Midtown Incentives Almost Gone

**JDKeepsmiling** · August-12-11, 07:38 AM

I was reading the Freep this morning and they had this excellent article on the Midtown Incentives. Apparently the money is almost all used up, and they no longer are taking applications. Good news for sure. Here is my favorite quote from the article:

"Miller has lived in Detroit five years, first in the Woodbridge area and lately in Lafayette Park, where she shares a unit with her boyfriend. But she hasn't been able to find the new apartment within walking distance of the CCS campus in Midtown, even after scouring the Internet.
"As long as I've lived down here, I've never had this much trouble finding a place," she said this week. "I feel like there's still some decent student housing available but if you want something a little bit nicer it's more difficult to find.""

My only beef is that about half the people applying are moving from other parts of the city. I know that the intention of the program is not to increase the population of the city, but rather to increase density in certain negihborhoods, buit it still strikes me as robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Thoughts?

agrahlma · August-12-11, 08:23 AM

Hopefully there will be an increase in available rentals in Midtown and the CBD. From what I’ve heard rental properties in these areas are almost fully rented. Are there any new residential developments planned to meet the increasing demand?

**iheartthed** · August-12-11, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by JDKeepsmiling

My only beef is that about half the people applying are moving from other parts of the city.

Isn't that what the mayor wanted?

**401don** · August-12-11, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Isn't that what the mayor wanted?

I agree with JD. If people were moving from the worst neighborhoods it would mean the program is successful, but moving from Woodbridge, Lafayette Park, etc. I'm guessing is more typically the case.

DetroitPole · August-12-11, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by 401don

I agree with JD. If people were moving from the worst neighborhoods it would mean the program is successful, but moving from Woodbridge, Lafayette Park, etc. I'm guessing is more typically the case.

Those areas are covered under most incentives, as is Corktown and the New Center south of Philadelphia.

The problem is people moving not from the "worst" areas of the city but viable areas like Rosedale, Green Acres, Bagley, EEV etc., making THEM less viable.

Not the mayors plan at all, either, since he chose far-flung parts of the city for that weird pilot serviecs program.

I'm afraid we'll see flight of the middle class - not from the solid areas of Detroit to the suburbs, but to downtown!

**JDKeepsmiling** · August-12-11, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPole

I'm afraid we'll see flight of the middle class - not from the solid areas of Detroit to the suburbs, but to downtown!

I suppose that is better then losing them to the suburbs....

**iheartthed** · August-12-11, 09:23 AM

I'd also add that even if 50% of the people are coming from other parts of the city, the other 50% are people who didn't live in the city before. So it's still a net plus to the city...

**English** · August-12-11, 11:10 AM

It is a net plus. Also, as I've mentioned before, some of us who have moved to Detroit [[or back) recently have chosen to live in other areas of the city. So Detroit gets me back as a taxpaying resident, and I didn't take the incentive when I could have...

I think the incentive was there to spur momentum. I could be wrong, but the momentum within the "square" bounded by W/E Grand Boulevard is already here.

**lo_to_d** · August-12-11, 01:38 PM

The person that rented my place moved here from Kentucky and works at Henry Ford Macomb which I did not realize also qualified her for live midtown.

**Detroitej72** · August-12-11, 03:05 PM

So much for the myth that nobody wants to live in the city!

**kraig** · August-12-11, 03:30 PM

Now the key is going to be getting people to move in without incentives and getting those receiving incentives to stick around after their incentives run out.

**bailey** · August-12-11, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

So much for the myth that nobody wants to live in the city!

I don't mean to be all negative on this, but c'mon, it was 98 people [[half of the total 197 came from neighboring areas) and they needed to be given thousands of dollars to do it.

**MSUguy** · August-12-11, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

Now the key is going to be getting people to move in without incentives and getting those receiving incentives to stick around after their incentives run out.

People were already moving in without inventives occupancy rates were already very high. This just icing on the cake .

**Scottathew** · August-12-11, 05:43 PM

This is only good for Detroit. Imagine a vibrant midtown and downtown. We're getting there!

**313WX** · August-12-11, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by JDKeepsmiling

My only beef is that about half the people applying are moving from other parts of the city. I know that the intention of the program is not to increase the population of the city, but rather to increase density in certain negihborhoods, buit it still strikes me as robbing Peter to pay Paul.

That's the plan.

While no one of importance has come right out and bluntly said it, areas outside the expressway/Grand Blvd quite frankly don't fit into the "New Detroit" vision, and are quietly being pushed to the wayside.

I feel bad for anyone who's going to be living outside the aforementioned area during the next 10-20 years.