Brightmoor Before and After Blight Authority Cleanup

**dmike76** · August-21-13, 10:12 AM

Check out these two pics. Stunning. I'm curious as to how much this cleanup is going to affect crime in the area. The only time I'm over there is for Blight Busters and I haven't driven through the area a whole lot. It looks like it's mostly shrub/plant/garbage/cleanup, and it does look a million times better. When I asked John George about it recently, he said he was working with them on strategy because there will probably be continued dumping on these cleaned up sites.

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...eader_comments

**getmoore** · August-21-13, 10:20 AM

AMAZING! I wonder when and where the next project will be?

**Detroitnerd** · August-21-13, 10:29 AM

Sigh ... I like the "before."

**p69rrh51** · August-21-13, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Sigh ... I like the "before."

DN I am glad the street is passable and the damaged building removed, but they could have trimmed the vegetation instead of a wholesale removal.

**Detroitnerd** · August-21-13, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by p69rrh51

DN I am glad the street is passable and the damaged building removed, but they could have trimmed the vegetation instead of a wholesale removal.

Yeah, that's sort of what I felt. All the quaintness is removed, and what was a moody setting now has all the atmosphere of a public ball field. I guess that's our local "total teardown" mentality at work.

**rb336** · August-21-13, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by p69rrh51

DN I am glad the street is passable and the damaged building removed, but they could have trimmed the vegetation instead of a wholesale removal.

the only problem with that is that there would be no one to keep the vegetation trimmed. such sites that don't remove the vegetation become havens for rats. my guess is that next year there will be a community garden

**Detroitnerd** · August-21-13, 10:55 AM

Nobody can keep the vegetation trimmed, so what we're going to do is put in something that requires many more man-hours of attention than mere trimming. OK, then. Great plan.

**313WX** · August-21-13, 10:59 AM

The land's being prepped for urban farming. So all of the old crap had to go.

**Novine** · August-21-13, 11:03 AM

It won't take Mother Nature long to fill that back in.

**Honky Tonk** · August-21-13, 11:12 AM

Why the hell did they remove the lawn? That's the worse thing you could have done. First time the wind blows, all the weed seeds, [[and not the good kind) will get planted and flourish. I agree, the place looks like a shaved Yorkie.

**Pam** · August-21-13, 12:01 PM

Before the urban farm, they are going to have an urban dust bowl.

**Honky Tonk** · August-21-13, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by Pam

Before the urban farm, they are going to have an urban dust bowl.

In my neck of the woods, [[Eastside) they put up a neighborhood garden for 2 years in a row. They cleared the land of the grass that was there, and planted crops. This year no garden was planted. No exaggeration, the weeds were 4 & 5 feet tall! Last Sunday, I saw a couple of local gentlemen, with sickles, taking the weedbed down. As much as I'm for getting rid of the blight, and the greenies of Detroit, someone knowlegeable needs to be put in charge of operations. The road to ruin is paved with good intentions.

**illwill** · August-21-13, 12:12 PM

Exactly. Get use to the NEW look of the city. No vegetation, just dirt fields.

However, safety first!

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · August-21-13, 12:14 PM

Looks great to me. Ready for urban farming and if that doesn't happen it would just need to be mowed once in awhile. The clear sight lines should help safety in the area. I'd be thrilled if I lived in one of those houses. "Removed the lawn"??? Like it wasn't all weeds before?

**noise** · August-21-13, 12:19 PM

I'm glad we have so many ecologists and members of the DBA on this forum!

**noise** · August-21-13, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Nobody can keep the vegetation trimmed, so what we're going to do is put in something that requires many more man-hours of attention than mere trimming. OK, then. Great plan.

You don't think a community garden is more likely to spur interest than an overgrown lot with no tangible payoff?

**Detroitnerd** · August-21-13, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by noise

You don't think a community garden is more likely to spur interest than an overgrown lot with no tangible payoff?

See? Everybody's so touchy. I'm just pointing out how the overgrown lot couldn't be tended, so something much more intensive is planned for the site, and wondering how much sense that makes. But don't worry. It's obvious I'm an enemy of progress and must be silenced. How dare I prefer the quaint and bucolic to the brand-new and interesting plans afoot. Maybe it's because I hate America ...

Pfffttt ...

**noise** · August-21-13, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

See? Everybody's so touchy. I'm just pointing out how the overgrown lot couldn't be tended, so something much more intensive is planned for the site, and wondering how much sense that makes. But don't worry. It's obvious I'm an enemy of progress and must be silenced. How dare I prefer the quaint and bucolic to the brand-new and interesting plans afoot. Maybe it's because I hate America ...

Pfffttt ...

Sounds like the only person who is "touchy" here is you. I responded to your argument with a question that you chose not to answer.

**Baselinepunk** · August-21-13, 12:53 PM

"They cleared the land of the grass that was there, and planted crops. This year no garden was planted. No exaggeration, the weeds were 4 & 5 feet tall! Last Sunday, I saw a couple of local gentlemen, with sickles, taking the weedbed down. As much as I'm for getting rid of the blight, and the greenies of Detroit, someone knowlegeable needs to be put in charge of operations"

FWIW - - it's common practice for farmers to give their land a break and letting it veg over for a season. It provides a lot of good stuff for the soil. Most things grown in the city should be in beds any way but if they are going direct then perhaps they are taking the environmental conscience route of resuscitating the soil.

**dmike76** · August-21-13, 01:21 PM

Sorry. I'm not buying any of these arguments that it's not better than it was. Even if ONE house is gone, which it is in these pictures, it's an improvement. I think it looks more groomed and respectable than it did before. You want to put farms on it, even if it's only for a couple of years? Fine. At least some use came of it, it's clean for a while, and then you get weeds. Well that's a hell of a lot better than the collapsing house still being there where robbers and rapists can hide. My problem is that people will probably dump on it again.

**Honky Tonk** · August-21-13, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by Baselinepunk

"They cleared the land of the grass that was there, and planted crops. This year no garden was planted. No exaggeration, the weeds were 4 & 5 feet tall! Last Sunday, I saw a couple of local gentlemen, with sickles, taking the weedbed down. As much as I'm for getting rid of the blight, and the greenies of Detroit, someone knowlegeable needs to be put in charge of operations"

FWIW - - it's common practice for farmers to give their land a break and letting it veg over for a season. It provides a lot of good stuff for the soil. Most things grown in the city should be in beds any way but if they are going direct then perhaps they are taking the environmental conscience route of resuscitating the soil.

Controlled farming, yes, yupsters that lose interest and let the lot get overgrown because they've now moved onto NEW interests, no.

**1953** · August-21-13, 01:25 PM

I have spoken with the blight authority folks and they tell me they have no plan nor role in re-purposing this land. Their only goal is to clear it and plant a low growth vegetation, which they believe will promote safety.

I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city.

1953

**Honky Tonk** · August-21-13, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by 1953

I have spoken with the blight authority folks and they tell me they have no plan nor role in re-purposing this land. Their only goal is to clear it and plant a low growth vegetation, which they believe will promote safety.

I, for one, think this project is over-hyped, and we'd be better off spending resources attracting people and rehabbing buildings than clearing whole blocks of the city.

1953

Remove everything useless, leave everything useful. Other then that, your making an even bigger mess.

**dmike76** · August-21-13, 01:30 PM

I do agree that this authority is over-hyped. I'm glad that they're helping, though.

**WPitonya** · August-21-13, 01:30 PM

I wonder if it would make sense to plant bamboo there? A bamboo forest is beautiful, you only need to plant a little bit and then wait for it to spread, thus making it cheap, it is too dense to run through, so it might cut crime, and it's a renewable resource. Just an idea....