Demolition Choices

What is the criteria for tearing down buildings? Is there some formula the city is using to determine which buildings meet the wrecking ball first?

I know it's Detroit, yata, yata... but it seems like the buildings that are being torn down first are the ones with the most potential of being restored. They are also often the most historical. The city has thousands of abandoned structures. Why is it that the ones who meet the reaper first are the buildingas that everyone seems to cherish?

I mean there are numerous examples, but the Lafayette Building, Cass Tech, now maybe Carl's Chop House. What's the deal? Bulldoze the the insignificant buildings first, at least you give the more important structures a chance of being rehabbed. What's the harm in that? Seems totally senseless to start with iconic structures. If nothing else, it is demoralizing.

Totally agree.

It depends on who owns the building, and who is knocking it down.

There's private owners who are demolishing things, like Wayne State, or the gas station guy demolishing the university club. Then there is stuff owned by various government agencies and stuff. These various government groups aren't neccesarily related. Cass Tech is owned by DPS, and that's who's demolishing it. I think the Lafayette Building was owned by the DEGC. So there's not really a grand plan for demolitions, individual groups find themselves with some buildings, and decide what to do with it independent of what other people are doing with their buildings.

At any given time there seems to be a few high profile demolitions in the greater downtown area, but the overwhelming majority of buildings being demolished are abandoned houses in the rest of the city.

Since the groups responsible for the demolitions aren't connected, you can't have the city control what gets demolished in that way. Historic designations help, but I don't know what they say about demolition [[I think the designations just make certain government funds available for renovation, and certain government funds unavailable for demolition). The problem is with the groups themselves. I bet it didn't even occur to DPS that they could give away the building to a developer, rather than spend their own money demolishing it.