Mayor calls Warren mini-Detroit, whispers sweet nothings at Dan Gilbert.

[brizee]

Never thought that day would come.

I don't really see it with Warren. Seems like Eastpointe is more poised to urbanize.

A Van Dyke rapid line would sure help [[and I'm sure they'll get right on that in 25 years).

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...ress/25539049/

[Scottathew]

The Mayor of Warren is touting that his city is like a mini-Detroit because of recent investment.

The day has come when Warren wants to be more like Detroit!


He hasn't been paying much attention if he thinks there's a chance Gilbert would even think about Warren. Not that there's anything wrong with Warren, it's just a little too far from Campus Martius.

[ABetterDetroit]

This guy is hysterical. He needs a slop tart half his age following him around on the city's dime to complete the picture.

[313WX]

This guy is hysterical.

Yep.

Just a year ago, Jimmy and his constituents in Warrentucky wanted nothing to do with Detroit and Detroiters. Now they're jealous of what's going on in the city, lol...

[Jason]

What a joke. What's he even thinking? Making those kinds of comments just makes him seem out of touch and desperate. If Gilbert needed a certain type of industrial space he might do it in Warren but that's about it. And that's what Warren does best at and that's what Warren's role in the region is.

He's such a weird guy, and he's also... I mean right now he wants some kind of positive association with downtown and it was just a few years ago that he was trying really hard to get GM to consolidate at the tech center.

I hope someone better gets elected as Mayor of Warren next time.

[Scottathew]

I hope someone better gets elected as Mayor of Warren next time.

Won't happen. He could die, and as long as he was still on the ballot he'd win.

Fouts is a lunatic.

[ABetterDetroit]

What a joke. What's he even thinking? Making those kinds of comments just makes him seem out of touch and desperate.

He wasn't thinking. He was scanning the women for someone that can go with him on his next trip.

[123456789]

Why not expand within/ near the ren cen?

[Danny]

HAHAHAHA!!!! Warren Mayor Jim Fouts wants Dan Gilbert to build his base of operations in his pre-ghetto city. Gilbert will say no and so is his shareholders. Gilbert's move of Quicken Loans from a racist city of Livonia to Downtown Detroit and build " Gilberttown." was his plan from the start after Livonia opt out SMART buses and refuse to join the regional bandwagon. Dan Gilbert move to Detroit sets his plan to fill up every last vacant building he brought and make into his personal regional "Disneyland". I'm sorry Mayor Fouts that your city that has a previous history of kicking black folks back to E. 8 Mile Rd. is going ghetto! But you have to deal with minorities moving into your neighborhoods who are making noise and smoking pot and crack every day. Just like any other cities, suburbs, townships and even the Amish country.

[Scottathew]

I'm sorry Mayor Fouts that your city that has a previous history of kicking black folks back to E. 8 Mile Rd. is going ghetto! But you have to deal with minorities moving into your neighborhoods who are making noise and smoking pot and crack every day. Just like any other cities, suburbs, townships and even the Amish country.

I don't like Fouts, but I will say that he's been a vast improvement for relations with Detroit and with black people. Steenbergh was a drunk racist that was REALLY good at financial management of the city.

[Zacha341]

Cannot Warren not tackle its zillion sink, eh - I mean pot holes along Mound Rd?

[Scottathew]

Cannot Warren not tackle its zillion sink, eh - I mean pot holes along Mound Rd?

Mound is a Macomb County road, not a city road. - http://www.cityofwarren.org/images/s...itymap1109.pdf

[gameguy56]

Why not expand within/ near the ren cen?

i bet gilbert could get GM to move a Decent chunk of tech center workers downtown if he really tried and GM was willing to hear it.

[313WX]

i bet gilbert could get GM to move a Decent chunk of tech center workers downtown if he really tried and GM was willing to hear it.

Part of the issue would be logistics

All of the engineering and its associated departments [[Purchasing, Validation, Design, IT, etc.) is based in Warren, and it would be an inconvenience for the workers and probably more expensive for GM to split these groups up. The customer service operations are also at the Tech Center.

And then there's the fact that GM already owns the Tech Center outright as it was built from the ground up back in the 1950s. GM HAS leased the old Campbell-Ewald building for Tech Center overflow [[due to all of the hiring they've been doing, it's now overcrowded), but of course that building is directly across the street.

With the aforementioned in mind, what incentive would they have to lease property for majority of their workers all the way downtown [[that aren't in the Ren Cen). And really, the only parts of GM based entirely downtown are finance and marketing [[Powertrain is in Pontiac while vehicle testing takes place in Milford). An argument can still be made that the Ren Cen workers would be better off at the Tech Center from a budget standpoint.

[gameguy56]

Is there any Room in the Ren-Cen these days? I believe GM owns that outright as well.

[Scottathew]

i bet gilbert could get GM to move a Decent chunk of tech center workers downtown if he really tried and GM was willing to hear it.

I think it would be an option if a large amount of the building at the Tech Center were nearing the end of their useful life or needed significant renovations. I have no knowledge if that's the case or not.

[fastcarsandfreedom]

Seriously...the ideal situation here is for GM to invest in both Warren and Detroit. For this metro area to be healthy and vibrant--all of it's component parts need to be thriving. Auto companies are not banks--they require a different footprint for different functions--and much of what goes on in Warren would never work in a vertical [[RenCen) environment. So--let's say "good on GM" for it's investments in BOTH cities in said of hoping that one place gets gutted in favor of the other.

[MSUguy]

Is there any Room in the Ren-Cen these days? I believe GM owns that outright as well.

Well, there certainly is the space Ally will vacating. But why would moving their own people in be their first option when they can rent that space to another tenant. They got Blues Cross to move it's Southfield operations to Tower 500 and 600.

[313WX]

I think it would be an option if a large amount of the building at the Tech Center were nearing the end of their useful life or needed significant renovations. I have no knowledge if that's the case or not.

FWIW, just yesterday, GM announced a $1 Billion dollar renovation plan for the Tech Center.

[Danny]

What Mayor Fouts should know that there are 2 cities of Warren. A south Warren and a North Warren:

1. South Warren is filled with "Kentucky, Appalachian-esque" homes

2. North Warren is filled with "Sterling Heights-esque" homes.

South Warren is ghetto-like while North Warren is pure suburban. Fouts is trying his best to make his beloved suburb look like a city that rivals Troy. But most middle folks are still moving further out to 26 Mile Rd. More folks from Detroit and other areas are making your city a home. It's up to you to prevent hoodlums from chasing what's left of your middle class folks [[ who are living in North Warren) from fleeing. Instead of luring Quicken Loans to you proposed Downtown which its a city hall that looks a tower and acres of swampy field. Lure someone else who has tons of money.

[hybridy]

What Mayor Fouts should know that there are 2 cities of Warren. A south Warren and a North Warren:

1. South Warren is filled with "Kentucky, Appalachian-esque" homes

...and single-wide trailers. don't forget the gosh darn trailers

[Buttons]

I'm a resident of Warren and have been reading this forum for some time and felt motivated to post after this Warren bashing I see going on here.

I'm disappointed in the apparent race baiting going on here. This isn't 1970's Warren. The black population has been increasingly rapidly. The city is more racially diverse than Detroit. There is also a growing foreign born population in Warren. My wife is Albanian and her family moved to Warren. There is also a lot of Ukrainians including my neighbors. There is also the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren. The mayor has been supportive of immigrants coming to Warren.

Middle class folks are not leaving Warren as quickly as you make it out to seem. Warren's population has bottomed out and is not growing slowly. Housing prices are increasing. A lot of the old population is being replaced with young families.

I work in Detroit and settled on Warren because it was affordable and relatively safe for a family. Not comfortable yet living in one of the neighborhoods of Detroit yet with young children. It's just disappointing that I hear Detroit wants better relationships with the suburbs and then something as simple as a mayor acknowledging the development into Detroit becomes about race.

The trailer park and the Warrentucky digs were nice. A good friend of mine lived in the trailer park off Warner near 8 Mile. He's currently working on his doctorate. Speaking of trailer parks, is the one at the foot of Alter still there? Been quite some time since I have been that way.

[Scottathew]

I'm a resident of Warren and have been reading this forum for some time and felt motivated to post after this Warren bashing I see going on here.

I'm disappointed in the apparent race baiting going on here. This isn't 1970's Warren. The black population has been increasingly rapidly. The city is more racially diverse than Detroit. There is also a growing foreign born population in Warren. My wife is Albanian and her family moved to Warren. There is also a lot of Ukrainians including my neighbors. There is also the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren. The mayor has been supportive of immigrants coming to Warren.

Middle class folks are not leaving Warren as quickly as you make it out to seem. Warren's population has bottomed out and is not growing slowly. Housing prices are increasing. A lot of the old population is being replaced with young families.

I work in Detroit and settled on Warren because it was affordable and relatively safe for a family. Not comfortable yet living in one of the neighborhoods of Detroit yet with young children. It's just disappointing that I hear Detroit wants better relationships with the suburbs and then something as simple as a mayor acknowledging the development into Detroit becomes about race.

The trailer park and the Warrentucky digs were nice. A good friend of mine lived in the trailer park off Warner near 8 Mile. He's currently working on his doctorate. Speaking of trailer parks, is the one at the foot of Alter still there? Been quite some time since I have been that way.

Just as Detroit deserves correct information, respect, and credit where due, so does Warren.

Warren is more diverse than many will give it credit for. Warren is 78% white, 15% black, and 5% Asian. Detroit is 83% black, making it in some respects slightly less diverse than Warren [[keep in mind the true meaning of the word "diversity"). Many folks want to continue to perpetuate many stereotypes in the region, some about black people, some about white people, some about certain areas. Some of the stereotypes are true, and some are not. The thought of Warren being a fortress of white people with no minorities and no diversity is one that I would challenge.

Warren has a great mix of folks from upper-middle class to working-middle class. I used to live in Warren and I felt a real connection with my neighbors, because everyone worked hard. There were few households with depressed trophy-wives. All my neighbors weren't home during the day because they at work toiling, just like me.

I moved out of Warren because I wanted my kids to get to a top-rated school district, and we lived in the Center Line school district, and their results were concerning. We also moved because we wanted a place with more outdoor recreational opportunities for running and biking. Warren has a lot of parks, but not any trails.

I still own my first home in Warren and I am renting it out until it's value increases to what I owe on it. Home values have gone quite a bit up from rock bottom, but my house is still worth about half of what I bough it for in 2006.

My family has a lot of great memories of Warren. It's a great city, with a changing future, it's becoming more diverse, and it's one of the great communities for working-class people of all colors.

[Buttons]

What's not reflected in the census is that a sizable chunk of the white population is Arab or Eastern European. Northwest Warren has a high Ukrainian population. South Warren that people are referring to as a ghetto and Warrentucky is where most of the blacks in the city live.

Some of the people taking shots at Warren I assume are Detroiters. Really should look in the mirror before taking shots.

Also like to add that not all of south Warren is Appalachian, ramshackle housing. There's some nice areas along 10 mile between Mound and Dequindre and between Hoover and Schoenherr. Areas around 9 Mile and Ryan aren't too bad. The worst area is around 8 Mile and Van Dyke and east towards Grosebeck. The city is pretty aggressive on blight and has a blight hotline and large fines for blight. They also do sweeps in south Warren and fine violators.

[313WX]

Well, there certainly is the space Ally will vacating. But why would moving their own people in be their first option when they can rent that space to another tenant. They got Blues Cross to move it's Southfield operations to Tower 500 and 600.

BCBS was leasing space in Southfield though. Completely different circumstances...