What happened to the boulevards down Washington and why?

[detroithealth]

I live downtown & moved to the area about 2.5 years ago. Can someone answer what happened to the boulevards down Washington Ave.? In old photographs I can see they had a strip of pavement or something down the middle as is often seen in Europe. A perfect place for park benches and pedestrian enjoyment, safely buffered from traffic by trees.

What happened? The boulevards are still there, but with trees planted down the middle, making them awkward for pedestrians to enjoy...when and why was this change made? Were there other pedestrian friendly boulevards in the city [[between Campus Martius and the river along Woodward, for ex)? Is there any talk restoring the boulevards as part of Gilbert's new vision?

This has me baffled & someone on here probably has the answer.

Here's a pic:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg

Thanks! And sorry if this has been discussed before, I searched and didn't find anything.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

There are better Detroit historians here than me, but if I recall...

In the 70s [[I think), they rebuilt part of Washington Blvd as a pedestrian plaza with horribly, horribly gaudy modern arty "tubes" sculpture thing. The current configuration is less than 10 years old, I think reconstructed for pre-SuperBowl beautification. It is a huge improvement over the old version, although I do love the boulevard in the picture you posted.

[Scottathew]

This style of media is what Gilbert and others are hoping to do with Woodward between Campus Martius and Jefferson.

[detroitbob]

When Washington Blvd was restored to a true boulevard the sidewalks were not included.Dan Gilbert had nothing to do with this 48307...hence I dont undertsnd your comment.

[DetroitPlanner]

No. Millions were spent on this prior to the Superbowl. The project included the removal of the trolley cars.

The tinkertoy Blvd, was an odd place. Both ugly and functional. It had some cool water features, great performance places, a bocce ball court. It was also pretty ugly and dominated with the same brutalist style of the early ren-cen and that odd red light bar running from what is now the Holiday Inn up to Grand Circus. It was put in during the late 1970's around the same time Woodward was turned into a transit mall. Neither one seemed to be favorites among the retailers.

[Hamtragedy]

Details and urban planning have not been Detroit's strong point in my lifetime. I've wondered the same question as to why no pedestrian walkway in the boulevard. This is the same situation in the New Center, along another boulevard. I assume it's because two lanes of auto traffic in either direction plus parking warrants more attention to the concrete part of living than the greenspace. Jefferson is a fine example too, only much more traffic.

Keep in mind too, that those early pictures have one lane of traffic and the boulevards are, in fact, meant to be enjoyed by pedestrians, thinking that has been glaringly overlooked, almost by necessity, if not by short-sightedness, by modern Detroit planners. We would be wise to study our past.

[Honky Tonk]

I live downtown & moved to the area about 2.5 years ago. Can someone answer what happened to the boulevards down Washington Ave.? In old photographs I can see they had a strip of pavement or something down the middle as is often seen in Europe. A perfect place for park benches and pedestrian enjoyment, safely buffered from traffic by trees.

What happened? The boulevards are still there, but with trees planted down the middle, making them awkward for pedestrians to enjoy...when and why was this change made? Were there other pedestrian friendly boulevards in the city [[between Campus Martius and the river along Woodward, for ex)? Is there any talk restoring the boulevards as part of Gilbert's new vision?

This has me baffled & someone on here probably has the answer.

Here's a pic:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...al-gallery.jpg

Thanks! And sorry if this has been discussed before, I searched and didn't find anything.

The City planners had this idea to "rejuvinate" that section of Washington Blvd. So they remove one lane of traffic, add an "artsy" common area, and tried to make it a walkable, viable area, that people would want to move into and live. It worked for a short while, but as the surrounding areas started to deteriorate, it never really got off the ground. "Back in the day", before the face lift, and there were actual thriving businesses on Washington Blvd., it was SO packed with cars @ 4-5 p.m., foot cops would patrol Washington Blvd. and ticket cars, double parked, expired meters, or standing, waiting to pick-up workers from the offices. As the businesses left, so did the traffic, and the rejuvination idea started to gel.

[A2Mike]

• Washington Boulevard was Detroit's grandest shopping district. Hudson's was a magnificent institution but was still a single store, and Woodward Avenue did seem narrow and somewhat cramped, but Washington Blvd. had a feeling more like Fifth Avenue. Charles Warren Co. was the most sumptuous jeweler in town and the men's and women's clothing stores had the most upscale goods available. A friend introduced me to Whitehouse and Hardy and got me on the road to sartorial excellence [[and strained budgets!), but my explorations of the blvd. began a few years earlier, when I started going downtown to the first-run movie palaces. I had to pass through the blvd. and got curious about the whole atmosphere, the bustle at the hotels anchoring either end [[where I first saw a Rolls-Royce), the Stouffer's restaurant, where I went to my first "grown-up" meals [[courtesy of my worldly sister}. The day after Christmas, about 1960, two neighbor kids and I rented one the chauffered limousines in front of the Statler, took a little ride around downtown and ended up at the Michigan Theater to see a Jerry Lewis movie. The tab was $6.00/hour plus tip, and we chipped in from our Christmas money. That's what Detroit was in that era, a place where kids of not particularly grand circumstances could explore and experience what a real city can provide, to develop a sense of urbanity, of how to behave like adults and value the amenities of life which arise from the close contact of so many varied people with their abundance of talent and energy. Going to a shopping mall, even a fine one like Somerset, just doesn't teach one anything like that. It was always a treat to go there, even on a gray and rainy day because it just felt that much nicer to duck into an inviting restaurant or store, or settle into a drop-dead opulent theater, and enjoy a wonderful day downtown whatever the weather.

[Honky Tonk]

• Washington Boulevard was Detroit's grandest shopping district. Hudson's was a magnificent institution but was still a single store, and Woodward Avenue did seem narrow and somewhat cramped, but Washington Blvd. had a feeling more like Fifth Avenue. Charles Warren Co. was the most sumptuous jeweler in town and the men's and women's clothing stores had the most upscale goods available. A friend introduced me to Whitehouse and Hardy and got me on the road to sartorial excellence [[and strained budgets!), but my explorations of the blvd. began a few years earlier, when I started going downtown to the first-run movie palaces. I had to pass through the blvd. and got curious about the whole atmosphere, the bustle at the hotels anchoring either end [[where I first saw a Rolls-Royce), the Stouffer's restaurant, where I went to my first "grown-up" meals [[courtesy of my worldly sister}. The day after Christmas, about 1960, two neighbor kids and I rented one the chauffered limousines in front of the Statler, took a little ride around downtown and ended up at the Michigan Theater to see a Jerry Lewis movie. The tab was $6.00/hour plus tip, and we chipped in from our Christmas money. That's what Detroit was in that era, a place where kids of not particularly grand circumstances could explore and experience what a real city can provide, to develop a sense of urbanity, of how to behave like adults and value the amenities of life which arise from the close contact of so many varied people with their abundance of talent and energy. Going to a shopping mall, even a fine one like Somerset, just doesn't teach one anything like that. It was always a treat to go there, even on a gray and rainy day because it just felt that much nicer to duck into an inviting restaurant or store, or settle into a drop-dead opulent theater, and enjoy a wonderful day downtown whatever the weather.

Good "word painting" A2Mike, and you're right on all accounts. People younger then us have no idea how magical it was to be in Downtown Detroit back in the day.

[EastsideAl]

As A2Mike's story makes clear, Washington Blvd. was once the fanciest shopping district in the Detroit area. Anchored on either end by 2 of the city's best hotels, and with the gracious St. Aloysius church and the large and beautiful Book Buildings in between, Washington Blvd. was one of the most prominent and exclusive places in the city. Lined with top-end stores, luxury hotels, high rent office space, restaurants, and airline ticket offices and travel bureaus. My mother, who grew up in very poor circumstances on the near west side, always recalled the thrill she got just walking down that street, looking in the store windows, and seeing the elegant people coming and going from the hotels. She was overjoyed, and thought she'd really arrived, when she got a job working at the Book Cadillac Hotel just after she graduated from Wayne.

[EastsideAl]

So, here's the long story of what happened to that median. The picture you posted is clearly from the 1950s. By the 1970s, like the rest of downtown, Washington Blvd. was in decline. Stores, restaurants, and hotels were struggling and closing, and the once-busy street was becoming increasingly empty.

A rather eccentric city planner by the name of Alex Pollock [[who was one of the people responsible for saving and refurbishing the Eastern Market when other city planners wanted it gone) had the bright idea to build a trolley line on the by-then largely unused boulevard median, which would run a small fleet of narrow gauge antique trolleys purchased from Lisbon. The tracks were installed and the trolleys of the "Detroit Citizen's Railway" began operation for the U.S. bicentennial celebrations in 1976, running from Cobo to Grand Circus.

Here is an old DY thread on the trolleys: http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ries-and-Ideas
The trolleys were a success at first [[I rode them myself several times), especially the open air and double-decker trolleys run in the summertime. The line was soon extended down past the brand-new Hart Plaza to the brand-new Ren Cen. All part of Detroit's late 1970s renaissance!

Here is picture of the trolley in operation:



But the commercial decline of Washington Blvd. [[and the rest of downtown) continued. The prevailing thinking in those days was that what city centers needed was completely walkable shopping corridors separated from auto traffic [[despite the fact that such areas almost universally failed). In effect, they thought they could turn downtown streets into outdoor "event spaces", like open air versions of the suburban shopping malls of the time. So, along these lines, the city decided to act upon the momentum generated by the trolleys and hired the Rossetti Associates architectural firm to do a complete and radical redesign of Washington Blvd.

This was built in 1979 and incorporated the trolley tracks, closed off the eastern half of the street to auto traffic, built big windswept concrete walkways and plazas where an inviting urban shopping district and a landscaped tree-lined boulevard had once been, and put up the infamous "red monkey bars" along the entire length of the boulevard as a "thematic" unifying element. The design actually won awards among the urban planning and architecture crowd, but was a widely laughed-at and scorned failure with the general public. It quickly came to symbolize everything that was wrong with downtown Detroit, the city's planning department, and modern urban planning in general.

It looked like this:



The plazas were intended to hold events and be lunchtime hangout spots, and that was true for a short while, but with the hotels closed and abandoned, much of the retail space empty, and the stores that were left put out of business by being cut off from the street, the number of people who came dwindled and the area became creepily empty and even a bit scary. As the older buildings on the east side of the boulevard emptied out of office tenants, several were hastily converted into senior citizen apartments to take advantage of federal subsidies. The big empty spaces of the plazas, cut off physically and visually from the street, became good spots for idle people to hang out and hassle or victimize the seniors and other passers-by.

As noted above, the coming of the 2006 Super Bowl and the related refurbishment and reopening of the Book Cadillac Hotel finally drove the restoration of the boulevard, with the tearing out of the ugly concrete plazas and ridiculous monkey bars, and the removal of the now-unused trolley tracks and barn [[the trolleys eventually became an under-utilized and costly maintenance headache, being taken out of service for long periods until they were finally shut down for good in 2003). Traffic was finally restored to both sides of the street, pedestrians could again see and be seen, and the boulevard itself was re-landscaped and once again planted with trees.

But the walkway in the middle was not restored. My guess is that this was left out for several reasons. The biggest one being that it just would have cost too much. But I think there was also a feeling that they wanted as much pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks near the stores as possible, that any walkway in the median would most likely go largely unused [[since Americans tend not to use these boulevard spaces anyway in cities where they're provided - you'll note that no one is there even in the 1950s shots), and, most importantly, that as otherwise unused public space it could become again a potential hanging-out spot for undesirables.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Amazingly informative and detailed post, EastsideAl.

I remember taking the trolley there as a kid. I never really understood that area then. It was like a creepy, deserted otherworld. Like it much better now...

[A2Mike]

EastsideAl: Thank you for a revealing look at a chapter of Detroit's history I only dimly remember. I was living in Chicago at the time and didn't get back too often. Later I moved to San Francisco, where in 1995 the Muni brought back the Market Street trolley cars, which have been hugely popular for 18 years now. Most are the 1940's PCC streamline style and all are finished in the colors of the various transit systems they came from. Here is a link which includes a story and line drawing of the car with Detroit's liveries: http://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/1079/ [[and a photo of another one on the street. They could be a big hit with the Detroit public. Perhaps the proposed light rail may work here.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Hey A2Mike, just wondering. Are the people that use SF's streetcars more locals or tourists? I've never been there.

[A2Mike]

Hey A2Mike, just wondering. Are the people that use SF's streetcars more locals or tourists? I've never been there.

The streetcars are popular with both tourists and locals - many residents live along the route, from North Beach, Downtown, Outer Market to Noe Valley, and if they work or shop anywhere near there, it's very handy. Locals only ride the cable cars when out-of-town guests insist. The fare is about three times the regular fare, leaving it unappealing for daily transport, and the Muni considers it more like a "ride", giving them a cash cow. Tourists also like the streetcars because they go to popular places like the Wharf at the regular fare, and there are many attractions, like Market Street shopping, where it's easy to see where you are and get on and off easily; many tourists, and some locals, don't like going into the subway stations, but they are pretty safe and convenient. I sometimes used to complain about the crowded transit and sidewalks when I went out to lunch from my Mid-Market office and tried to do some quick shopping at Bloomingdale's or Gump's! I hope I can be around to complain about that in Detroit someday!

[downtownguy]

...So, along these lines, the city decided to act upon the momentum generated by the trolleys and hired the Rossetti Associates architectural firm to do a complete and radical redesign of Washington Blvd. ...

Rossetti's offices were located on Washington Blvd. and Larned just beyond the southern edge of the development. They didn't have to look out at the "monkey bars." Coincidence? Ha!

[ronaldj]

Sumas and I would splurge for lunch occasionally at Trader Vic's at the Statler-Hilton during our halcyon days at Wayne.

[EastsideAl]

A2Mike: I was actually living in San Francisco, just off Market St. in the Hayes Valley area, when they installed the tracks on Market and started the service with the antique streetcars. I was so excited that I blew off work to go down there on the first day, and ended up riding several different cars back and forth from the Embarcadero to Castro for over 4 hours. I loved riding those during my remaining time in S.F. Nice that they have painted one in Detroit livery now.

Old as I am, I'm too young to have ever ridden a streetcar in Detroit [[other than the aforementioned Washington Blvd. line). But I did get to ride on Detroit streetcars - in the '70s in Mexico City! Detroit shipped its remaining cars down there when service ended here. We even got on a couple of them that still had old DSR markings on the inside.

[detroitbob]

If the trolleys were still intact, with todays downtown climate, I think they would be a marketing tool for downtown and considered a valuable asset...it what I still consider a stupid move to sell them off and rip out the tracks.

[Gistok]

According to this thread from 2 years ago, the Washington Blvd. Trolley Cars are still in storage somewhere on the east side... see post 12 of this DYES thread....

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ries-and-Ideas

I think that a cool place to reuse the trolleys is along the Riverwalk... or maybe the Dequindre Cut.

Another Idea I had was it would be a cool way to tie the 3 casinos together... have the trolley come down Grand River Ave. from MotorCity Casino to a stop at MGM Casino, then continue along Grand River eastward and cross over to Greektown Casino. This would tie the casinos together, especially if they paid for the installation and continuing maintenance. That way folks could "Casino Hop" without getting into their cars.

[A2Mike]

A2Mike: I was actually living in San Francisco, just off Market St. in the Hayes Valley area, when they installed the tracks on Market and started the service with the antique streetcars. I was so excited that I blew off work to go down there on the first day, and ended up riding several different cars back and forth from the Embarcadero to Castro for over 4 hours. I loved riding those during my remaining time in S.F. Nice that they have painted one in Detroit livery now.

Old as I am, I'm too young to have ever ridden a streetcar in Detroit [[other than the aforementioned Washington Blvd. line). But I did get to ride on Detroit streetcars - in the '70s in Mexico City! Detroit shipped its remaining cars down there when service ended here. We even got on a couple of them that still had old DSR markings on the inside.

EastsideAl: I was born in 1945 and lived in Springwells. I remember going downtown with my sister on the Baker streetcar, an old boxy style, in the early 50's. One year we went to the State Fair on one of the streamlined models. Sorry they were taken out of service in 1956, before I and my friends were allowed to go downtown on our own. I think their demise and the gaping hole where the Kern Block was accelerated downtown's decline.

[DetroitPlanner]

If the trolleys were still intact, with todays downtown climate, I think they would be a marketing tool for downtown and considered a valuable asset...it what I still consider a stupid move to sell them off and rip out the tracks.

These trolleys were painfully slow. You could literally walk down Washington faster than it would take to ride. Combine this with having the DPM that duplicated the service, it was not well used. With the Tuller, Book, and Statler closed there were not many conventioneers to use it to get to Cobo. The Westin replaced all three of these hotels.

[expatriate]

As a former San Francisco resident I also often preferred taking the streetcar down Market Street as opposed to the much faster underground Muni. Now that they have extended the line down Third Street and around to the Wharf it is really a great ride.

[K-slice]

Glad so many of the links in these old threads still work. How long until another half-arse trolley gets built, or one of the ones we have gets taken out of operation?

almost 10 years since this thread started, I think most ppl prefer the large green median on Washington. I see plenty of dogs being walked there and lawn chairs set up under the trees all summer.

[Satiricalivory]

When they renovated the boulevard back to it's original form back in 2005-ish, they didn't bother to put back the walkway and just plated trees in the middle of it.

They'd have to cut down some trees to bring it back.

....Wow didn't realize this is a necro post. Wrote my replay already so whatever lol.