Brightmoor Before and After Blight Authority Cleanup

[Novine]

"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."

Here's an idea - get someone to commit to that before you pour tens of millions of dollars into an area with the hope that maybe it will work. But that's not the Detroit way.

[stasu1213]

I wished that Faye Nelson hire these guys to extend the Dequindre Cut to Mack. They could plow the weeds and lay down asphalt.

[DetroitPlanner]

I wished that Faye Nelson hire these guys to extend the Dequindre Cut to Mack. They could plow the weeds and lay down asphalt.

The City will be extending that over the next several months and linking it into the Mid-town loop. http://www.detroitmi.gov/Departments...plication.aspx
http://www.freep.com/article/2012062...ts-pedestrians

[poobert]

The City will be extending that over the next several months and linking it into the Mid-town loop. http://www.detroitmi.gov/Departments...plication.aspx
http://www.freep.com/article/2012062...ts-pedestrians

All that news is over a year old. I'll believe it when I see it. Nothing gets done in this city with the city government at the helm. I'm sure those grant dollars are languishing somewhere, a check in some bureaucrat's desk. Maybe we paid the poll workers with it.

[motz]

Here's an idea - get someone to commit to that before you pour tens of millions of dollars into an area with the hope that maybe it will work. But that's not the Detroit way.

What I don't get is everyones lack of understanding of earmarked money. The federal government sends funds earmarked for Blight cleanup and you ask "WHY DON'T THEY USE IT TO FUND SCHOOLS!!!!!!". The Blight Authority, who has a sole mission of cleaning up blight in underserved/near-abandoned neighborhoods with notorious amounts of crime, gets chastised for spending their money on their mission because "WHY DON'T THEY USE IT FOR POLICES!!~!!!". I mean, I agree that I'd love to see the money go elsewhere, but doing something is better than doing nothing, and for that I am thankful.

[Novine]

Go back and read what I posted. This money wasn't initially intended for demolition. It was the state and the city that asked the Feds for permission to use these dollars for demolition instead of helping homeowners stay in their homes.

[Honky Tonk]

All that news is over a year old. I'll believe it when I see it. Nothing gets done in this city with the city government at the helm. I'm sure those grant dollars are languishing somewhere, a check in some bureaucrat's desk. Maybe we paid the poll workers with it.

Great, $25 mil so 4 people, MAYBE, can bike to Mack. That IS the Detroit way.

[Baselinepunk]

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

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Assumption is not really a good thing. You should have asked them what their plan was before you decided to speak for them based on the actions of other people.

On to establishing my "farmer Ted cred", I know a few urban farmers and, although certainly no expert [[supposedly like yourself), I do know a thing or two about farming -- "Urban Farming" was something I got into in around 2001 or so. I know that's a bit late in the whole rage but I've learned a few things along the way.

How about yourself; have you every "urban farmed" before? Perhaps you've been a consumer? Or have you just been an observer?

[sumas]

Amusing, but serious, we need certain properties to get demolished. As a community we work closely with DED to save homes. Keep people in their homes and provide viable housing to new home owners.

[sumas]

Not a big fan of urban gardening. Usually one person takes charge. They lose interest or even die and everything goes rat shit. Everyone wants me to start one on vacant property we have in the the area. Frankly, I have the credentials, just too old to take on that responsibility.

[aj3647]

Go back and read what I posted. This money wasn't initially intended for demolition. It was the state and the city that asked the Feds for permission to use these dollars for demolition instead of helping homeowners stay in their homes.

Helping people stay in their homes is great, but it still doesn't solve the problem of condemned houses that need to be torn down.

These condemned, inhabitable houses drag down the property values of the surrounding habitable homes, not to mention serve as havens for criminal activity. And it's cost-prohibitive to rehab them. They HAVE to be torn down, there is no other choice. What other option is there? Your plan on how the money should be spent might keep a few hundred people in their homes for a little while longer, but will leave a few thousand wrecked homes to stand as eyesores and magnets for criminals and vermin.

[detroitsgwenivere]

This weekend, I took some friends of mine who live on the eastside to see in person what you see in the recent cleanup photo. They were shown the before photo as I explained to them about the earmark. Mind you, these folks live in the worst of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit.

Their responses?

"Oh my GOD, is this what they're going to do to our neighborhood?"

"It looks like Mars"

"Since when are good trees considered blight?"

"Looks like white people terrain.." [[meaning suburban folks in street talk)

"We have green stuff everywhere, and we don't have any rats."

"I'm scared."


When I hear blight removal, I think taking down burnt up structures, cleaning up garbage and illegal dumps, cutting down dead trees. This goes WAY beyond that, the area looks like the developers are preparing for the first installation of a moon colony.

So the government wants to pony up funds to clean up our "broken windows." Great. Are they planning on paying for the houses that will anchor this newly created neighborhood? Or do they plan on leaving it like the fukin Borg just left?

[royce]

Detroitsgwenivere, I know the area looks like the Borg or a tornado hit it, but a thorough clearing of the area was necessary. I've been up and down these streets for over 16 years. The abandonment of houses is a major problem, but the brush growth around these abandoned houses is just as bad. If I lived on one of those blocks as some people still do, I would want to have clear site lines from my house to the corners of the block to see if any illegal activities were taking place. Some trees and brush were saved. In some cases only hanging branches of trees were removed. Again, clearing the area was necessary.

[Honky Tonk]

This weekend, I took some friends of mine who live on the eastside to see in person what you see in the recent cleanup photo. They were shown the before photo as I explained to them about the earmark. Mind you, these folks live in the worst of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit.

Their responses?

"Oh my GOD, is this what they're going to do to our neighborhood?"

"It looks like Mars"

"Since when are good trees considered blight?"

"Looks like white people terrain.." [[meaning suburban folks in street talk)

"We have green stuff everywhere, and we don't have any rats."

"I'm scared."


When I hear blight removal, I think taking down burnt up structures, cleaning up garbage and illegal dumps, cutting down dead trees. This goes WAY beyond that, the area looks like the developers are preparing for the first installation of a moon colony.

So the government wants to pony up funds to help us clean up our "broken windows." Great. Are they planning on paying for the houses that will anchor this newly created neighborhood? Or do they plan on leaving it like the fukin Borg just left?

PERFECT POST! The project thing looks like it was done by some clown from Sterile Heights with a Masters degree and an I-Phone. NO CLUE to what they were doing.

[rex]

wonder where they will go next
There are areas that lend themselves to redevelopment over other areas.
Close to downtown > Brightmoor. The area between Corktown and Woodbridge would seem to be well placed and would bridge 2 reasonably stable communities. I dont think there is all that much blight in that area that needs to be cleared, most of what is left seems to be cared for.

[poobert]

wonder where they will go next
There are areas that lend themselves to redevelopment over other areas.
Close to downtown > Brightmoor. The area between Corktown and Woodbridge would seem to be well placed and would bridge 2 reasonably stable communities. I dont think there is all that much blight in that area that needs to be cleared, most of what is left seems to be cared for.

North Corktown, as it is weirdly called. And you are correct.

There is plenty of blight that needs to be cleared there. Burned out hulks next to cared-for homes along with a ton of occupied in-fill housing [[that is listed in a few cases at over $100K)

A little would go a long way. Further development and stabilization from Rosa Parks to Trumbull would create a contiguous ring of stability around downtown. Then, ideally, you could focus on Core Cities - a decidedly unglamorous inner city area.

Yet the fucking powers that be go and bulldoze trees in Brightmoor. Stuck on stupid - everyone in this state.

[313WX]

Yet the fucking powers that be go and bulldoze trees in Brightmoor. Stuck on stupid - everyone in this state.

The people in Brightmoor, no matter how few in number they are, how poor they are and how unimportant they are to some in Detroit's supposed comeback, deserve to live in an environment without a lot of blight too. Yet again, I disagree with the sentiment by some here. I welcome the Detroit Blight Authority to clean up the blight in Warrendale or Osborn next, neighborhoods that have essentially been ignored by the city/state since the Archer/Engler administration, yet the most devastated by the policies since then.

[terryh]

I think the area should have been left alone in its natural state with the brush and other foliage.....in the first pic the area surrounding the street gave it a country look..like in the 14 and Lawton area where there is this Victorian era house sitting on a lot surrounded on all sides by trees, and the emty warehouses next to a trio of occupied late 19th century homes around the corner from an antique store...its like a tiny rural town within a large city...

[mercyme]

My Mom grew up on Chapel. Kinda of sad to see.

Let's think outside the box......Urban farming sounds very complicated. Grandfather was a farmer and I know the kind of work it takes to bring in a crop. Add into that the fact that this is in a city where folks may come take advantage of that crop before the farmers harvest. BUT, I am also a horse person and I see beautiful fields of alfalfa and/or timothy hay growing there. After a year or two of cutting and fertilizing a couple times a season thousands of bales of hay could be cut. You see, alfalfa hay and timothy hay can't be grown in many parts of the country due to climate but is THE hay horse folks want to feed. It is shipped all over the country and often sells for up to $30 bucks a bale. Fertilize it once a year, cut three to four cuttings each season and the city is making bucks.....Initial investment of tractors and hay equipment, someone on the payroll that knows how to do it. You have beautiful green acres that doesn't grow up high [[couple feet if not cut) and a money maker at the same time. IMHO.......