Brightmoor Before and After Blight Authority Cleanup

**313WX** · August-21-13, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by 1953

I have spoken with the blight authority folks and they tell me they have no plan nor role in re-purposing this land. Their only goal is to clear it and plant a low growth vegetation, which they believe will promote safety.

I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city.

1953

That's what they say, but their actions suggest otherwise.

This is clearly another part of the Detroit Works Project [[albeit a small part).

**Django** · August-21-13, 01:41 PM

About a week ago I showed two Austrian journalists around Detroit and we met up with the guy in charge of this project for an interview. I cannot remember his name but he explained that much of the crime in that area is hidden in all the overgrowth. No trees were taken down that were over 14" in diameter and those trees that were over 14" were trimmed by an arborist from the bottom up to around 15' high. They originally hired around 15 people from that area to work the project and then expanded to just under 30 people because it went so well he said. Ill try and get this thread to him via Austria and maybe he can jump in and explain.

**Detroitnerd** · August-21-13, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by noise

Sounds like the only person who is "touchy" here is you. I responded to your argument with a question that you chose not to answer.

Haha. That's funny. You were so ready to jump in my shit. I could literally feel the double-take through the internets ...

**DetroitPlanner** · August-21-13, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by 1953

I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city.

1953

You're lucky then. If you have lived in an area that has been severely blighted you would know that, or been victim to the crime that exists. Blight is an opportunity to the bottom-feeders.

Its an extreme example of the broken window theory.

**RO_Resident** · August-21-13, 02:44 PM

I think it is better than what they did over on the east side [[Miller/Georgia/Huber and St. Cyril Sts.) near the DWSD facility. Clear cut the area then put barricades across the streets.

**compn** · August-21-13, 02:50 PM

wonder how long it took them to get the vegetation?
thats a hell of a lot of weeds and grass/bushes/trees.

theres dumping and crime there because of a lack of police presence and people.

you'll get rats no matter what you plant, they are resourceful.
bamboo is a good idea, especially if you can find a use for it [[fuel/fiber?).

urban farming would require a water source, and a lot of people willing to travel to brightmoor to farm.

**Cliffy** · August-21-13, 03:27 PM

Looks a lot better! Nice work. Unfortunately we need another 10000 of those projects in Detroit to get this city cleaned up.

**313WX** · August-21-13, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by RO_Resident

I think it is better than what they did over on the east side [[Miller/Georgia/Huber and St. Cyril Sts.) near the DWSD facility. Clear cut the area then put barricades across the streets.

That was different.

There were plans to develop that area that fell through the cracks. By that point though, the residents in that area had already been forced out.

Besides that, that was all done by the city of Detroit. Technically speaking, the Detroit Blight Authority is a private initiative.

**Baselinepunk** · August-21-13, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Controlled farming, yes, yupsters that lose interest and let the lot get overgrown because they've now moved onto NEW interests, no.

And you know this for a fact ______________, ____________ and _______________.

**gvidas** · August-21-13, 07:33 PM

Planting a short, low maintenance ground cover makes a ton of sense to me. So long as it isn't kudzu, anyway.

I've been told that freshly demolished lots are hydro-seeded with grass. Which strikes me as silly, or counter-productive, or maybe at best short sighted. [[Or job security for the mowing crews, except not, because the city is mowing less every year.)

An interesting side-effect of all the crazy vegetation + rats that I've been thinking on lately is the proliferation of ticks and lyme disease. Apparently, a booming rodent population in brushy environments is strongly linked with large tick populations, because the first few stages of tick growth have to feed on mice, rats, and other small rodents to survive.

**Jimaz** · August-21-13, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by gvidas

...An interesting side-effect of all the crazy vegetation + rats that I've been thinking on lately is the proliferation of ticks and lyme disease....

Yes, I hear there's an unusually bad tick problem in southern lower Michigan right now. It's not just rural, it's in suburban lawns too.

Found this: Experts warn against Michigan's tick boom.

**sumas** · August-21-13, 08:28 PM

Yuck, I thought that Lyme disease was more deer related. Truthfully I am a bit surprised we don't have a rat issue in my "little" neck of the woods. Field mice used to be an issue but at the risk of sounding cruel, I identified possible entry points and stuffed them with steel wool. The little buggers try to eat through and go away and die. No mice problems this year or last.

Gvidas has a good point there are several varieties of low grow, no mow fescues available.

**Novine** · August-21-13, 09:14 PM

"I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city."

Detroit has limited resources and yet Bing, Orr and Snyder want to spend hundreds of millions on demolition without making anywhere near that kind of investment in viable neighborhoods. This is the same mentality we get with Demolition Jackson - demolish it and they will come. But no one ever does.

**Honky Tonk** · August-21-13, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by Novine

"I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city."

Detroit has limited resources and yet Bing, Orr and Snyder want to spend hundreds of millions on demolition without making anywhere near that kind of investment in viable neighborhoods. This is the same mentality we get with Demolition Jackson - demolish it and they will come. But no one ever does.

This is Federal money allocated especially for demolishing uninhabitable structures in Cities. You may remember the Bing administration had to return the money because they were unable to spend it.

**Honky Tonk** · August-21-13, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by Baselinepunk

And you know this for a fact ______________, ____________ and _______________.

Because I actually live here, see abandoned "Urban Farms", and know who was running them. You?

**noise** · August-21-13, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Haha. That's funny. You were so ready to jump in my shit. I could literally feel the double-take through the internets ...

I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm still so ready to find out how or why you can't differentiate between an action with reward and an action without reward.

**AppyInvestor** · August-22-13, 04:50 AM

wow, encouraging to see

**motz** · August-22-13, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by 1953

I have spoken with the blight authority folks and they tell me they have no plan nor role in re-purposing this land. Their only goal is to clear it and plant a low growth vegetation, which they believe will promote safety.

I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city.

1953

If you can present a developer with an empty plot of land, cleared of vegetation and blighted structures, I'd imagine they would be more open to developing that property vs. one that hasn't been touched. This is a small project that is important in cutting down on some of the sketchiness that happens in these blighted areas.

**Novine** · August-22-13, 09:08 AM

"This is Federal money allocated especially for demolishing uninhabitable structures in Cities. You may remember the Bing administration had to return the money because they were unable to spend it."

Actually, there is no federal requirement for demolition from what I've read of the fund. But it's the typical Detroit/Michigan attitude to waste those resources on demolition instead of building up viable neighborhoods. Think of what $50 million could do to rehabilitate neighborhoods. Give me two neighborhoods and spend $25 million in each. One gets the demolition approach and the other gets the investment approach. Which will be further ahead in one year, 5 years or 10 years? I'll take the investment approach every time.

**Novine** · August-22-13, 09:11 AM

"If you can present a developer with an empty plot of land, cleared of vegetation and blighted structures, I'd imagine they would be more open to developing that property vs. one that hasn't been touched. This is a small project that is important in cutting down on some of the sketchiness that happens in these blighted areas."

Please tell us where in Detroit this has happened?

**Novine** · August-22-13, 09:13 AM

Here's the Detroit/Michigan attitude at work. Instead of helping homeowners stay out of foreclosure or improve neighborhoods, the State will squander a hundred million dollars on demolition. Who gets rich in Detroit? Demolition companies.

"The U.S. Treasury on June 6 signed off on a proposal that allows the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to use funds originally set aside for mortgage relief to create a blight elimination program."

"Michigan has spent less than $100 million of the nearly $500 million that has been awarded in Hardest Hit funding. All funds must be spent by 2017."

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/in...aw_to_rec.html

**poobert** · August-22-13, 09:18 AM

I'm generally confused as to why we're pouring so much time/energy/money into Brightmoor. The area was designed to be a slum and now basically has ceased to exist. What the hell are we trying to save here? Why not rehab some houses in places like Warrendale or MorningSide and get qualifying homeowners in there? Turn Brightmoor into a lake for all I care. What the crap.

**dmike76** · August-22-13, 09:57 AM

It's hard to argue that point that the money would probably be better spent solidifying other neighborhoods, but what about your thoughts on how removing the blight has an effect on crime and safety? The more of those buildings they tear down, the less firefighters and cops have to worry about it. Doesn't that help them spend more time in more stable neighborhoods?

**313WX** · August-22-13, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Novine

Here's the Detroit/Michigan attitude at work. Instead of helping homeowners stay out of foreclosure or improve neighborhoods, the State will squander a hundred million dollars on demolition. Who gets rich in Detroit? Demolition companies.

"The U.S. Treasury on June 6 signed off on a proposal that allows the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to use funds originally set aside for mortgage relief to create a blight elimination program."

"Michigan has spent less than $100 million of the nearly $500 million that has been awarded in Hardest Hit funding. All funds must be spent by 2017."

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/in...aw_to_rec.html

If there's little chance of people moving into these neighborhoods [[and there is very little chance of that happening, as Detroit's services must improve beyond a 3rd world before that happens), there's no point in "solidifying" these areas, and obviously the excess vacant property must go before it further diminishes the value of neighborhood and harbors more crime. Private interest would do so itself [["solidify" the neighborhoods) if the demand and desirabiltiywas there.

And yes, I personally welcome the Detroit Blight Authority to come do its clean up and demolish the hoardes of vacant/scrapped properties here in Osborn [[we've been hit by far the hardest with the lifting of the residency requirement and the subsequent real estate bubble, and did have the highest population density in the city with absolutely no accountable help from private interests or city/state/federal government). But it's not going to happen. It's the furthest away from the most desirable areas in Detroit [[unlike the area immediately NE of the Eastern Market that the Detroit Blight Authority started on) and is supposedly the most dangerous area in the city.

**mkhopper** · August-22-13, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

I'm generally confused as to why we're pouring so much time/energy/money into Brightmoor. The area was designed to be a slum and now basically has ceased to exist. What the hell are we trying to save here? Why not rehab some houses in places like Warrendale or MorningSide and get qualifying homeowners in there? Turn Brightmoor into a lake for all I care. What the crap.

First, is there some validation to backup the statement saying that Brightmoor was designed to be a slum? From what I've always understood, yes, the area was to consist of low-cost housing for workers migrating north from the south to work in the various auto plants, but I can't imagine that the city planners actually had a slum in mind for the area years later.

Next, doing this type of land razing might be just the thing for developers to step in take some closer looks. Who knows, sure it's still the Brightmoor everyone knows at the moment, but look what's going on in the old Herman Gardens area. Some group decides to come along, buy up all that land and put up a gated community? Such a thing certainly wouldn't be easy but maybe it could work.