Should we reconnect with our French History and become the Paris of North America?

[Newdetroit]

Well didn't Detroit try to create a Chinatown? Maybe we can put a French Quarter and have our own Mardi Gras..

[Pam]

and have our own Mardi Gras..

We already do, it's called Paczki Day.

[Jimaz]

Where would be the best place for the Arc de Tragédie?

Oh! The MCS, of course!

[canuck]

Thanks Ronaldj, I'll check that out.

You guys are funny, I like that frenchified Detroit thing. I really liked the Nain Rouge parade which seemed like the rebirth of a tradition that expressed a lot of Detroit grit. I can imagine it becoming bigger and better. It also serves to get away from the constant pounding of reality .

[fryar]

We already do, it's called Paczki Day.

Wikipedia calls the Jobbie Nooner the "Mardi Gras of the Midwest."

[kryptonite]

Paczki Day, Jobbie Nooner and our St. Patrick's Day parade is no slouch.

Detroit throws some good parties.

There must be a few times when Paris wishes it was us??? Maybe??? OK, then how about Paris Hilton?

[Pam]

Wikipedia calls the Jobbie Nooner the "Mardi Gras of the Midwest."

But it doesn't take place on Fat Tuesday and Paczki Day does.

[fryar]

Detroit was once dubbed the Paris of North American in 1930. Should we not try to reclaim this title in 2030? If you were to ask people all over the world, what is your most preferred city, surely Paris would make the list. Why? To begin, Paris has beautiful architecture, boulevards, cultural attractions, and so forth. Let's face it, French culture sells. So why should we not market it to our advantage? New Orleans is a case in point...imagine what New Orleans would be without its French Quarter and French cultural heritage?

Detroit would not be refabricating history or pretending to be of French heritage either. Our city was founded by a Frenchman and the radiating boulevards from Campus Martius illustrate the original French design. We have started La March de Nain Rouge. The DIA is beax-arts in architecture.

So, what do people think about creating an urban plan for Detroit that is European [[or Parisian) in style and not American. We can make Detroit the most unique American city. Specifically, roundabouts, fountains, statutues, plazas, lined trees, cobble-stone streets, and a UNIFORM ARCHITECTURE of apartments and condos that look European. Instead of going to Paris, people can visit Detroit? Any thoughts?????

Apart from a question of degrees that is all about simply being broke, a realistic version of what you're describing is downtown and, to a lesser degree, a post-M1 midtown. The medians and parks in the general vicinity of Campus Martius have improved a great deal over the last 5 years, there are sidewalk cafes [[weather permitting), etc. The things that don't conform to your idea - the absence of cobblestone [[side) streets, the absence of fountains, the continued existence of slummy surface lots the "broken windows" of which are a drag on the whole neighborhood - well look, there's just no money in the kitty for that right now.

[dtowncitylover]

Well didn't Detroit try to create a Chinatown?

No, Detroit had two Chinatowns that grew naturally out of its Chinese enclave. Two, as the first one of displaced because of the Lodge.

The "Asiantown" was the pathetic attempt at culture. What was it? 1 restaurant in a plaza strip on the riverfront? Give me a break!

[Whitehouse]

Official list of sister cities and Paris is not one of them.
Chongquing in China. How fitting.... That where our workforce is.
Dubai, UAE. That's where the money went.
Kitwe, Zambia. Lord knows why.
Minsk, Belarus. Last country with lower wages than us.
Nassau, Bahamas. Where our CEOs go for the holidays.
Toyota, Japan. Cause you want to be close to your enenmies.
Turin, Piemonte. See Toyota, this is the birthplace of Fiat.

Intersting is that Dearborn is sistercity to Qana.... in Lebanon.


Complete list of Sistercities of Michigan.

[Hermod]

No, Detroit had two Chinatowns that grew naturally out of its Chinese enclave. Two, as the first one of displaced because of the Lodge.

The "Asiantown" was the pathetic attempt at culture. What was it? 1 restaurant in a plaza strip on the riverfront? Give me a break!

Chinatowns create themselves. If the city tries to create them, it just ends up as another Epcot [[at great expense).

Toronto has a magnificent Chinatown which just grew by itself.

.

[canuck]

Yup Toronto has two or three chinatowns now. Montreal has a second one that sprung up over the past ten years because our old Chinatown was squished by stupid unfocussed development in the old streets that should have been revamped by the city. Toronto is a good example of the positive force civic administrations exert in neighborhood commercial development.

[Mikeg]

Reference Constantinos Doxiodos megalopolis study with Detroit as the center from Chicago to Montreal.

For those who wish to know more about it, Doxiadis Associates' three-volume, five-year study [[which was sponsored by Detroit Edison and completed in 1970), attempted to define the future boundaries of the then suspected, but barely detectable, Great Lakes Megalopolis.

Using Principal Component Analysis techniques with a set of 40 variables, they predicted the areal definition of a future Great Lakes Megalopolis. The area within their defined boundary formed a continuous band located south of lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie, that extended from Milwaukee to Pittsburgh. It included four clearly identifiable urban clusters [[Milwaukee-Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh) with the Urban Detroit Area [[UDA) located located roughly at its center. The UDA consisted of 25 counties in eastern Michigan, 9 in Ohio and 3 in Ontario, with Detroit as its major urban center.

Their study also looked at alternative futures for the UDA and identified several that would improve organizational efficiencies while contributing to the continued growth of the UDA. Their selected alternative envisioned the establishment of a new twin urban center in St. Clair County that was predicated on the:
a) successful reorganization of the land transportation system to form a gridiron network across the UDA
b) concentration of new major functions in the new twin urban center to attract the continuing growth in that direction.
This alternative predicted a doubling of the UDA population to 15 million by the year 2000.

[DetroitPetanque]

Petanque - a very French sport - has been played in Detroit for ten years [[and in Michigan for over 40 years). The Detroit Petanque Club started playing along the Detroit Riverfront, then moved to Campus Martius Park; and for the past few years now plays at the adjoining park: Cadillac Square. Meeting weekdays, 12:10pm-1pm[[ish) No Fees, all equipment supplied. Lots of fun trash talking, we are a social, somewhat competitive group. At the older club [[which meets in Royal Oak on Sundays at 1pm) there are some older French players. Petanque is the French version of bocci. www.detroitpetanque.com

http://www.thedetroiter.com/b_city/b..._petanque_club

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7762

http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/pet10607.aspx

[EastsideAl]

My main goal in posting this was to see what people's thoughts were regarding architecture and urban planning in addition to rebolstering our French heritage. I think that Detroit does indeed have great architecture and history. I, in no way, mean that we should copy another city. But I can't help but feel that Detroit could incoroporate urban planning from European models. Case in point: architectural uniformity, cobble stoned streets, tree-lined avenues, fountains, roundabouts, plazas, and statues. This does not erase Detroit and its history, but rather give it a pleasant urban setting. Imagine if Midtown made some of these changes?? Imagine Woodward with lined trees, fountains in the median, statues throughout Midtown, and Masonic temple's park turned into a plaza. Put in cobble stoned streets throughout Midtown [[Wodward, Warren, Mack, John R, Brush Street, St. Antoine, and First-Third), Midtown could really look unique. Also imagine streets with a uniform architectural style as opposed to a collage of mix and match buildings. I know, alot of people will say that it is preferable to have a different array of architecture. I personally prefer areas to have architecture which complements buildings with one another. At any rate, a European feeling in Midtown in my mind would give Midtown a desired urban setting. And if we could find a philanthropist to fund a 500 foot Spirit of Detroit statue in the middle of a roundabout with fountains around it and an observatory deck on top,why not?..

I think it would be nice if we could get the streetlights working again and cut police response time under 4 hours...

[canuck]

Well Detroit has the architecture in Midtown and downtown that europeans envied for a long time before they built skyscrapers. People behind the Book Cadillac Hotel were pretty courageous to renovate the place and their situation may be fragile, but it would be nice if a lot of investors stred underwriting some schemes in clusters. If small business was helped after the redesign of some vacant buildings by teams of promoters the effect would be stronger and faster. All these areas need is some help in putting businesses on street level through incentives like the Marshall plan did for post war Europe, is that such an impossible thing to consider in 2010? Anything that restores these vital areas to their former glory but with the addition of proper transit on Woodward, some sidewalk activity in restaurants and cafes will give value to the rest of the city. THe youger st more adventurous, will definitely adopt the urban as opposed to suburban environment they are condemned to.

It's all there minus the freaking parking lots. The thing I hate the most about my downtown are parking lots.

[Jimaz]

Thirteen-minute audio at the link:

Detroit is usually a melting pot for different cultures, so what happened to the founding French?

The area that became Detroit was founded in 1701 by a French man, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Fast forward over 300 years and the French influence in Detroit can be hard to find.

On a new episode of The Daily J podcast , WWJ's Zach Clark hits the wayback machine to find out what happened to local French culture.