Pictorial History 2009/2012 Detroit Downtrun Houses

**Bill07073** · April-12-13, 06:08 AM

http://goobingdetroit.tumblr.com/

**DetroitPlanner** · April-12-13, 07:22 AM

Interesting. East Side Improvement is wrong. Those are not the same houses.

**Crumbled_pavement** · April-12-13, 07:35 AM

Depressing. Meanwhile, the mayor and city council carry on like business as usual. Everyday someone new I know moves out of the city. No one moves in to replace them. When will leadership get the message? My guess, never.

**313WX** · April-12-13, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

Depressing. Meanwhile, the mayor and city council carry on like business as usual. Everyday someone new I know moves out of the city. No one moves in to replace them. When will leadership get the message? My guess, never.

Our "leaders" have more or less agreed to let the chips fall where they may in the neighborhoods, while putting all of their eggs into Delta City...I mean downtown/midtown.

**TexasT** · April-12-13, 07:55 AM

I was driving around Detroit last weekend and headed over to see my husband's boyhood home. The first time I saw it was in '09 on my first visit to Detroit. The house was in good shape, and the neighborhood was ok - generally fine, a few empty houses here and there, one burned out home at the very end of the block but yards were maintained and kids were playing on the sidewalk. We went back last year - getting much worse - several burned out homes. I went back last weekend, and it was just awful. Multiple burned out homes, multiple abandoned houses, trash everywhere. I know this story plays out all over Detroit but very sad to see on my own, year by year, the same block.

**TexasT** · April-12-13, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Our "leaders" have more or less agreed to let the chips fall where they may in the neighborhoods, while putting all of their eggs into Delta City...I mean downtown/midtown.

I disagree. It's not given as much media attention, but Detroit Works Project addresses the neighborhoods and is backed with a $150M pledge. More is needed, as always, but I wouldn't say all the eggs are being put into downtown/midtown. Downtown is being driven more by private investment than the city itself.

**Honky Tonk** · April-12-13, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Our "leaders" have more or less agreed to let the chips fall where they may in the neighborhoods, while putting all of their eggs into Delta City...I mean downtown/midtown.

Correcto Mundo. I hope Delta City can generate enough tax revenue to keep the rest of Detroit, or what'll be left of it, afloat. More grandiose management by the COD.

**Eber Brock Ward** · April-12-13, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by TexasT

I disagree. It's not given as much media attention, but Detroit Works Project addresses the neighborhoods and is backed with a $150M pledge. More is needed, as always, but I wouldn't say all the eggs are being put into downtown/midtown. Downtown is being driven more by private investment than the city itself.

This is dead on.

I would not be surprised if that $150mm for the neighborhoods outstrips all of the non-private investment in the Downtown and Midtown areas.

The whole "public/nonprofit money is not being directed to the neighborhoods" argument rings hollow.

**Hamtragedy** · April-12-13, 09:22 AM

Incompetence is also a major contribution to the decay. While the city is constipated with Neighborhood Stabilization Plan money that they can't figure out how to dole out before they lose it, neighborhood non-profits have been moving forward on their own donated funds and are fixing up houses in those struggling, yet decent, remaining neeghborhoods, expectant of NSP money to eventually trickle in to cover their upfront costs.

The problem then becomes, once the NSP funds do show up, historical preservation mandates [[wood instead of vinyl windows, siding choices) or other bureaucratic mandates are attached to the funds, disqualifying the properties that were diligently fixed up and put back onto the market. All because the city couldn't get its thumb from out of its a$$.

**313WX** · April-12-13, 09:24 AM

$150 Million Dollars is nothing over a span of 50 years for a city as huge as Detroit. The city gets twice as much in yearly property taxes revenue right now [[and we can see how far that's going).

And the folks who claim the neighborhoods are actually being given any attention clearly don't live in the neighborhoods everyday.

**TexasT** · April-12-13, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

$150 Million Dollars is nothing over a span of 50 years for a city as huge as Detroit. The city gets twice as much in yearly property taxes revenue right now [[and we can see how far that's going).

And the folks who claim the neighborhoods are actually being given any attention clearly don't live in the neighborhoods everyday.

I live in the neighborhoods everyday.

And it's $150M over 5 years. And while the CITY gets more from property taxes, this is money directly set aside for the neighborhoods.

**Eber Brock Ward** · April-12-13, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

$150 Million Dollars is nothing over a span of 50 years for a city as huge as Detroit. The city gets twice as much in yearly property taxes revenue right now [[and we can see how far that's going).

And the folks who claim the neighborhoods are actually being given any attention clearly don't live in the neighborhoods everyday.

"Clearly" I do not live in my neighborhood everyday or hear gunshots or know people robbed or mugged all of the time. I just imagine that stuff. Thank God you cleared that up for me. Thank you, too, actually, for waking me up from that dream.

Seriously, though, where did you get the "50 years" number from? This says, and I quote, "$150 million over five years in continued and additional grants."

http://www.freep.com/article/2013011...reener-Detroit

**Honky Tonk** · April-12-13, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by TexasT

I live in the neighborhoods everyday.

And it's $150M over 5 years. And while the CITY gets more from property taxes, this is money directly set aside for the neighborhoods.

Or so they claim. As far as "getting more from property taxes", that's why we currently have an EFM, because we're not.

**TexasT** · April-12-13, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Or so they claim. As far as "getting more from property taxes", that's why we currently have an EFM, because we're not.

Does the Kresge Foundation not have a good track record in terms of actually sending the money it pledges? Where does the "so they claim" come from?

**poobert** · April-12-13, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by TexasT

Does the Kresge Foundation not have a good track record in terms of actually sending the money it pledges? Where does the "so they claim" come from?

I can think of few organizations with a better track record in terms of sending money. What nonsense.

My block has remained virtually the same, some improvement, some disrepair.

However this is very telling. The first set was already after the foreclosure crisis and things have gotten better, if slowly, nationally and in the state since then. Yet Detroit continues to spiral downwards, in its own personal hell.

Generally speaking, BSEE doesn't bother to board up open houses anymore, and the police don't respond to crime on a vacant property. So of course vacant structures are a tremendous liability, and, inexplicably, a low priority.

While there is the effort to stabilize the neighborhoods as of late, I don't think anyone can argue the city has done anything remotely close to an adequate job for the past few years.

**TexasT** · April-12-13, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

While there is the effort to stabilize the neighborhoods as of late, I don't think anyone can argue the city has done anything remotely close to an adequate job for the past few years.

I would agree there - my point was that while greater downtown is NOW starting to get a lot of attention, the neighborhoods are also getting attention as well; it's just less celebrated in the media.

What efforts has the city done for downtown and midtown? I know Sue Mosey and Midtown Detroit Inc have been working on Midtown and the Downtown Detroit Partnership and Gilbert have been working on Downtown. But what does the City of Detroit do for those areas that they do not do elsewhere?

**Honky Tonk** · April-12-13, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by TexasT

Does the Kresge Foundation not have a good track record in terms of actually sending the money it pledges? Where does the "so they claim" come from?

Is Kresge himself going to fix up houses, or are they handing money over to third and forth parties to follow through? I don't like getting on the bandwagon until there are some results. And so far the only results I've seen are promises.

**Honky Tonk** · April-12-13, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by TexasT

I would agree there - my point was that while greater downtown is NOW starting to get a lot of attention, the neighborhoods are also getting attention as well; it's just less celebrated in the media.

What efforts has the city done for downtown and midtown? I know Sue Mosey and Midtown Detroit Inc have been working on Midtown and the Downtown Detroit Partnership and Gilbert have been working on Downtown. But what does the City of Detroit do for those areas that they do not do elsewhere?

Well, they do send boatloads of cops to ball games and hockey games to make sure everyone there has a good time.

**wolverine** · April-12-13, 07:29 PM

Man it's awful those houses are left standing post fire. I wish the resources were available to remove burned out properties a week or two after the fire.

**mwilbert** · April-12-13, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by TexasT

I would agree there - my point was that while greater downtown is NOW starting to get a lot of attention, the neighborhoods are also getting attention as well; it's just less celebrated in the media.

What efforts has the city done for downtown and midtown? I know Sue Mosey and Midtown Detroit Inc have been working on Midtown and the Downtown Detroit Partnership and Gilbert have been working on Downtown. But what does the City of Detroit do for those areas that they do not do elsewhere?

I think the main difference between what Detroit does in greater downtown and what it does elsewhere is a much larger volume of tax preferences, which in turns attracts more non-profit and private investment. In my view, that is the correct policy, but many people think that it amounts to disinvestment in the neighborhoods. There is also appears to be more police presence per resident downtown.

**Honky Tonk** · April-13-13, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by wolverine

Man it's awful those houses are left standing post fire. I wish the resources were available to remove burned out properties a week or two after the fire.

Funding WAS available, $33 mil worth. Bing, the City Council, and their 115 member staff, ended up returning the money because no one could seem to coordinate demo crews to use it up. Bing, in a last ditch effort, announced he would be tearing down the Brewsters, like that's some kind of priority. Until someone actually rolls up their sleeves and goes to work, all we have is $150 mil worth of lip service.

**Honky Tonk** · April-13-13, 01:39 AM

Originally Posted by wolverine

Man it's awful those houses are left standing post fire. I wish the resources were available to remove burned out properties a week or two after the fire.

http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/...7-277074394357

**illwill** · April-13-13, 12:10 PM

I recently started looking at small commercial properties outside of the Downtown area over the past few weeks and along with the smaller inventory available, asking prices have also increased by maybe 25%-50% since maybe 2 years ago. I doubt most are selling even near what they're asking. Also, many of them have been on the market for a long time. I'm a little skeptical because I've seen this happen many times in the city however the demand is definitely greater in the outer lying areas than in the past. The only thing we can ask for is stable market.

**downtownguy** · April-13-13, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Is Kresge himself going to fix up houses, or are they handing money over to third and forth parties to follow through? I don't like getting on the bandwagon until there are some results. And so far the only results I've seen are promises.

The Kresge Foundation is one of the most diligent foundations for follow-through. They don't grant money unless they are quite confident it will be used properly. And, they don't go away once they write the check. They are sticklers for accountability.