Water in Detroit?

[Whitehouse]

Being from the Netherlands I grew up in a country with century old cities. Cities in which waterways were previously an major way of transport within citylimits. These days that function is lost and some of those canals suffered the fate of being filled in in favour of the automobile. Lots of canals now are major arteries into the citycenter.

A lot has survived though, as some of you might kno by visiting cities like Amsterdam, and now have a touristic function or are a very in demand place to live. In fact, some of those canals have been recreated just for that.


Believe me, 10 years ago this did not excist!

The middle square. Everything here is new.


Would something like this be successful in Detroit?

[amika]

Interesting idea, but I think that getting basic/reliable transportation services would be our highest priority in the city - followed by connecting those services to the suburbs.

Water transportation is very limiting.
Fantastic idea - to increase tourism in an area that already has basics.

[Hamtragedy]

You can buy a house on one of our canals for under $10,000, or back-taxes.

[Meddle]

In Detroit, Canal = Sewer

[reddog289]

That would be neat, But have to agree with Meddle. They would end up as a sewer.

[fryar]

I agree. It's an interesting idea, but Detroit is not close to being able to capitalize on that at this time.

[5speedz34]

Historically and geographically where are canals in Detroit? It sure seems like there can't be that many. Or was everything totally covered over in development of the city?

[CLAUDE G]

I was in San Antionio a few weeks ago and they had the river walk which was a canal which ran about 20 feet below street level.

Pretty nice, the problem is where would it go in Detroit?

[Retroit]

Compare the people that live in the Netherlands to the people that live in Detroit, and I think you will find your answer.

[[I'm not referring to skin color.)

[DetroitPlanner]

Historically and geographically where are canals in Detroit? It sure seems like there can't be that many. Or was everything totally covered over in development of the city?

Most are on the far east side. Some may be part of the Rouge network, but I don't know a definititive definition for a canal other than it is a man made waterway.

[iheartthed]

Compare the people that live in the Netherlands to the people that live in Detroit, and I think you will find your answer.

[[I'm not referring to skin color.)

Well then what are you talking about?

[Fury13]

I've always thought we should put a canal down the middle of Grand River Avenue... to, you know, make the street name more appropriate.

[mikefmich]

Historically and geographically where are canals in Detroit? It sure seems like there can't be that many. Or was everything totally covered over in development of the city?

S. of Jefferson, W. of Alter Rd. towards downtown.

[mikefmich]

I've always thought we should put a canal down the middle of Grand River Avenue... to, you know, make the street name more appropriate.

lol.........

[Retroit]

Well then what are you talking about?

The fact that people in the Netherlands tend to take care of themselves, their families, their homes, their yards, and their neighborhoods better than the people of Detroit. If all of what was built in the Netherland were built in Detroit, it would likely fall into disrepair sooner here than there.

I'll go a step further to suggest that the possible reason for this is because people in the Netherlands most likely feel a greater sense of community pride due to their self-identification with ancestors who lived there, whereas many in Detroit may feel that the city is not theirs but rather belongs to a group of people that formerly resided there who, along with their former Detroit properties, are often considered by current residents as not worthy of respect or preservation.

[SWMAP]

More than five years ago, Detroit architect Steve Vogel began to explore the merit of uncovering or "daylighting the creeks on the east side - especially "Bloody Run." It seemed a flight of fancy, but in the interim, many cities of the world have begun to daylight their waterways:

"Many big cities and towns owe their existence to rivers, either because some waterway provided a transit route, water source, or hydro power for mills in the early days of industrialization. But many such communities proceeded to bury their rivers in the 20th century, both because the waters were sullied with pollution or sewage and to make room for housing, commercial buildings and — most of all — roads.
Over the last several decades, from Europe to North America and now Asia, there’s been a growing movement aimed at peeling back pavement and “daylighting” buried waters.
I have a story running in The Times on one of the most remarkable such transformations — the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon in Seoul, South Korea. Through more than six centuries of settlement, the stream went from being a revered feature of the landscape to an open sewer to a buried, forgotten storm drain and now to a three-mile corridor of burbling waters, milling carp, strolling picnickers and relative quiet in one of the powerhouse metropolises of Asia. You can see a video report on that effort at the bottom of this post. The Seoul stream project was integrated with a parallel effort to take away highways and improve public transportation.
The story also discusses an ambitious effort to expose 1,900 feet of the Saw Mill River, which runs under a stretch of shops and parking lots in downtown Yonkers, a city of 200,000 abutting the Bronx. The photograph above shows the giant flume built in the early the 1920’s to contain the river. From San Antonio to Singapore, there are other examples.
A community’s relationship with its waterways is a reflection of its stage of development. Among other cities pursuing the restoration of buried or concrete-lined waterways are Vancouver, which once had dozens of salmon spawning runs in streams within the city limits, and Los Angeles."

I wonder if the Hantz farms people are working on such an idea. But Hantz Farms probably won't happen. City too worried about being perceived to be going backward.

[iheartthed]

The fact that people in the Netherlands tend to take care of themselves, their families, their homes, their yards, and their neighborhoods better than the people of Detroit. If all of what was built in the Netherland were built in Detroit, it would likely fall into disrepair sooner here than there.

I'll go a step further to suggest that the possible reason for this is because people in the Netherlands most likely feel a greater sense of community pride due to their self-identification with ancestors who lived there, whereas many in Detroit may feel that the city is not theirs but rather belongs to a group of people that formerly resided there who, along with their former Detroit properties, are often considered by current residents as not worthy of respect or preservation.

Do people in the Netherlands even have yards? That's a pretty American phenomenon...

[Retroit]

Do people in the Netherlands even have yards? That's a pretty American phenomenon...

You can't grow tulips in concrete.

[Bearinabox]

The fact that people in the Netherlands tend to take care of themselves, their families, their homes, their yards, and their neighborhoods better than the people of Detroit. If all of what was built in the Netherland were built in Detroit, it would likely fall into disrepair sooner here than there.

I'll go a step further to suggest that the possible reason for this is because people in the Netherlands most likely feel a greater sense of community pride due to their self-identification with ancestors who lived there, whereas many in Detroit may feel that the city is not theirs but rather belongs to a group of people that formerly resided there who, along with their former Detroit properties, are often considered by current residents as not worthy of respect or preservation.

Or maybe because Evil Socialist Big Government helps keep cities nice and prevents large numbers of people from falling into a cycle of abject poverty that they can't get out of, and also chooses not to prosecute minor non-violent drug offenses--how's that for government overreach?

[texorama]

Check out the north end of downtown Kalamazoo for an idea of what uncovering a creek can do. Ten years ago it was a decaying area that was dicey at night. They put in a Riverwalk-like project that completely turned it around. I'm not talking transportation here, but waterways are definitely an asset in defining pleasant public spaces.

[iheartthed]

You can't grow tulips in concrete.

So everyone in the Netherlands grow tulips? In their immaculately maintained yards? Got anymore generalizations to make?

[Hermod]

Most are on the far east side. Some may be part of the Rouge network, but I don't know a definititive definition for a canal other than it is a man made waterway.

In general, functioning canals were built to connect two or to bypass a bad stretch of fall or rapids to allow commerce to flow along the route. There was a canal bypassing part of the Clinton River. Detroit had the Detroit River and didn't really need canals for commerce.

[5speedz34]

FWIW, Pontiac is supposed to be uncovering tributaries or a branch of the Clinton River that was cemented over and aqua ducted in the 60's. I read about it a year or so ago.

[Gistok]

I've always thought we should put a canal down the middle of Grand River Avenue... to, you know, make the street name more appropriate.

... sort of like Detroit's version of one of Europe's most famous avenues with a canal running down the center... found in Dusseldorf Germany....
http://www.koenigsallee-duesseldorf....c6g0g0g400g203

[izzyindetroit]

The canals on Detroit's east side are one of the greatest landscapes in the city.