The Best Neighborhoods are Old Ones, says APA

[kathy2trips]

We've got the old neighborhoods in Detroit. Lots of them. But that's about it...for now.

The American Planning Association [[APA) released their list of 10 Great Neighborhoods for 2009 on Wednesday. Only ONE of these neighborhoods contains buildings from the 1950s onward.

LOL
What? No freaking malls? Acres of bleak, gray parking? No spray-stucco pre-fab strip centers? I was quite surprised!

Some of the stories of these areas are pretty inspiring; they weren't always very pretty. Quite a few were doomed to destruction at some point. One had freeway problems. You can read more about these places, and see maps & pictures at http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/...9/index.htm#BH from where the comments below are culled.

What will it take for one of our own to be on this list some day?

Pasadena, California
The first house dates to 1888, but most of the bungalows were built between 1905 and 1920.
Bungalow Heaven

New Orleans, Louisiana
Originally a Creole suburb, Faubourg Marigny is a 200-year-old community.
Faubourg Marigny

Lincoln, Nebraska
One of Lincoln's oldest neighborhoods [[1880-1920), the Haymarket is a historic warehouse and industrial district. Also the Farmer’s Market district.
The Haymarket

Kenmore, New York
Buffalo's first bedroom community and streetcar suburb, first house dates to 1889, 10 years before the village's incorporation; majority of residential structures were built through 1925
Village of Kenmore

Fargo, North Dakota
Most structures here were built after a 1893 fire destroyed the city’s downtown.
Downtown Fargo

Portland, Oregon
A designated local and national historic district, the housing stock includes stunning examples of Old Portland architecture, such as Craftsman, Mission, Tudor, and bungalows. Platted in 1891, the bulk of the buildings were completed before the Great Depression.
Ladd's Addition

Franklin, Tennessee
Downtown Franklin has the Gothic Revival Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7 built in 1823; This Neighborhood represents one of the finest concentrations of historic buildings in Tennessee; structures built mostly during 19th century and represent Federal, Middle Tennessee, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victorian architectural styles.
Downtown Franklin Historic District

Houston, Texas
The neighborhood was established in 1911 retains much of its early 20th century character: one-third of the city's historic districts are here. [[I live near here. This was splashed all over the news. It was on the front page and everybody's lead story. Not too much old stuff in Houston anymore. So, it was a real big deal.)
Montrose

Newport News, Virginia
The first of some 100 federally financed housing projects during World War I, Historic Hilton Village today remains much as it did when it was first planned and built in 1918-19.
Historic Hilton Village

Spokane, Washington
The most culturally diverse neighborhood in Spokane, Browne's Addition is a mosaic of past and present. Stately Victorian and Early 20th Century homes are mixed with low-rise apartment buildings and condominiums. It also has a tremendous amount of trees, even for the area.
Browne's Addition

[gazhekwe]

Interesting! I found this in the paragraph about Ladd's Addition in Portland, OR.

Ladd's Addition's commercial corridors are within a short walk of most of the 870 residences.

I think this is a key factor in the life of a neighborhood. Grand River and Greenfield, in its heyday, was a key walking destination for a large neighborhood area from Grandmont to Hubbell and Fenkell to Lyndon, at least. They had three department stores, a drug store, banks, restaurants, dress shops, jewellers and more.

[Mackinaw]

APA members from Michigan need to get work on getting somewhere in/near Detroit this designation for next year. If Kenmore NY could get it, I think Grosse Pointe's south end or Birmingham could, though they, like all of metro Detroit, lack in transit offerings which the APA might value. Ann Arbor's Historic West Side or Burns Park neighborhood seem worthy in the grand scheme. In Detroit, Indian Village would be considered because of the incredible craftsmanship of the homes and the fine scale/proportion of the neighborhood.

[dcmorrison12]

APA members from Michigan need to get work on getting somewhere in/near Detroit this designation for next year. If Kenmore NY could get it, I think Grosse Pointe's south end or Birmingham could, though they, like all of metro Detroit, lack in transit offerings which the APA might value. Ann Arbor's Historic West Side or Burns Park neighborhood seem worthy in the grand scheme. In Detroit, Indian Village would be considered because of the incredible craftsmanship of the homes and the fine scale/proportion of the neighborhood.

I'm no expert,but I did grow up in Birmingham for 19 years. I never came across a wonderful historic neighborhood. Most of the homes seem to from the 40's and 50's, which have been completely re-done and tripled in size. No lawn space, all house.

I'm not sure if that's what they are looking for. Sure, the downtown of birmingham has a few historical commercial buildings, but that's all I can think of.

If you want a nomination, I'd nominate Midtown Detroit. That would beat out any nomination in Michigan.

[casscorridor]

I'm no expert,but I did grow up in Birmingham for 19 years. I never came across a wonderful historic neighborhood. Most of the homes seem to from the 40's and 50's, which have been completely re-done and tripled in size. No lawn space, all house.

I'm not sure if that's what they are looking for. Sure, the downtown of birmingham has a few historical commercial buildings, but that's all I can think of.

If you want a nomination, I'd nominate Midtown Detroit. That would beat out any nomination in Michigan.

I definatly agree. Birmingham is one of the most overrated places I've encountered. And Midtown and other Detroit city neighborhoods are some of the most underrated places ever... part of the reason so few people are willing to invest here.

There is so much untapped potential in Detroit neigbhorhoods. We need to keep people from driving to the sububurbs to do shopping but having the shopping right here in the city. Stop people from driving to the suburbs to work by having jobs right here. It is not like the 900,000 people living in the city don't buy food or don't by cloths. But a lot of times I feel like it is assumed that they do not.

Heck, even Detroit Public TV is located in the suburbs. It is nothing short of disgrace.

[Mackinaw]

yeah don't get me wrong, I'll spend about a thousand times more time in midtown Detroit than Birmingham, I was just reacting to the fact that a bedroom suburb of Buffalo was on the list, and surely we have places that can rival that.

[EastsideAl]

We could have had this in Brush Park, if only some real vision had been applied. One of the best clusters of beautiful mid and late 19th century homes in the country and we let it turn into a wasteland.

There are still several candidates around here though. Indian Village [[and West Village, Jefferson gold coast apts., etc.) is a cluster with very real possibility. Grosse Pointe, particularly in the village and hill areas is already there [[and not a mall in sight). Woodbridge, what's left of Corktown, parts of midtown and the southwest side, Palmer Woods/Sherwood Forest/University, Boston-Edison. And Highland Park! Parts of HP are perhaps the best clusters of endangered beautiful older housing stock in the Detroit area.

But it takes vision folks. And real URBAN planning, not planning for getting cars on/off freeways faster, making easier access to windowless casinos, and giving every single building its own dedicated ugly parking garage. The point can't be turning Detroit into something more like a suburb, but keeping Detroit as something more like this country's other great historic urban centers. Of course, a healthier and more diverse economy would really help.

[EastsideAl]

The places most like Kenmore, that Buffalo suburb, around here are downtown Royal Oak, central Farmington, parts of GP, and parts of Dearborn. And Ferndale, but only to the extent that a gay population has also been a force in Kenmore's resurgence.