Dead Metro Detroit Malls *Universal, Livonia and Summit Place Mall pictures included*

[dcmorrison12]

I laughed a bit inside when I read the post saying Ferndale has just as much Mass Transit as Detroit. Ferndale is served by SMART, and that's it.

In Detroit, there's a bus stop NO MORE than 1/4 of a mile away from you anywhere in the city. In the denser parts of Detroit, there's a bus stop on every major /semi major [[Cass as an example) road with a bus stop about every block. You can get absolutely anywhere in Detroit completely by bus - not the case in Ferndale or anywhere in Metro Detroit. It's unfortunate too because when I want to travel out to 'burbia - I'd like to be able to bus there effectively. I can't and usually I must bum a ride from a friend or meet someone at the bus stop so that I can complete my voyage by car, since the bus coverage is essentially a joke - but how could it be better when you have such a sprawled community and half the suburban communities in SE Michigan refuse to pay for a public bus service.

-Not to mention the City of Detroit is taking huge steps at improving the mass transit system. They're opening a brand new [[and massive) intermodal transit station downtown next Tuesday and there is already a Downtown Circulator within the city, which is important to have in order to have a complete transit system [[we just needs spokes coming off the people mover). DDOT is purchasing about 10 or so hybrid-diesel busses [[with stimulus cash), they are putting together a plan to downsize certain roads to put in bike lanes, they are about to put together a plan to increase the number of bike racks around the city [[through a grant) AND they started working on a TOD [[transit oriented development) plan which they have now turned over to DEGC.

Did I mention we have a comprehensive plan to build a 9.5 mile light rail line down woodward? The application to the FTA is due this month and things are moving along smoothly with the private side - to combine the two plans and both funding sources.

Lastly, the City of Detroit contains the most sustainable communities in Michigan. On the other hand, we also contain very sprawled communities within the city limits.

Actually, there was a study was done about a year ago - they collected data to study the carbon footprints of SE Michigan residents - it was in the Free Press. The suburban population polluted the most.


so.... yea...