A new Detroit: CDAD Neighborhood Revitalization Framework

[Gsgeorge]

This CDAD presents an amazing document that finally offers some concrete ideas on how to right-size Detroit fairly & find positive uses for all of Detroit's neighborhoods. It is believed these will be used in conjunction with the recent parcel study to formulate Mayor Bing's plan for 'right sizing' the city, to be formally announced during the State of the City address in late March.

http://detroitcommunitydevelopment.o...ework_2010.pdf

The CDAC recommends the city's neighborhoods -- and even pockets of neighborhoods -- be classified as one of eleven different 'zones', ranging from naturscape, to urban homestead, to green venture zones & industrial areas, to stripmall shopping & urban villages, and dense city neighborhoods and an active riverfront, all connected by a series of 'greenways'. A seemingly ambitious plan, the short-term plan would radically change how Detroit operates and how it's land is put to use.

Most astonishingly, it would require very little relocation, eminent domain, or eviction. Those who would want to stay could, and those who would rather relocate are offered assistance. In some cases, zones are designated as "transition" zones; these areas are improved in the short term, but their future is up to those who live in the neighborhood. After five years, these areas are reevaluated to determine whether they should continue as their current use, reverted nature,
or developed further.

I was most impressed that the study offered solutions for all of Detroit's different types of neighborhoods. We have a very large diversity of neighborhood types in this city, with different densities, conditions, and uses. The study does not consider right-sizing to be all about reverting neighborhoods to nature. There are degrees of use for heavily abandoned zones. It doesn't buy into the media hype about all of Detroit turning into a farm.

If you read nothing from it, this part is great:

A NEW DETROIT: SPACIOUS, GRACIOUS, GREEN AND INDUSTRIOUS'

CDAD imagines a new Detroit that is the first City in the United States to respond to its abundance of vacant land in such a comprehensive and positive way, by offering a unique array of choices in residential living – from rural to main street, from traditional to suburban, from single family to high rise, with energy efficient homes and apartments both old and new.

We are committed to a Detroit where residents are employed within the city, where local entrepreneurial residents own local businesses. We see a Detroit that is a hub for sustainable green industry from farms to fisheries, but also boasts an abundance of natural green space – especially along our riverfront which is preserved for public use. We envision a city whose streets accommodate cars, but also light rail, bikes and walkers. We want a city that welcomes and recruits immigrants, whose people remain the friendliest and most resilient in the United States.

[Danny]

That is a great ideal. The next empowerment zone for Detroit's ghettohoods. Good old slum clearance of black and blight areas, installing mix used housing and mom and pop retail businesses, retooling ethnic oasis and rehabing historic areas.

[ghettopalmetto]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing, Gsgeorge. I'll read through it once I have more time, but on the surface, it sounds like the City is at least making an attempt to move into the 21st century!

[canuck]

Great News, a lot of interesting ideas. Homesteading is definitely something that opens up possibilities in the buy local category. It may be a long road ahead but if you think of the cost of buying farmland for a young agronomer vs the low cost of land in metro Detroit, the city could have an incredible advantage over other cities on the continent. I think Detroit's tradition of craft could also be pushed to include handfinished goods in a big way. Carhartt in Dearborn has not offshored like a lot of others and now they benefit from a local well-supervised labor force. They invest in culture in the city. They are loyal to their roots. They will outlast the money-only driven bunch who got us into this mess in the first place.

[casscorridor]

I read the plan. I also read the much longer one by AIA. It sounds okay, sounds different than what the News and Freep describe and what the Michigan Citizen has described as a modern day "trial of tears."

There has defiantly been a great deal of sensationalizing. I've long heard random people from the suburbs say "we should just level Detroit and start over." So a plan to "turn all of Detroit into farm" of course would be fetishized. It is the destruction fetish, which fuels the interest in things like "ruin porn" and end of the world movies. But this isn't a movie. This is real life.

I think the different zones of development make a lot of sense. I like the idea of urban villages a lot. I think these could develop around transit stations. I don't think there needs to be any forced relocations or evictions or even utility shut-offs. Make develop happen primarily around transit stations. But this would also mean we'd need a dedication to building a comprehensive system, with lines running on more than just Woodward. Otherwise it just won't work, I don't think the villages will develop without rail transit. Each village could have things such as a grocery store, a post office, dentists and doctors offices, a pharmacy, a police mini station, shops and restaurants. Each village must be connected to each other via transit. The "spoke" avenues will act as the main lines, with circular lines looping the city [[Grand Belt, Clairmount, etc). Intersections of lines could be major hubs, where regional things such as big box and department stores are found, along with high-density housing, offices, and other entertainment.

I also like the idea of urban homesteading, but I don't think any infrastructure should be removed as this adds additional costs, and is literally a pipe dream. Homesteaders should be allowed to at least stay connected to the electric and water grid. I can see not having trash pick up or things like that, but removing pipes and electricity seems completely unreasonable and far fetched. I like that they encourage renewable energy, and that should be a major priority for the entire city. I like homesteading because when I look around at many neighborhoods in the "middle areas" I see homesteading going on already. Even in core neighborhoods. People keep chickens, make biodiesel, have solar panels, gardens, etc. I'm sure there are thousands of people who would love to have this sort of lifestyle where you are in the country, yet blocks away from one of these urban villages. It's like hybrid of urban/rural living that suburbs always failed to be, but in the early days were always romanticized as such.

Finally, I'd like the plan to put more emphasis on cooperative and collective organization. They advocate for commercial farms, but what we really need is commercial AND cooperative farms. Instead of having an owner and a manager and a bunch workers following their command, why can't the workers own the place and manage it themselves? If you say they can't, it is an insult to working people everywhere, like somehow they aren't smart enough to manage themselves. I'd like to see a veriety of cooperative enterprises acting as a sort of parallel economy, outside the market. And being outside the market means you are shielded from the boom and bust cycle that so many Americans are tired of. Instead of "buying" and "selling" at whatever the market says, why can't workers and consumers get together and decide what they will produce and what they will consumer, democratically. You might say the market is democratic and your vote is your dollar, but how can it be democratic is some people have millions of votes and others have none? It can't. That is why participatory and democratic organization of the workplace in the economy is the only just solution. Participatory credit unions could form to fund the cooperative enterprises, and act as a "bank" for all the workers and consumers, so that the credit union could take their money and invest it. There is a huge opportunity to achieve some form of parallel economy in Detroit. The massive tracts of empty land in buildings, the population looking for something new, and the general spirit of Detroit rising from the ashes. I really think the new economy, the replacement for capitalism, will start right here in Detroit.

How this plan plays out is very important. Any way we look at it, it will be a redistribution of wealth. Will the wealth be put in the hands of the rich and powerful who got us in this situation in the first place? Or will it be put in the hands of the people themselves, so that we never get into this situation ever again, and so that we will have control over our own lives, and have dignity and meaning in our lives, and an empowering job, and access to education and health care and the things we need? The choice is ours. Even though these plan are being designed without the will of the people, it is our responsibility to stand up and say "NO, WE MUST BE INCLUDED!"

[Gsgeorge]

I read the plan. I also read the much longer one by AIA.

Thanks for your thoughts, cass. Can you link us to the AIA plan?

[Cooper]

I read the plan. I also read the much longer one by AIA. It sounds okay, sounds different than what the News and Freep describe and what the Michigan Citizen has described as a modern day "trial of tears."

It's worth nothing that both the CDAD plan and the AIA report were written to influence the dialogue on rightsizing. Neither is necessarily supported by the Bing administration or the Kresge Foundation, which has offered to fund the planning process.

[Cooper]

Thanks for your thoughts, cass. Can you link us to the AIA plan?

You can review the AIA report, "Leaner, Greener Detroit," here:

http://info.aia.org/aiarchitect/this...at_detroit.cfm

[canuck]

I think that the electric supply to homesteads may have something to do with new self-reliant energy systems where if someone is still on the grid they may sell their energy to the power companies on the grid. They may want to avoid that in order to keep the utilities smiling? Self reliance on water supply is pretty interesting too. Sounds revolutionary but in some cities they used to build houses with water collectors so you wouldnt have to waste water hosing your lawn, a long time before the green craze. There will have to be a lot of work on soil contamination etc... but it is worthwhile. If your suburbs had more sense and seized the opportunity, the ball would roll alot faster and investment would come in. Detroit's problems dont stem from a lack of vision, but rather going ahead with a bunch of wrong visions. The task is overwhelming because the pile is massive, its like an episode of HOARDERS. But when you think of how little time it took to build a massive city like Detroit, its hard to imagine it cant be done. It certainly is the most interesting city to watch out for anywhere in the US.