Woodward Project

[tangerine]

Thanks everyone... and cman I appreciated your thoughtful comments.

I think the one tangible think I want to drive is to get Beaumont Hospital to develop 13 Mile and Woodward in a walkable fashion. They own the land and with the volume of people coming in and out it seems like a no-brainer. Plus it would help fill in the gap between Birmingham and RO. There is a plan in the video for that intersection that I paid to have done with my own money. I took it to the hospital and they politely listened but I don't think I had any impact. I'm hoping that this video wil reach and l inspire people associated with the hospital to reconsider.

I think this would be an important and obtainable accomplishment.

If you read this and you know an executive at Beaumont, please send them a link to the video.

The second thing I hope to do is to support mass transit. I think a light rail or express busses or something on the Woodward corridor would make a big difference.


The final thing

[canuck]

Thanks everyone... and cman I appreciated your thoughtful comments.

I think the one tangible think I want to drive is to get Beaumont Hospital to develop 13 Mile and Woodward in a walkable fashion. They own the land and with the volume of people coming in and out it seems like a no-brainer. Plus it would help fill in the gap between Birmingham and RO. There is a plan in the video for that intersection that I paid to have done with my own money. I took it to the hospital and they politely listened but I don't think I had any impact. I'm hoping that this video wil reach and l inspire people associated with the hospital to reconsider.

I think this would be an important and obtainable accomplishment.

If you read this and you know an executive at Beaumont, please send them a link to the video.

The second thing I hope to do is to support mass transit. I think a light rail or express busses or something on the Woodward corridor would make a big difference.


The final thing

Yes Tangerine, I will look closely at what you proposed and follow your lead. Any institution with a large potential footprint should look forward to pioneering a new vital Detroit. There may be time still for Beaumont and WSU to reverse their decision and maybe pull the plug in spite of penalties paid to contractors. The basic idea is to shame the board of governors into doing something positive instead of churning another impotent city block.

[mb1]

Great presentation and you provide a great example on the way forward for the city and suburbs to work together to build a better city for everyone. This city and region has enormous amount of untapped potential!!!

[Gistok]

Thanks everyone... and cman I appreciated your thoughtful comments.

I think the one tangible think I want to drive is to get Beaumont Hospital to develop 13 Mile and Woodward in a walkable fashion. They own the land and with the volume of people coming in and out it seems like a no-brainer. Plus it would help fill in the gap between Birmingham and RO. There is a plan in the video for that intersection that I paid to have done with my own money. I took it to the hospital and they politely listened but I don't think I had any impact. I'm hoping that this video wil reach and l inspire people associated with the hospital to reconsider.

I think this would be an important and obtainable accomplishment.

If you read this and you know an executive at Beaumont, please send them a link to the video.

Tangerine... Beaumont could take a page from St. John Hospital...

St. John did a wonderful job of incorporating itself into a rebuilt Moross/Mack [[Pointe Plaza) shopping center and several office towers. Although it's not flush with the street, neither was its' predecessor... Mack/7 shopping center. St. John did a great job incorporating this shopping center into its' main medical center campus.

And future plans for St. John [[once the economy gets better) include a hotel, likely on the former Woods Theatre site... which will likely mean that the hotel will be flush with the street.

[1953]

Bravo, bravo!

[casscorridor]

Good ideas all around. But I do not think Royal Oak or Birmingham counts or should count as the urban "core" of the region. Only the center of Detroit should count, and a core shouldn't be linear. Woodward is just one one the main spokes radiating from the true core, not the core itself. Michigan Ave in Dearborn, for example, has far more institutions and "anchors" than Woodward in Oakland, including UM-Dearbornn and the Henry Ford. The true core consists of Downtown-Midtown-New Center, Corktown-Mexicantown, Eastern Market and Rivertown. There is much more to the core than Woodward. We need to build a true core with continuous vibrant neighborhoods side by side in a cluster surrounding Downtown on all sides. Royal Oak and Birmingham might pass as urban in Metro Detroit but not in real urban cities.

[Gistok]

Good ideas all around. But I do not think Royal Oak or Birmingham counts or should count as the urban "core" of the region. Only the center of Detroit should count, and a core shouldn't be linear. Woodward is just one one the main spokes radiating from the true core, not the core itself. Michigan Ave in Dearborn, for example, has far more institutions and "anchors" than Woodward in Oakland, including UM-Dearbornn and the Henry Ford. The true core consists of Downtown-Midtown-New Center, Corktown-Mexicantown, Eastern Market and Rivertown. There is much more to the core than Woodward. We need to build a true core with continuous vibrant neighborhoods side by side in a cluster surrounding Downtown on all sides. Royal Oak and Birmingham might pass as urban in Metro Detroit but not in real urban cities.

Casscorridor... perhaps you missed one of the main themes in this thread..."walkability".

The Henry Ford and UM Dearborn are only "walkable" once you DRIVE THERE... whereas Royal Oak and Birmingham both rate very high on the "walkability" scale.

[casscorridor]

So most people don't drive to Birmingham or Royal Oak? That is news to me. I must be completely delusional because as far as I know the only people that don't are workers taking the bus from Detroit.

Bham and RO are only walkable once you drive there as well. Or if you are the tiny minority that bus. No different than Dearborn, which is served by DDOT and SMART buses.

[Gistok]

So most people don't drive to Birmingham or Royal Oak? That is news to me. I must be completely delusional because as far as I know the only people that don't are workers taking the bus from Detroit.

Bham and RO are only walkable once you drive there as well. Or if you are the tiny minority that bus. No different than Dearborn, which is served by DDOT and SMART buses.

Who said anything about driving there? The main theme of the video is living in the corridor and walkability in the area... it's hard to picture living in Dearborn and not needing a car.

[Johnlodge]

Good ideas all around. But I do not think Royal Oak or Birmingham counts or should count as the urban "core" of the region. Only the center of Detroit should count, and a core shouldn't be linear. Woodward is just one one the main spokes radiating from the true core, not the core itself. Michigan Ave in Dearborn, for example, has far more institutions and "anchors" than Woodward in Oakland, including UM-Dearbornn and the Henry Ford. The true core consists of Downtown-Midtown-New Center, Corktown-Mexicantown, Eastern Market and Rivertown. There is much more to the core than Woodward. We need to build a true core with continuous vibrant neighborhoods side by side in a cluster surrounding Downtown on all sides. Royal Oak and Birmingham might pass as urban in Metro Detroit but not in real urban cities.

I think you're looking backwards and not forwards. What you want to be the "core" just isn't anymore. His plan is far more viable than yours, which is nothing but more of the failed same and doesn't address the reality of what we now have to work with. You can't undo the damage that's been done, but tangerine's plan uses what we now have in a proactive way to move forward. What you want is to undo decades of destruction and pretend things can go back to a Shorpy photo, and it isn't going to happen. This plan provides a means for the entire region to work together and develop in a responsible manner out of decades of irresponsible development.