When it's all said and done... Detroit - Renaissance or Continuing Decline?

[313WX]

Let's imagine for an instant , a person has ZERO care about :
1.) sports, doesn't attend hockey, basketball, football
2.) casinos, doesn't care to loose hard earned cash
3.) bars, just isn't into the mixology/cocktail thing {drive home DUI}
4.) food, is an excellent cook, can make just about anything

With that being said, the "draw" to come downtown and explore,
is what exactly _______________?_ [[fill in the blank)

For many, just the experience of being in a forest of skyscrapers or walking along canyonized streets is enough of a draw.

[Mind field]

Let's imagine for an instant , a person has ZERO care about :
1.) sports, doesn't attend hockey, basketball, football
2.) casinos, doesn't care to loose hard earned cash
3.) bars, just isn't into the mixology/cocktail thing {drive home DUI}
4.) food, is an excellent cook, can make just about anything

With that being said, the "draw" to come downtown and explore,
is what exactly _______________?_ [[fill in the blank)

For me, the city experience is one that is energizing in a way that less dense and developed environments can't offer. A city seems like the greatest concentration and display of the greatness of modern society, it's a habitat for humans. You have all different kinds of people coming together in a concentrated area that is organized into a beautiful kind of "chaos". The thing that has always been a draw for me is the architecture of Detroit. Seeing the once vacant buildings restored is still surreal. Buildings like the Book Tower, David Whitney Building, Broderick Tower, Detroit Opera House have some of the best architecture in this country and they are all currently restored or being restored. The architecture of these buildings is priceless, a national treasure. I look at the architecture of the new homes in places like Lyon Township and just have to shake my head, it's god awful ugly.

Cities are also more efficient and better for the environment than suburban sprawl. We should be repopulating brownfields, not plowing over green fields on the fringes of suburbia for our own little slice of peace and quiet. The planet is being crushed by the impact of the burgeoning human population, especially in this country where capitalism, wealth, and our throw away consumer culture have been particularly destructive. We've truly become numb and apathetic to this threat, but just look around you at the impacts, from litter everywhere, continuous records broken world wide from intense storms and heat due to climate change, a drastic decline in biodiversity, the water quality and health of the great lakes, air pollution, all can be traced back in part to wasteful development patterns [[people living in newly created developments where wetlands and forests once thrived, then hopping in their huge SUV to drive everywhere).

[Honky Tonk]

For me, the city experience is one that is energizing in a way that less dense and developed environments can't offer. A city seems like the greatest concentration and display of the greatness of modern society, it's a habitat for humans. You have all different kinds of people coming together in a concentrated area that is organized into a beautiful kind of "chaos". The thing that has always been a draw for me is the architecture of Detroit. Seeing the once vacant buildings restored is still surreal. Buildings like the Book Tower, David Whitney Building, Broderick Tower, Detroit Opera House have some of the best architecture in this country and they are all currently restored or being restored. The architecture of these buildings is priceless, a national treasure. I look at the architecture of the new homes in places like Lyon Township and just have to shake my head, it's god awful ugly.

Cities are also more efficient and better for the environment than suburban sprawl. We should be repopulating brownfields, not plowing over green fields on the fringes of suburbia for our own little slice of peace and quiet. The planet is being crushed by the impact of the burgeoning human population, especially in this country where capitalism, wealth, and our throw away consumer culture have been particularly destructive. We've truly become numb and apathetic to this threat, but just look around you at the impacts, from litter everywhere, continuous records broken world wide from intense storms and heat due to climate change, a drastic decline in biodiversity, the water quality and health of the great lakes, air pollution, all can be traced back in part to wasteful development patterns [[people living in newly created developments where wetlands and forests once thrived, then hopping in their huge SUV to drive everywhere).

And yet the natural habitat on Belle Isle continues to be wiped out so the kiddies can have a race track to go with the parking choo-choo. Go green....

[rex]

renaissance in the near downtown environs going up michigan woodward, grand river and gratiot. lots of empty cleared away lots that will be easy to redevelop. I hope its done tastefully. Some neighborhoods are doomed for life. Brightmoor isnt poised for anything good in the future. The eastside is another with such ingrained deeply seated poverty, same with parts of the west side. Dexter joy davidson. linwood etc.75 percent of the city is in bad straights

[Nero]

Nero sees no reason why not to allow giddy and glee during this hidden shrovetide celebration. What have you? For this is a nice break from the maligned monotonous grotesqueness of the day to day morose maraud that we must now live, as the dead and damned walk amongst those of whom may soon join us.

You may agree or you may disagree, but no one can deny that Nero has rose and spoken.

[SammyS]

Nero sees no reason why not to allow giddy and glee during this hidden shrovetide celebration. What have you? For this is a nice break from the maligned monotonous grotesqueness of the day to day morose maraud that we must now live, as the dead and damned walk amongst those of whom may soon join us.

You may agree or you may disagree, but no one can deny that Nero has rose and spoken.

Nero sees no opportunity nor has confidence in Detroits continued revival. Nero can do whatever he/she pleases. In any event, Nero has been wrong for the past 5 or so years so......

[Richard]

Nero sees no reason why not to allow giddy and glee during this hidden shrovetide celebration. What have you? For this is a nice break from the maligned monotonous grotesqueness of the day to day morose maraud that we must now live, as the dead and damned walk amongst those of whom may soon join us.

You may agree or you may disagree, but no one can deny that Nero has rose and spoken.

I am thinking Nero is the dark side of Danny,but I like Danny much better.

Detroit has a destiny in which the Neros will be crushed under her feet.

[O3H]

Stadiums and sports only go so far
- and at those prices, it's a no go for many families.

Detroit needs to draw in folks from the suburbs to spend an entire day downtown, not just a few hours and leave.

[SammyS]

I am thinking Nero is the dark side of Danny,but I like Danny much better.

Detroit has a destiny in which the Neros will be crushed under her feet.

I'm thinking exactly the same thing. Can be verified through IP addresses

[rex]

Depends on what you consider renaissance. Im glad downtown has the stadiums, restaurants, and retail thing going on now. Things have turned a corner. I want to see change up Gratiot and Grand River. There is room to rebuild the communities, wide open spaces very near downtown to the east and west.

[night-timer]

I don't think anyone could suggest that the entire Detroit Metro area is making a comeback/bounceback, let alone a full-blown 'renaissance'.

The suburbs are still empty and blighted due to a lack of demand for housing in those areas.

The further-dwindling population may answer the question about a supposed renaissance.

Maybe as the inner one-to-two miles surrounding Downtown improves... gradually...

So, we can all point to areas that have experienced improvements in recent years, but a complete turnaround...?

[Dan Wesson]

This> http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/artic...an_gentrifying

[masterblaster]

Stadiums and sports only go so far
- and at those prices, it's a no go for many families.

Detroit needs to draw in folks from the suburbs to spend an entire day downtown, not just a few hours and leave.

The Riverfront, Campus Martius, Eastern Market, retail stores like Nike, Under Armour, Bonobos, and Warby Parker, public squares like Lafayette Gardens, Beacon Park, and Grand Circus Park.

In midtown you have the cultural center, shops like Carhartt and Will Ed Leather, coffee shops.

You can do tours by Preservation Detroit and the Detroit Experience Factory.

[O3H]

I will not be driving all the way into Detroit for "shopping"
- to buy items at Nike , Under Armor, Carhartt , etc.

A day in the parks with a picnic basket and a book on a nice spring day
- perhaps a stroll along the waterfront, yeah I could see that happening.
Then back home, at the Oakland Mall, Universal Mall, Lakeside Mall, Great Lakes Crossing, etc., etc., etc.

[SammyS]

I will not be driving all the way into Detroit for "shopping"
- to buy items at Nike , Under Armor, Carhartt , etc.

A day in the parks with a picnic basket and a book on a nice spring day
- perhaps a stroll along the waterfront, yeah I could see that happening.
Then back home, at the Oakland Mall, Universal Mall, Lakeside Mall, Great Lakes Crossing, etc., etc., etc.

For the 10's of 1000's that will be making Detroit their home, that's another story. For me, there will be little reason to ever venture into the suburbs.

[Nero]

Detroit has a destiny in which the Neros will be crushed under her feet.

Nero has been wrong for the past 5 or so years so......

Fantasies of failure prepare us for the failures that follow delusions of grandeur. This spirit smiles upon those who herald the words "Detroit yes", but despises and curses those who have become Detroit yes men. Do you think Nero would traverse such time and space from afar and the ethereal plane just to wish ill-will on you and your city? Reread Nero's words and do not take them lightly.

Nero sees that Detroit's neighborhoods are still in turmoil. Neighborhoods in and adjacent to downtown are often touted as successes, this is folly. Enough work has been done to downtown neighborhoods to make it possible for the revivalists of Detroit to live and work in them while getting most of their basic needs met. Woe! No neighborhood has been completed, no triumph recorded.

Your celebrations are premature. The tale of Detroit will be an epic tale, but it is a tale that has yet to be fully written. Nero urges you to ask The Oracle of what the tipping point was after the event from which Detroit got its motto?

A complete neighborhood must be shown and held up as triumph not just to Detroiters, but to the entire republic. For Detroit has no shining star to lead the wise men, no completed light house to guide the ships lost at sea. Not yet! Plans for the Hudson, and Campus Martius, and Grand Circus, and Capitol Park are all underway, but complete they are not.

[Herman Krieger]

Every place where I have lived in Detroit has either been replace by a freeway or razed.
"Detroit, as I Knew it"
www.efn.org/~hkrieger/detroit.htm

[canuck]

Every place where I have lived in Detroit has either been replace by a freeway or razed.
"Detroit, as I Knew it"
www.efn.org/~hkrieger/detroit.htm

Your Churches Ad Hoc portfolio was excellent and very funny.

[Nero]

Every place where I have lived in Detroit has either been replace by a freeway or razed.
"Detroit, as I Knew it"
www.efn.org/~hkrieger/detroit.htm

Morbid. Real. Nero wonders if the writer takes any solace in memories from playing on the remains of the lawn, or riding bikes up and down the street. Something has to exist.

Things are things. Nero does not tie memories to Nero's bed. Memories remain in your head. Better they be passed down to remain outside of your head even after you are dead.

[O3H]

Riding a bike, planting gardens, and wandering Hart plaza don't exactly indicate a revitalized city on the verge of economic wonderfulness.
Ordinary, everyday people are struggling to maintain "middle income".