A U-M Flint style campus in Midtown (eg MSU-Detroit)

I was in downtown Flint the other day and was walking around U-M Flint. The university has had a substantial impact on the immediate area in Downtown Flint. I can see an additional university, a branch, of a Michigan/Metro university in Southern-Midtown/ Cass Corridor, or even in the vast parking lots and abandonment in the CBD. With U of M having the Flint and Dearborn campuses, I doubt there could ever be a University of Michigan- Detroit, but like I said a MSU-Detroit is possible or even Eastern Michigan in the city. Is this at all attainable?

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Originally Posted by DetroitTitan

I was in downtown Flint the other day and was walking around U-M Flint. The university has had a substantial impact on the immediate area in Downtown Flint. I can see an additional university, a branch, of a Michigan/Metro university in Southern-Midtown/ Cass Corridor, or even in the vast parking lots and abandonment in the CBD. With U of M having the Flint and Dearborn campuses, I doubt there could ever be a University of Michigan- Detroit, but like I said a MSU-Detroit is possible or even Eastern Michigan in the city. Is this at all attainable?

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There actually has been development like this, just not undergraduate programs. MSU just opened up a DMC campus right at Detroit Receiving as a part of their osteopathic medical school. The campus is for 50 students, and I am enrolled to start class in June. In addition I am pretty sure one of the U of M graduate programs is opening up a campus in Detroit.

Yeah, but I'm talking thousands of students, not small "extensions" or classes [[which have merit), there's the space for sure.

Hmmm. A large university in Midtown. Yeah, Detroit doesn't have one of those already...

I am more than aware of Wayne State. It is a great institution but the campus population could be far more to optimize its economic impact on Midtown [[compared to the other big players: MSU & U-of-M). A larger student population in Midtown is my point.

CCS's move into the long vacant Argonaut Building is sort of along the line of your thinking. Even with the great cultural institutions, theaters, galleries, the tech incubator, medical center and other assets there is still plenty of room for more. UM has a toehold in the Fine Arts[?] building just south of Orchestra Hall. Both UM and MSU could benefit by having some real world environments for their students.

When I went on a tour of Wayne State last fall. The tour guide said the board was planning on building new dorms sometime in the next several years. The tour guide said for the past 2 years they had to move freshmen into the Towers [[usually for upper-class men) An the 2 freshmen dorms were filled. I do not know the campus very well but is there space for new dorms in the midtown campus? Would they have to demolish? or build over surface lots?

I am always amazed that WSU seems to be on a building binge while jacking tutition through the roof. The latest communication from the President regarding the "State of Wayne State" was laughable. A lot of crying, whining and developing a bunch of busy committees. While from Eastern, we get word that everything is cool, tuition will be stable, record amount of students enrolled and expanding the campus.

I think WSU would benefit from a little more competition; the whole area would benefit from a little more competition. However, it's got to be measured. The economic downturn has facilitated higher enrollment right now. While this area is always the first in and the last out of poor economic times, it would really suck if an investing University over-built themselves [[or an existing University over-built themselves -- right, WSU?) only to have better economic times draw out students to the work force.

On the other hand, considering what this region just went through, perhaps Mid-Town/New Center and the "cultural" area could become an "Mega Educenter" and provide a new residual investment opportunities. This would work out regarding more of a move toward sustainability and ethical revitalization of the area. It's not going to be cars and art that puts this place on the map anymore; at least I don't think so.

With so much land available, I am really surprised that the City hasn't developed some method of marketing/attracting "green jobs" manufacturing. Even with the BS the Council and Mayor have put this area through, the housing stock and land is so cheap the area almost sells itself. But then again, there's the lovely Code/Building/Planning Department and other associated Bureaucracy that likes to be "involved" in the process, the schools situation, high taxes, ....

Yeah, I don't think the folks at Wayne would take too kindly to the state trying to build another large public university in the same neighborhood as them. They weren't very pleased years ago by the building of UM-Dearborn and Oakland, which was originally opened as an MSU extension campus.

What would be good for Wayne, and the surrounding community, is building more dorms, Like French 777 said, the dorms at Wayne are pretty much at capacity at the moment. The state has been notably reluctant over the years to build dorms at Wayne, viewing it as a commuter school. It is true that Wayne, like all big city public universities in the county, was conceived and grew as a commuter school, designed for city kids who couldn't afford or didn't want to attend residential colleges. But dorms at Wayne have been successful, to the surprise of many [[including old pre-Wayne State alums like my parents, who remembered it as a university for city-kid Detroit Public Schools graduates), and it would be nice to get some more willing people living around the campus area.

Of course, it would be better if the State of Michigan supported public universities to the extent that a lot of other states do, instead of constantly raising tuition on those least able to afford it - particularly as the state slips further into a recession, a brain drain, and economic irrelevance.

Iheartthed, why stop at one? Look at the potential benefits in other cities that cluster schools. Near-west Philly has two big institutions and a host of smaller ones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...,_Pennsylvania. Newark, which has a Rutgers campus similar to Wayne State, also has NJIT, UMDNJ and Essex College next door. I won't even go into Cambridge-Boston.

I for one am embarrassed that my alma mater does not do anything truly meaningful in the city of its origin and the most prominent city in the state and region. It does not need to be a new campus with separate administration and admissions, just a meaningful extension of either Ann Arbor or Dearborn with substantial amounts of classes and perhaps a residence. I do not see how this would do harm to Wayne State-- a venerable institution whose expansion we should also applaud-- at all.

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Originally Posted by DetroitTitan

I am more than aware of Wayne State. It is a great institution but the campus population could be far more to optimize its economic impact on Midtown [[compared to the other big players: MSU & U-of-M). A larger student population in Midtown is my point.

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Funny because up here in Flint we only can hope that U of M-Flint has the same effect that Wayne State has had in Midtown.

I've long held the opinion that a UM campus in Detroit would be a welcome return to its roots.

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Originally Posted by Mackinaw

Iheartthed, why stop at one? Look at the potential benefits in other cities that cluster schools. Near-west Philly has two big institutions and a host of smaller ones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...,_Pennsylvania. Newark, which has a Rutgers campus similar to Wayne State, also has NJIT, UMDNJ and Essex College next door. I won't even go into Cambridge-Boston.

I for one am embarrassed that my alma mater does not do anything truly meaningful in the city of its origin and the most prominent city in the state and region. It does not need to be a new campus with separate administration and admissions, just a meaningful extension of either Ann Arbor or Dearborn with substantial amounts of classes and perhaps a residence. I do not see how this would do harm to Wayne State-- a venerable institution whose expansion we should also applaud-- at all.

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I wasn't implying that the area couldn't use more higher education institutions. I was just pointing out that a very large one already existed in that area. In fact, the student enrollment at Wayne is nearly as large as the student enrollment of Penn and Drexel combined -- the two main schools who occupy University City in Philly.

The state can barely fund the 3 major and several secondary and tertiary universities it has now, I really don't think what we need is to build another school. Especially in a place that already has one.

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Originally Posted by EastsideAl

Yeah, I don't think the folks at Wayne would take too kindly to the state trying to build another large public university in the same neighborhood as them. They weren't very pleased years ago by the building of UM-Dearborn and Oakland, which was originally opened as an MSU extension campus.

What would be good for Wayne, and the surrounding community, is building more dorms, Like French 777 said, the dorms at Wayne are pretty much at capacity at the moment. The state has been notably reluctant over the years to build dorms at Wayne, viewing it as a commuter school. It is true that Wayne, like all big city public universities in the county, was conceived and grew as a commuter school, designed for city kids who couldn't afford or didn't want to attend residential colleges. But dorms at Wayne have been successful, to the surprise of many [[including old pre-Wayne State alums like my parents, who remembered it as a university for city-kid Detroit Public Schools graduates), and it would be nice to get some more willing people living around the campus area.

Of course, it would be better if the State of Michigan supported public universities to the extent that a lot of other states do, instead of constantly raising tuition on those least able to afford it - particularly as the state slips further into a recession, a brain drain, and economic irrelevance.

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Right-o, and it is notable that under Irvin Reid built a number of resident dorms have been built just in the last several years, and as you say, have been successful. Too bad he "retired," though still lives in Mid-Town and is an advocate.

I'm pretty sure WSU has some pretty grandiose plan for the old Forest Apartments block. Hopefully it will keep with the current urban oriented building trend[[think Studio One) and stay away from the Fortress Tower approach.

- WSU does plan to build more dorms, but I don't know exactly when. The location will be across Anthony Wayne Dr [[Third Ave) on what is now surface parking in front large parking garages. There will also be a new honors college building on/near this site. Also, a side note: a new business school building will be constructed on the corner of Woodward and Palmer [[also a proposed station location for the light-rail). The Forest Arms is not a university project, but they probably are supporting it somehow and construction has already begun, with wood framing already being constructed on the top floor. I may be mistaken, but I think the university intends have a "thirds" plan, meaning one third in student housing, one third near campus, and one third commuter. There has already been hundreds if not thousands of new students living in Midtown on or near campus. It has already had a huge impact, and will continue to.

- Detroit has long had the short end of the stick in terms of higher education. We lost the University of Michigan to Ann Arbor, but that was over 150 years ago, so I think we can forgive and forget. But more recent events, such as the 1950s university building boom didn't bother to look at Detroit, much less any urban areas. UM-Dearborn and Oakland University were established in suburban areas. Grand Valley University was established in rural land outside of Grand Rapids instead of inside it. Eastern Michigan University was expanded, meaning that Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti probably had more university students that the city of Detroit. Later, the Detroit School of Law moved from Downtown to the MSU campus in East Lansing. It is easy to see how the events could have played out differently, and what what the outcomes would have been. I would easily expect that the city would be much more vibrant even if one more university was located here.

- Detroit should advocate for the state of Michigan to found a new university within Detroit. If Wayne State is taking on the role of leading research institution, as well as taking in more foreign students and out of state students. Could there not be a new university established? Call it the City University of Detroit [[inspired by CUNY). It could even be built off of the WC3 system. It would be what Wayne State used to be, serving as an opportunity school, giving higher education opportunites to thousands.

- Another option I have often thought about is moving UM-Dearborn to Detroit. Henry Ford Community College could then take over the campus and become the Henry Ford University! A win-win!

- I have also thought about locations for a new university. I think the Uniroyal site is excellent, and there is enough room there for a major university, especialy if it is built densly. It sits right on the river, across from Belle Isle, right next to stabled neighborhoods such as the Villages area, Lafayette and Elmwood Park and Rivertown. And it is just minutes away from Downtown [[think WSU to Downtown). A light-rail could be build on Jefferson and the new university serving as a major anchor. The entire east riverfront would be revitalized, and Belle Isle certialny would see more activity. Alternative locations would be Downtown, north of Adams, west of Woodward, east of Grand River. There is a plethora of empty lots that a university could use. But I still think Uniroyal is a better location, encourage development to spread east, not just north

- I think the UM center and MSU centers should just be expanded, but keep their affiliation with their respected main campuses. This way students from the Ann Arbor UM campus and the East Lansing MSU campus can do semesters or years in Detroit, or travel back and forth via commuter rail transit, creating more and more synergy between universities. Remeber, once the commuter rail line is extened from Ann Arbor to Detoit and later Ponitac, students will be able to take transit from Oakland U to University of Detroit-Mercy to WSU and CCS to UM-Dearborn to EMU and to UM-Ann Arbor. This is nothing short of a major breakthrough. If Detroit is to be at the center of regional transit, could it not be at the center of education as well? A new university + more and expanded university branches would put Detroit on the callabar of other major cities in terms of education.

- Establishing a second urban university in Detroit would be a constiutional ammendment, would it not? Could there not be a ballot initative for this? Why would someone in Michigan vote for this? I think they would even if they don't directly benifit, because a strong central city in Detroit helps all of Michigan. Businesses want to locate near universities, near educated people, and in vibrant cities. That means more jobs for metro Detroit as a whole, and more tax dollars that benifit the entire state.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

Hmmm. A large university in Midtown. Yeah, Detroit doesn't have one of those already...

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Lets all be ignorant and pretend there's no difference between the WSU, MSU and UM brands.