YOU are the CZAR

[skyl4rk]

You have been appointed Czar of the Detroit Land Bank and have been given thousands of vacant houses and tens of thousands of vacant parcels.

You must do something quickly. Your resources are minimal.

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?

[cub]

I would have a LEGIT auction for 4 weeks. Open to Detroit residents the first week. 2nd week to county residents. 3rd week to Michigan. 4th week to everyone else.
Starting bid $100.

[vetalalumni]

I trust Cub and his perspective.

[Ray1936]

I would designate members of the City Council as Czardines.

[Bobl]

I would designate members of the City Council as Czardines.

Perhaps the best line ever on this forum.
Old cops seldom lose their sense of humor...

[wolverine]

You, as czar would have to work with many other people [[not part of the land bank), and would have to jump through many hoops to even get 1 single home demolished. The plan would be bogged down by so much bureaucracy that you'd wonder why such a seemingly simple task could be so difficult to accomplish.

[BShea]

I'd resign immediately because the political fate of this position would be akin to the real fate of the last real czar, Nicholas II of Russia -- shot to death and tossed down a well

[sumas]

czardines is hilarious, Thanks Ray for the laugh.

Cubs ideas were pretty good! I would expand the concept to include community groups. As a czardine, I would innitialize legislation to cut through the crap that makes homes unbuyable for sometimes years. I would contract with Habitat for Humanity to gut vacant homes to recycle useable parts to build new homes or at the least put the salvagable parts for resale in their restore shops. Start a local program similar to extreme makeover. Urban prairies don't bother me, so contract with the feds to restore endangered species of birds. Community gardens are also way cool. Detroit once had programs for free seeds which was nixed, it was a cheap program.

[mwilbert]

I would start implementing a shrinkage plan. I would [[presumably working with the rest of city government) designate development and "undevelopment" areas. I would not sell any land in the undevelopment areas for anything except agricultural or recreational uses, and I would be inclined only to lease the land for those.

I would trade property in the development areas for property in the undevelopment areas. I would also establish some kind of homesteading program in the development areas. I don't have a clear picture in my mind as to exactly what the homesteading requirements would be, but preference would be given to people living in the undevelopment areas, so as to hasten their emptying.

The goal would be to concentrate the population and commerce of the city in a more reasonable footprint.

[Retroit]

Most of these homes are vacant because no one wants to live there, so an auction would probably not take many homes off the city's hand.

Vacant homes can be divided into two categories:
1. Those that need to be demolished [[the vast majority), and
2. Those that can be saved and auctioned off.

The first group should be eliminated by Controlled Burn, as much as is safely possible. I would work with the Fire Department to have these homes burnt down to provide a more safe and healthy environment for the existing residents.

Vacant lots would be bundled together into large parcels. I would then work with the various levels of government, housing developers, and financial institutions to rebuild these areas, like Garden Estates [[Herman Gardens).

Urban prairies, wildlife refuges, and farm land are out of the question. This is a city; people should live here.

[mwilbert]

One more thing I forgot--some kind of "block move" program, where a group of homeowners or residents could be relocated as a unit--so that if you have a some friends/relatives/neighbors who are living in an area that you want to shut down, that you try to find them new places in close proximity.

I don't know how often this would be possible, but it seems to me that often people have a few friends in their neighborhood that they can't stand to leave--if you could move them all, it would be a lot less traumatic.

[cub]

Ok, as far as the homesteading. I am still working on how we could possibly turn certain areas into agricultural areas. Lets say the area where Jane Cooper school is. [[just an example) Turn that area into agricultural zones. Yes growing veggies and fruits, raising animals. [[small scale, there would have to be some sort of limit) These areas could be extremely off grid and as self -sustaining as possible for example, rain barrels, solar panels, small wind turbines etc.[[tying in the concept of cutting off services to certain areas)
I like some of mwilbert's ideas. Especially the trading of land for people who want to live in these areas. You would get like minded people together. I think it would bring people into the city who want country living in the city. Again my idea is not complete. I still need to come up with a way the city could get some kind of revenue off this idea. I am thinking agricultural tax. Right now the city isn't collecting taxes at all. Maybe they could charge them for upkeep of utility lines water and sewage, electricity, gas if they wanted these utilities.

[RickBeall]

I vote for mwilbert as the first land bank Czar. His plan is revolutionary, controversial, humane, and doable.

Retroits "Urban prairies, wildlife refuges, and farm land are out of the question " beliefs lead nowhere except to random empty lots all over the city. This slap-dash reselling is going nowhere.

[skyl4rk]

One of the main goals of the Land Bank should be to get people to move into Detroit neighborhoods, not just dispose of property. In particular, young people are needed.

There should be a program where the Land Bank would partner with Wayne State and try to recruit returning military veterans to study at Wayne State and receive a home at very low cost. Ideally, this program would put the veterans all in one neighborhood area, perhaps next to an existing neighborhood such as Woodbridge or Boston Edison. That way they can look out for each other and be the base of neighborhood community. The veterans know how to work as a team to take care of themselves in dangerous situations, so they should be able to self defend the neighborhood.

For those properties which are auctioned off, the first round of auctions should be limited to people who are residents or work in Detroit. Students who are enrolled or accepted into Detroit colleges could also be included in this first round. It may be a good idea to reserve houses for these groups through an owner-occupant sale program.

It may be wise to NOT auction houses on a general basis, but to try to sell houses which can be rehabbed to people who agree to be owner occupants. The problem is that there are so many properties which must be disposed of, and that the houses will rapidly decay when no one takes care of them. So it might be best to select a limited number of homes for owner occupant programs and auction the majority of the properties.

As far as vacant lots go, people should be encouraged to use the lots for gardens. For those lots which are not gardened, the lots should be mowed for hay and the hay should be harvested and sold. If there are large vacant areas, they could be leased on a long term basis to agricultural firms, perhaps maintaining the tax free status which the land bank enjoys.

New development on vacant lots should happen near more developed areas. Lots in largely vacant areas should not be sold for development. The land bank should try to assemble large areas of land in vacant areas. These areas can be held for future development, whatever that may be, and should not be pieced out.

[detroitbob]

Abdicate as the Bolsheviks invade from Lansing.

[DetroitPlanner]

Draw a buffer around the schools of about 1/4 mile and major roads of about 1,000 feet and concentrate efforts first in those areas. This will make the areas safer for families with children and beautufy the City at the same time.

Make sure you work with community stakeholders including neighborhood groups, police and fire departments to identify the most serious problems and attack those first.

Enlist the help of the planning, transportation, department of public works, and recreation departments as well as the schools to provide data, input on how to infil for public transport, infrastructure, garbage collection, rodent control, and provide land in areas with little recreational opportunities passive play space for families with children.

Learn what works and what does not and incorporate lessons into continually refining the program. Expand efforts outward from the buffer as funding becomes available and success is measured within the buffered area.

In terms of what to do, teardown the hopeless homes, find developers to take on the salvagable ones, and encourage lot splits for vacant parcels between two existing homes to be taken over by nearby homeowners. This will ensure that the land is cared for, and will increase the value of the existing properties by making areas for gardens or out buildings.

[MoparDan]

An interloper from the south who normally stays in the "Non-Detroit" forum but this thread intrigued me.
Perhaps this solution wouldn't be for all of Detroit, but could be feasible for some sections. DetroitPlanner, since you are actually in the business of urban planning along with the financial impact, maybe you know something about this company & its projects. At this time they do not have a Michigan office.
http://www.catellus.com/index.aspx

Our old airport area was redeveloped & a co-worker lives in this community. It has allowed her to buy a home on a modest income & provides all her needs. She also told me that approximately 25% of the households are considered low-income.
http://www.muelleraustin.com/explore/index.php

Before criticizing or coming up with excuses why something CAN'T be done, generate alternatives of what CAN or COULD be done. If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem.
Never been there, so why should I even care? Because I hate seeing a once mighty city go down the tubes. Not to mention, being a car guy it sickens me to think the American Auto Mecca is getting beat up from all sides. Things may never be the same but there's no reason why the situation can't be stabilized, made tolerable & attractive.
Just an outside observation for what it's worth.

[NoHeartAnthony]

I'd put a gun in my mouth.

[DetroitPlanner]

Mopar,

I know of that project, in fact my Doctor's daughter is an urban planner lives in this development. There is a big difference between Detroit and Austin. Currently Detroit is not creating jobs, it is hemorraging jobs. Austin is one of the hottest markets in the country. Another place where that company is dveloping is California, where while their economy is not great either, there is still plenty of population and it also is an area where people continue to move to, while the Detroit area unfortunately continues to be a place where people move from. There are new buildings throughout the metropolitan area that sit empty in areas that are attractive for development. A land bank will allow the City to assemble parcels and sell them off in a way that would produce some revenue for investing in the buildings or demoing the ones that needs demo. This revenue could be a 'funding bucket' though a very small one.

I am confident that at some point the Detroit area will be attracting jobs again, but when? I can't say. It seems that we have been caught lately in a cycle of one step forward and two steps back. A land bank is one policy that could help rationalize a very unrational market. Another policy that would help would be to decrease the roadblocks to trading with Canada, but unfortunately there are more votes in DC along the Southern Border than the Northern one and that is killing us because politicians in Texas and California are paranoid that they will be invaded by people trying to take jobs away from constituents.