Detroit's Corktown area finds life after Tiger Stadium

**begingri** · July-17-12, 10:17 PM

Cast off as dead when the Tigers left for Comerica Park a decade ago, Detroit's oldest neighborhood — Corktown — is experiencing a resurgence, thanks to an influx of young entrepreneurs and new residents.

In the past 18 months, seven businesses, including restaurants, a hostel, a coffee shop and a cocktail bar, have opened along a neglected stretch of Michigan Avenue. Other ventures are in the works, and neighborhood stalwarts like Nemo's, a popular sports bar, are helping the revitalization with plans to expand or launch businesses.

"People thought Corktown would die after Tiger Stadium left," said Dennis Fulton, co-owner of the Mercury Burger and Bar, which opened in March at the corner of Michigan and 14th Street. "It's been quite the opposite. There's a real young, hip crowd moving in creating a great mix of the old and new."

Full story at: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz20wN1nBaK

**Detroitnerd** · July-18-12, 10:18 AM

All-white ain't alright, yo...

**corktownyuppie** · July-18-12, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

All-white ain't alright, yo...

Hey man, no redlining here. Everyone welcome.

**poobert** · July-18-12, 10:42 AM

I lived in the area for a while, but after they stopped using Tiger Stadium. It was a pretty nice area to live in.

I can't imagine Corktown was a very nice place to live when Tiger Stadium was right there. I couldn't imagine tens of thousands of drunks descending on my neighborhood nearly every single day during the warm months. I imagine a lot of peeing on vomiting on stuff that wasn't their's came up pretty often, followed by post-game traffic and honking. Like I said, I didn't live there then, so I dunno.

It didn't say who exactly "cast off Corktown as dead" - I imagine not the residents who live there, many of whom have been there a very, very long time. It seems that whenever an area is no longer going to be used by suburbanites for entertainment it is then declared "dead" or "empty" or "no one lives there." Now that they're using it again, it's not dead anymore. Huzzah!

**Gannon** · July-18-12, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

Hey man, no redlining here. Everyone welcome.

Yeah, I know, WTF?! That must be one of the most ignorant statements EVER made on this board, enough for me to not even want to directly quote it again.

Thanks for not being reactionary about it, CTYup. You rock.

**Detroitej72** · July-18-12, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by poobert

It didn't say who exactly "cast off Corktown as dead" - I imagine not the residents who live there, many of whom have been there a very, very long time.

I wondered the same thing myself. In fact, I remember the residents said the exact opposite at the time of the closing. The thinking was now that all those empty lots weren't going to be used for parking, in-fill housing could spring up on the sites.

**Motor City Sam** · July-18-12, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by poobert

It didn't say who exactly "cast off Corktown as dead" - I imagine not the residents who live there, many of whom have been there a very, very long time. It seems that whenever an area is no longer going to be used by suburbanites for entertainment it is then declared "dead" or "empty" or "no one lives there." Now that they're using it again, it's not dead anymore. Huzzah!

I was wondering about that, also. Just looks like lazy writing. Certainly the residents did not write off the community once the Tigers left, and anyone who did had a very uninformed opinion.

**DetroitHabitater** · July-18-12, 01:03 PM

Great article. Things could go crazy if we didn't have so many building/land speculators.

**Detroitnerd** · July-18-12, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Gannon

Yeah, I know, WTF?! That must be one of the most ignorant statements EVER made on this board.

Give me a break. I've seen several pieces on the "resurgence" of Corktown and they all feature all white faces. Is it so freakin' hard to go up to Rachel's Place?

**artds** · July-18-12, 02:07 PM

LOL apparently the author is unaware that Tiger Stadium has been closed for almost a decade and a half now. Next he can write "Campus Martius finds new life after Hudson's closure", followed by his piece titled "Detroit Riverfront docks coping with loss of Boblo steamers".

**artds** · July-18-12, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Give me a break. I've seen several pieces on the "resurgence" of Corktown and they all feature all white faces. Is it so freakin' hard to go up to Rachel's Place?

Are you saying it bothers you that the people reviving Corktown are largely white? Not sure anyone can help you with that.

**rex** · July-18-12, 02:12 PM

ahaha heaven forbid whites reinvest in the city.

**Detroitnerd** · July-18-12, 02:29 PM

I think you're savvy enough to know that the complaint is about the all-white media coverage, not about white people, white money or white lightning. I don't care if it doesn't bother you. But I imagine that even Corktown's biggest cheerleaders [[especially its biggest cheerleaders) would bend over backward to include black entrepreneurs and show that it's not just white folks. The journalist should have known better.

Take it from me, people of color see this sort of reporting and shake their heads. In a city that's majority black, that's a problem.

**CLAUDE G** · July-19-12, 12:09 AM

To say Tiger Stadium made Corktown a bad place to live is just wrong.

Granted in the late 1990's the whole neighborhood was going down hill, and that was one of the decisions was made to build Comerica Park on the other side of town.

With some of the redevelopment we are seeing today as the area is coming back, Tiger Stadium would have only helped enhance it.

If you have ever been to Wrigley Field in Chicago, Tiger Stadium had the same potential in Corktown. Michigan Ave could have been lined with bars and lofts just like we see in Wrigleyville in Chicago.

The only thing holding back development in Corktown is the DEGC.

**ghettopalmetto** · July-19-12, 09:55 AM

I think the article aptly summarizes what people here have been saying all along:

Redevelopment and an improvement in quality of life does not require massive taxpayer-subsidized demolitions, stadiums, convention centers, casinos, or other tourist traps. It just requires a burning desire to create a pleasant neighborhood, and a lot of hard work. Good on ya, Corktowners!

**Jaybiz** · July-19-12, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

All-white ain't alright, yo...

Corktown has always been pretty white probably even more so in the 1980's

**Detroitnerd** · July-19-12, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Jaybiz

Corktown has always been pretty white probably even more so in the 1980's

Oh, OK then. So it's cool to totally ignore the African-American businesspeople contributing their energy to Corktown, since the neighborhood is traditionally white. I mean, WTF? Charles and Karima Sorel aren't contributing to Corktown by running Le Petit Zinc just down Trumbull?

**Jaybiz** · July-19-12, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

I think you're savvy enough to know that the complaint is about the all-white media coverage, not about white people, white money or white lightning. I don't care if it doesn't bother you. But I imagine that even Corktown's biggest cheerleaders [[especially its biggest cheerleaders) would bend over backward to include black entrepreneurs and show that it's not just white folks. The journalist should have known better.

Take it from me, people of color see this sort of reporting and shake their heads. In a city that's majority black, that's a problem.

If you were a New Yorker you'd be the same person who would be outraged that Harlem is becoming more diverse with more whites and others moving into the once all black Mecca, I've seen it when in NYC all the time, especially with professional black brownstoners in Harlem, they cry that the character of the neighborhood will be lost but god forbid if there is an all-white area like the Little Italy's In Brooklyn because those people must all be racist because no blacks live in their neighborhood. No one, especially in the city of Detroit, is stopping the black community from investing or living in Corktown.

**Jaybiz** · July-19-12, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Oh, OK then. So it's cool to totally ignore the African-American businesspeople contributing their energy to Corktown, since the neighborhood is traditionally white. I mean, WTF? Charles and Karima Sorel aren't contributing to Corktown by running Le Petit Zinc just down Trumbull?

Im not disagreeing with the media coverage being biased toward showcasing any white involvement with the city. That I agree with you on but to say all white ain't right, it's like getting mad that chinatown in San francisco doesn't have enough Jewish delies. Corktown has been traditionally irish and there's nothing wrong with that.

**rondinjp** · July-19-12, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Oh, OK then. So it's cool to totally ignore the African-American businesspeople contributing their energy to Corktown, since the neighborhood is traditionally white. I mean, WTF? Charles and Karima Sorel aren't contributing to Corktown by running Le Petit Zinc just down Trumbull?

Before you get so bent up about this one article [[yes I agree they could have interviewed more people helping in the resurgence of Corktown both black and white) you should at least know that there has been individual articles written directly about the establishments you mention:

http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/...ace120109.aspx

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/06/...le-petit-zinc/

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...907230383/1031

**Bham1982** · July-19-12, 11:32 AM

I'm pretty sure Corktown has always been very white. It's probably currently at its peak non-white population.

It's always interesting looking back how these ethnic cleavages developed. Yes, racism probably played a role, but it was more than that. Corktown and Briggs [[to the north, now sometimes called North Corktown) were always white enclaves, even as neighborhoods to the north underwent 100% racial transition from white to black.

Corktown doesn't even seem to have a visible Mexican presence. It's strange how the SW Mexican influence never spilled over to Corktown, but maybe the growth has always been from the train station heading west.

**Detroitnerd** · July-19-12, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by Jaybiz

If you were a New Yorker you'd be the same person who would be outraged that Harlem is becoming more diverse with more whites and others moving into the once all black Mecca, I've seen it when in NYC all the time, especially with professional black brownstoners in Harlem, they cry that the character of the neighborhood will be lost but god forbid if there is an all-white area like the Little Italy's In Brooklyn because those people must all be racist because no blacks live in their neighborhood. No one, especially in the city of Detroit, is stopping the black community from investing or living in Corktown.

I was a New Yorker, but that's neither here nor there. Are you paying attention to what I'm writing, or just constructing a bogeyman in your head that you can impatiently dismiss?

I'm not anti-Cooley. Frankly, I don't know why anybody should be anti-Cooley. Cooley is a cool guy. I'm not against people moving to Corktown, or the changing demographics and income levels of Corktown. Nowhere have I complained about that. [[But that doesn't stop you from thinking you have me all figured out, a la Harlem. What a joke!)

What I'm talking about is media coverage and perceptions, which are important. The reporter who wrote that story is relatively young and perhaps didn't realize that that kind of coverage is going to alienate the African-Americans who do live in the area. I know one of my black friends was upset by the article. I know of one black business owner in the Corktown area who consistently complains that no journalist covering the "new" Corktown ever comes to see the business she's running. As I said, I am not against any of the changes happening in Corktown, but if I were a PR adviser for the businesses clumped together along Michigan Avenue, I would say that now is the time to avoid a future PR problem. When journalists come in and reinforce the idea that the new Corktown is a bunch of white businesspeople, that's not good for anybody.

I'm all for diversity, and Corktown is diverse, but when you focus on a block or two of white entrepreneurs at the expense of the rest of the businesspeople, you're going to alienate a lot of people who are also contributing to the neighborhood... does that make sense?

**Detroitnerd** · July-19-12, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by rondinjp

Before you get so bent up about this one article [[yes I agree they could have interviewed more people helping in the resurgence of Corktown both black and white) you should at least know that there has been individual articles written directly about the establishments you mention:

Clarification, rondinjp. I'm not bent up, OK? I am seeing my black friends upset by the article, whereas I see the article as mypoic, and I'm trying to make a point here that somebody should have made to this journalist: Do take the effort to include all the businesspeople in the area who are contributing. Or else it's just a PR disaster waiting to happen.

And I'm aware that these other businesses have gotten coverage. To clarify, the article in question didn't mention them, and should have. Maybe Cooley and company urged the reporter to talk to them too, I don't know. All I know is that an article about Corktown finding life after Tiger Stadium should include, well, all the people making it lively? Is that so freakin' crazy?

Anyway, you see this a lot in journalism. On the first day in J-school, they tell you that a dog biting a man isn't a story. A man biting a dog is. There is this unseemly preoccupation in journalism with the unusual. And so a black entrepreneur opening a business in Detroit isn't news, but a white entrepreneur opening a business in Detroit is news. And when you have four white entrepreneurs opening up businesses on one street, that's really news. And I think, at bottom, that's what's really wrong here, and don't think African-American Detroiters don't pick up on that. They do. And, frankly, it's not fair to them. I trust we all want to be fair and inclusive, no matter what the "historic demographic" of Corktown is.

Anyway, this article isn't the most egregious example of "Oooh, white people in Detroit!" For a really egregious example, see this:

http://www.details.com/culture-trend...ource=timeline

**Jaybiz** · July-19-12, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

I was a New Yorker, but that's neither here nor there. Are you paying attention to what I'm writing, or just constructing a bogeyman in your head that you can impatiently dismiss?

I'm not anti-Cooley. Frankly, I don't know why anybody should be anti-Cooley. Cooley is a cool guy. I'm not against people moving to Corktown, or the changing demographics and income levels of Corktown. Nowhere have I complained about that. [[But that doesn't stop you from thinking you have me all figured out, a la Harlem. What a joke!)

What I'm talking about is media coverage and perceptions, which are important. The reporter who wrote that story is relatively young and perhaps didn't realize that that kind of coverage is going to alienate the African-Americans who do live in the area. I know one of my black friends was upset by the article. I know of one black business owner in the Corktown area who consistently complains that no journalist covering the "new" Corktown ever comes to see the business she's running. As I said, I am not against any of the changes happening in Corktown, but if I were a PR adviser for the businesses clumped together along Michigan Avenue, I would say that now is the time to avoid a future PR problem. When journalists come in and reinforce the idea that the new Corktown is a bunch of white businesspeople, that's not good for anybody.

I'm all for diversity, and Corktown is diverse, but when you focus on a block or two of white entrepreneurs at the expense of the rest of the businesspeople, you're going to alienate a lot of people who are also contributing to the neighborhood... does that make sense?

Yes that makes sense so why didn't you clarify that from the beginning instead of "all white ain't alright" or whatever it was. I'm sure the young reporter has no idea about the goings on of the city. Most young white people who moved into the city have no clue about the city; either they hail from some affluent suburb or they are from out of state, from what I've found their parents didn't grow up in the city let alone them, they are not from some blue collar suburb on the boarders of the city. These are educated people like this young reporter who have very little in common with average metro-detroiters so they end up clueless about the real city and just talk about how excited they are for Trader Joes to open.

**Detroitnerd** · July-19-12, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Jaybiz

Yes that makes sense so why didn't you clarify that from the beginning instead of "all white ain't alright" or whatever it was. I'm sure the young reporter has no idea about the goings on of the city. Most young white people who moved into the city have no clue about the city; either they hail from some affluent suburb or they are from out of state, from what I've found their parents didn't grow up in the city let alone them, they are not from some blue collar suburb on the boarders of the city. These are educated people like this young reporter who have very little in common with average metro-detroiters so they end up clueless about the real city and just talk about how excited they are for Trader Joes to open.

Fair point. It was a flip statement, I admit. I've been known to do that from time to time on this board. Thanks for forcing me to clarify my thoughts, and for the fair hearing.