Following two years of study and 30,000 conversations with the public, the Detroit Works Long-Term Planning team gave the news media a sneak peek Tuesday of its final report that holds out the promise of a better, if radically different, Detroit.

Under the plan, specific employment and population centers of Detroit would be tagged as areas for future investment — some obvious ones are Midtown and downtown, but another would be the West McNichols hospital corridor, among others.

Other sparsely populated areas would be gradually transformed to other purposes, such as farms, apple orchards, retention ponds for rainwater and other environmental uses. Some of these areas include the lower east side and the blocks west of the Coleman A. Young International Airport.

The plan also includes a strategy for encouraging residents in these areas to move to more populated parts of the city. The point is to create more densely packed districts that are already doing relatively well that could be more efficiently served by the city with its limited resources.
http://www.freep.com/article/2013010...xt%7CFRONTPAGE



See also:

Graphics: Potential employment and land use districts in Detroit: http://www.freep.com/article/20130108/NEWS01/130108104

Detroit Works unveils 'Future City' concept, suggests uses for vacant land: http://www.freep.com/article/20130108/NEWS01/130108058

Editorial: Detroit Works offers a blueprint for taking charge of shrinking city: http://www.freep.com/article/2013010...ON01/301090005