they have no industrial base, no business base, no upper middle housing stock - there will be no voice, specific to the concerns of District 3 and the entire District will largely be grass fields in 20 years.

Write an email to Scott Benson. You seem to have some concerns, so if you care that much, write to the city councilman who represents this district.

[Jason]

Yeah the districts were pretty dumb imo. When you make districts you're supposed to break places up into areas that have similar interests so that the person elected is more effectively able to represent their district. The greater downtown areas should have been in isolated districts because the downtown interests are different from the neighborhood interests. Some of the districts make sense [[actually I'd say that district 3 is one of the better ones) but some of them could have been better.

[David L]

I grew up in District 3 in the 50's, 60's and early 70's and at that time the area south of 7 mile was known locally as Polish Grosse Pointe. There was a very busy shopping area at 7 mile and Van Dyke with a Kresge, Nortown theater, and many polish deli's bakeries, etc. Housing stock around Holy Queen of Mary Parish, The Bethesda Missionary Temple on Nevada, and Outer Drive to 8 mile was very solidly middle class. The area housed the Lutheran school for the deaf, and Holy Cross Hospital. Incidentally that part of the district was one of the last on the east side to integrate. Randazzo's Fruit market on Outer Drive still thrives.