Brush Park, M1, whole foods, Brewster Demo and the Possible Red Wings area

[royce]

Interesting arguments, but I will direct my thoughts back to Brush Park development. First of all, it's unfortunate that the Crosswinds' development "Woodward Place" was built when it was. That section of Woodward could have used several Ellington/Studio One-styled structures along Woodward. Actually, if they could put the residents in the current structures along Woodward somewhere temporarily, Ellington/StudioOne-types could still be built there.

Secondly, Crosswinds did not make good use of the alleys in that area. Sure they put townhouses facing them and made pedestrian paths out of the alleys, but they should have made those pedestrian paths wide enough for two lanes of car traffic[[a parking lane for visitors and a driving lane) and a sidewalk. It would have created more foot traffic in the area.

Thirdly, the townhouse concept where someone lives above you or below, in my opinion, was and is a bad idea. If I live in a townhouse I want all the floors to myself. Actually, the townhouses that face the alleys are more appealing to me than the ones that face Woodward and most of the side streets. These types [[the three story ones) would have looked better than what they have on Woodward.

Fourthly, a hockey arena along the west side of Woodward would be an awful answer to developing that area. Yes, that area could use some kind of development, but I don't think any kind of development is better than none in this case. Again, Ellington/StudioOne-types of development would be ideal for the west side of Woodward as well. Maybe even build a Texas-donut type of development. An arena on that side would only attract traffic on game days, but the area would still be just as desolate on non-game days as it is now.

Fifthly, M-1 rail along Woodward shoud replace bus service and go just north of Maple in Birmingham. That's not going to happen, but it would be a big step in showing the world that Detroit takes eco-friendly, energy-efficient transit seriously, even if that transit is only on one main street in Detroit. Also, as someone mentioned earlier, we snobs would rather ride a comfortable-riding rail car than a pot hole bouncing bus any day.

Finally, Red Cross needs to give up their land on the corner of Mack and Woodward so another Ellington-type development could go up. That would do wonders for that corner. Besides, the Red Cross doesn't need all of that surface parking. Indeed, they could partner up with the Ellington-type development and build a much needed parking structure for both concerns. Well, this has been my two cents.