Bing to "defrag" the city.

[Hermod]

The real problem is that the whole metro needs to work together to make a livable city center and to gradually let the less sustainable areas [[mostly the exurbs) go back to being productive farmland.

We need to look less like a donut with a hole in the center and more like ... Essex County. We should have a tight city center surrounded by productive farmland. What this plan does is the opposite

And why should the city center of "Greater Detroit" be at its southern boundary? Why shouldn't the "city center" of "Greater Detroit" be in the geographic center, say Troy or Birmingham?

[DetroitDad]

And why should the city center of "Greater Detroit" be at its southern boundary? Why shouldn't the "city center" of "Greater Detroit" be in the geographic center, say Troy or Birmingham?

I think it might be because it's a river/port city on an international border. The infrastructure in Downtown Detroit is also superior to some the geographic center suburbs. Moving our geographic center would require freeway and transit reconfiguration, and adding streets. I'm not sure we have the resources to make another "New Center" super project.

This is all unless you are talking about making it an auto centric downtown. Actually, several suburbs already are that. We have had problems in the past, with putting too many eggs in one basket, as well as the talk that there are large amounts of educated youngsters who want walkable cities and transit, and are choosing jobs in cities that have it, leaving Michigan. Rent prices in many of our nation's well maintained walkable towns and cities are incredibly high, maybe pointing to high demand, and not enough supply. It's worth noting that enough of the youngsters who are leaving, are willing to pay much more for that kind of lifestyle.

[Hermod]

I think it might be because it's a river/port city on an international border. The infrastructure in Downtown Detroit is also superior to some the geographic center suburbs. Moving our geographic center would require freeway and transit reconfiguration, and adding streets. I'm not sure we have the resources to make another "New Center" super project.

This is all unless you are talking about making it an auto centric downtown. Actually, several suburbs already are that. We have had problems in the past, with putting too many eggs in one basket, as well as the talk that there are large amounts of educated youngsters who want walkable cities and transit, and are choosing jobs in cities that have it, leaving Michigan. Rent prices in many of our nation's well maintained walkable towns and cities are incredibly high, maybe pointing to high demand, and not enough supply. It's worth noting that enough of the youngsters who are leaving, are willing to pay much more for that kind of lifestyle.

"Port city"?? How many containers get transshipped across the massive piers and docks there by the RenCen? There is no real "port" anchoring the downtown.

Educated youngsters do not move to a place because it is a "walkable" city. They move to a place because it has a job for them. If the job is in a central city, then and only then do they make the decision to live in the central city and walk or live in the burbs and commute. The "central city" of Detroit is sadly deficient in jobs. In case you hadn't noticed, most of the office buildings in downtown are empty or nearly so.

[rb336]

Educated youngsters do not move to a place because it is a "walkable" city. They move to a place because it has a job for them. If the job is in a central city, then and only then do they make the decision to live in the central city and walk or live in the burbs and commute.

Several studies have shown that "youngsters" move to cities with the sort of attributes they want BEFORE finding a job

[DetroitPlanner]

Several studies have shown that "youngsters" move to cities with the sort of attributes they want BEFORE finding a job

Yeah like a chance to get a job! This is more important than any recreational, cultural, or transportation amenitity. Want better transit? Provide jobs! Want cleaner parks? Provide jobs! Want a cultural center less dependant on the govt dime? Provide Jobs!

[Bearinabox]

Yeah like a chance to get a job! This is more important than any recreational, cultural, or transportation amenitity. Want better transit? Provide jobs! Want cleaner parks? Provide jobs! Want a cultural center less dependant on the govt dime? Provide Jobs!

Plenty of people with perfectly good, stable jobs in the metro area move away anyway. Jobs are important, but they aren't the only thing that matters, period, end of discussion. "What we really need is jobs" shouldn't be an excuse for not improving transit or cleaning up the parks.

[iheartthed]

Yeah like a chance to get a job! This is more important than any recreational, cultural, or transportation amenitity. Want better transit? Provide jobs! Want cleaner parks? Provide jobs! Want a cultural center less dependant on the govt dime? Provide Jobs!

Actually, you've got it backwards. Educated people are gravitating towards urban centers because that is where the ideas flow. You can hypothetically invent Google or Facebook from a cornfield in Kansas, given the advent of the information super-highway. But good luck on having that epiphany for what people need if your nearest neighbors are a family of field mice.

[Danny]

If King Bing wants to defrag Detroit, I say go right ahead. I like his ideal because Detroit ghettohoods are getting too blighted and too big for city services to mow the weeds and wild wheats. If folks don't want to clean up their communities, then move out and let future developers take over. Let them build new homes, apts and reatails for middle income families. Then Detroit will move on productively.

[Det_ard]

Actually, you've got it backwards. Educated people are gravitating towards urban centers because that is where the ideas flow. You can hypothetically invent Google or Facebook from a cornfield in Kansas, given the advent of the information super-highway. But good luck on having that epiphany for what people need if your nearest neighbors are a family of field mice.

Urban centers didn't produce Google or Facebook. College kids in college towns did. Palo Alto, Cambridge, Champaign-Urbana for Mosaic, these are the products of University environments, not urban environments. Those tech innovations that come from businesses are coming more from businesses in suburban industrial parks in places like Cupertino, San Jose and Sunnyvale than from San Francisco and Oakland.

So cornfields, no, unless there's a university nearby. Urban centers, no, unless you count the universities and suburban industrial parks.