Creating a more Visitor-Friendly Detroit

**French777** · January-06-11, 07:15 PM

I am on Christmas break from Wayne State, I was rather bored on my last week on break and I recently have decided to draft a plan to make Detroit a more "Visitor-friendly place".

In my Page draft I have included such elements as...

Parking
- Detroit should model after Birmingham's model of having the first 2 hours of parking free.
- The parking rates at the garages should all be the same per hour.

SkyDeck
- Reopen the "SkyDeck" or attempt to build one in the RenCen.

Banners

- Fill up the streetlight banners in downtown Detroit and surrounding neighborhoods. Banners are a cheap way to advertise cultural events, attractions downtown, etc

CityPass program

- The museums in Detroit should attempt to come together and form what I call "CityPass". A ticket that a visitor that can purchase for lets say $20.00 and that would get them into any museum in Detroit for that day of purchase. I started out with a plan for a pilot program for the CityPass.
- The pilot program would start with the DIA, Detroit Historical Museum and Detroit Science Center and [[if validated) a visitor could receive free parking in the underground parking garage next to the DIA for the day.

-All these points I have are more in depth in my 44 page report.
- Any comments or suggestions? [[ Please leave out comments such as "get rid of prostitutes and panhandlers" etc)

**fryar** · January-06-11, 07:22 PM

Great ideas, all. You've got my vote. And you typed up a 44-page report? Wow.

Say, you're right. Who's the idiot responsible for having different rates at different [[I assume you mean municipal) garages?! That's so totally stupid.

Remind me to send you my somebody-should-do-something file. ;-)

**French777** · January-06-11, 07:26 PM

Its on PowerPoint, so not exactly a formal 44 page report.

Yes, I did mean city owned garages in downtown and midtown.

I think out of all of those the "CityPass" program is the most important, or second, possible after reworking the parking garage pricing.

Toolbox · January-06-11, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by French777

I am on Christmas break from Wayne State, I was rather bored on my last week on break and I recently have decided to draft a plan to make Detroit a more "Visitor-friendly place".

CityPass program

- The museums in Detroit should attempt to come together and form what I call "CityPass". A ticket that a visitor that can purchase for lets say $20.00 and that would get them into any museum in Detroit for that day of purchase. I started out with a plan for a pilot program for the CityPass.
- The pilot program would start with the DIA, Detroit Historical Museum and Detroit Science Center and [[if validated) a visitor could receive free parking in the underground parking garage next to the DIA for the day.

Do they teach research skills anymore?

Just Googling"detroit museum pass" and the FIRST hit is The Museum Adventure Pass program. Guess what, it's free.

**davewindsor** · January-06-11, 09:33 PM

Well, if they want to make it more visitor friendly, how about...

1) getting one of those red double decker buses that gives a couple hour tour of city like they have in London and New York and subsidize it like the People Mover. $10 sounds very reasonable.

2) setting up a Murmur program like in Toronto. You have these street signs in front of historical buildings or a payphone with a number to call and it tells you stories about the building, street or neighbourhood. http://toronto.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi...murtoronto.ca/

They can also have a list of phone numbers to call on the people mover if people want to hear a recorded message on stories of a certain area, etc.

3) Have someone update the visitor website information regularly. I googled the Lawrence Fisher Mansion after watching it on youtube.. It looked like this great place to visit with a gift shop and all. It said it was opened "By appt and F,Sa,Su." I went there on a Friday afternoon a month ago. The gates were open. Not a car in sight. The lights were off. I knocked. No answer. I heard someone inside doing dishes and knocked on the nearby door, but no one came out. It didn't feel very welcoming. It was upsetting having to leave after driving all the way out there. wth?

**Guideboat** · January-06-11, 09:46 PM

The Museum Adventure Pass is similar, but I think French is suggesting kind of a split day ticket where you could spend a few hours in several museums/attractions on the same day. A tasting spoon of cultural attractions.

**Neilr** · January-06-11, 10:00 PM

Perhaps you could include the Charles H. Wright Museum in your City Pass concept. Also the Motown Museum seems to be an attraction for out of towners.

**401don** · January-06-11, 10:06 PM

For now the city is what it is so it's smart they finally stopped marketing to traditional families and started promoting the cars, gaming, sports and entertainment to singles.
To me the biggest problem downtown is that you have these islands -Foxtown, Greektown, Ren Cen and CMart - but no reason to walk down the ghost town that is Woodward Avenue. Nothing sends a worse message to visitors than a main drag that is void of life.

**French777** · January-06-11, 10:18 PM

The "Museum Adventure Pass" is only to library card holder members I believe. I doubt someone from Ohio would have a library card to DPL, RHPL etc. Furthermore, I thought I read that the "M.A.P" program is going to be terminated later. Locally, [[DIA already pulled out of it) and the Detroit Science Center is not one of the museums on the M.A.P list.

- In my plan I do have the Motown Museum and C.H.W.M.A.A.H on my list. Just not the "Pilot" program, to you know "test out" the program to see if it is worthwhile.

**iheartthed** · January-06-11, 10:36 PM

When the travelers were stranded at the airport because of the East Coast blizzard I thought it would have been a good idea if the city [[or DEGC?) could have bussed travelers in from the airport hotels to the bars and restaurants downtown.

**ghettopalmetto** · January-06-11, 11:09 PM

IMHO, 401don nails it. Detroit has very poor connectivity between its nodes of activity. Make it possible [[and safe!) to walk from place-to-place, and you're on the right track.

Hell, you can cover half of Boston on foot and not even realize it. In Detroit, it's a struggle to cross the damned street.

**Hamtragedy** · January-06-11, 11:42 PM

For starters, how about asking all employees at Cobo Hall to smile during the auto show?

**Mikeg** · January-07-11, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by French777

The "Museum Adventure Pass" is only to library card holder members I believe. I doubt someone from Ohio would have a library card to DPL, RHPL etc......

Since it costs $100/ yr. for a non-resident DPL library card, you would be safe in doubting that anyone from outside Detroit would have a DPL library card.

Does your 44 page plan identify any funding sources and include annual financial projections?

BTW, streetlight banners aren't very effective with evening visitors when they can't be seen because of persistent outages.

**begingri** · January-07-11, 01:17 AM

I've always thought the CityPass for Detroit would be a GREAT idea. We have so many great institutions we have around here. You can consolidate them all on to one ticket. If someone wants to come to Detroit and don't know what to do here, all they have to do is buy the CityPass and experience a whole host of great places.

You should add the Detroit Zoo and The Henry Ford to the CityPass. Yes, technically both aren't in Detroit. But the Toronto CityPass includes the Toronto Zoo, which is way outside of downtown Toronto [[I'm not sure if it's in the city itself or not). Also make sure to emphasize the Sky Deck. Every CityPass I've used has had some sort of view of the city itself included [[I've only used Chicago's and Toronto's CityPasses). These places, in addition to the ones you already mentioned, would definitely make Detroit a more attractive tourist destination.

**professorscott** · January-07-11, 01:45 AM

This CityPass thing is a great idea. Question: in some of the cities which have such a thing, who issues it? I mean, does the City itself run the program, or some kind of business improvement association like a chamber of commerce, or a visitors' bureau, or who?

I'd just like to know who to try to sell this to

**fryar** · January-07-11, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by professorscott

I'd just like to know who to try to sell this to

Not that I don't see the smiley, but I think there's actually legitimacy to selling it to locals until you can generate additional tourism.

**professorscott** · January-07-11, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by fryar

Not that I don't see the smiley, but I think there's actually legitimacy to selling it to locals until you can generate additional tourism.

Fryar, I didn't mean "who do we sell the pass to", I meant "who do we sell the IDEA of the pass to". Somebody has to produce and distribute such a pass, which entails a certain amount of work and a little bit of money, that's all.

DetroitDad · January-07-11, 03:04 AM

I like how you're thinking!

Can I add that the entrance ramps, roads, and major transit routes that lead into the CBD are pretty messy and unkept, though better than they were a decade ago. These are all things that we could either fix, research further, or help realign existing programs to take care of. You don't even have to live in the city for the research part. You know... it's putting that one extra degree forward that turns the water from hot, to boiling, if you will. It's pushing that old train over the top of the hill... no?

**fryar** · January-07-11, 03:37 AM

Ahhhhhhh...

**stasu1213** · January-07-11, 06:32 AM

Have shuttle busses that will go to all of the mall from downtown detroit with a one price pass that visitors could use for 24 hours. Visitors had always said that there are not stores downtown to shop and how to get to a place to buy the basics. Have the malls split the cost with Detroit's business community for the shuttle busses. That way visitors could go straight non-stop the mall of their choice and back without worrying about driving themselves and getting lost or relying on regular busses that makes many stops or crooked cabbies

**French777** · January-07-11, 06:59 AM

I did not do a "professional" financial report, Yet, I did do 2 scenarios, profitable and not profitable. [[With the pilot programs' 4 museums and parking). 9 came out profitable and 4 came out not profitable.

- Not profitable would lose money from the program, yet if all the scenarios came out profitable, then that would discourage visitors from using it.

- I do like the idea of including Detroit Zoo, and The Henry Ford.
- I have never thought about the shuttle to Somerset from downtown Detroit hotels, great idea to think about.
- I was considering sending it to Charles Pugh, do you think he would read it possibly? Again, I am only 18 so I am not expecting really anything from it, receiving some constructive feedback would be all that I would ask.

**Searay215** · January-07-11, 07:55 AM

How about a debit like card, like New York has where you pay say $50 and you can swipe it and get on the People mover or buses. So you don't have to have cash. Example of cards in NY. The Metro card lets you ride the subway and bus....
*1-DayFunPass
7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 7 days of unlimited rides.
7-Day Express Bus Plus
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 7 days of unlimited rides.
*14-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 14 days of unlimited rides.
30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 30 days of unlimited rides.

**iheartthed** · January-07-11, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by Searay215

How about a debit like card, like New York has where you pay say $50 and you can swipe it and get on the People mover or buses. So you don't have to have cash. Example of cards in NY. The Metro card lets you ride the subway and bus....
*1-DayFunPass
7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 7 days of unlimited rides.
7-Day Express Bus Plus
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 7 days of unlimited rides.
*14-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 14 days of unlimited rides.
30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
Activate by January 10, 2011 to get a full 30 days of unlimited rides.

Aren't the DPM and DDOT two different entities? I believe that's why there is no MetroCard type of payment system.

**Searay215** · January-07-11, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Aren't the DPM and DDOT two different entities? I believe that's why there is no MetroCard type of payment system.

I still think that they can share revenues somehow.....based on ridership. They would know how many road one or the other by the swipes.
Here is the rate structure in NY
http://www.mta.info/mta/fares/mc_value.htm

muskie1 · January-07-11, 10:58 AM

I think one of the things that could help would be better signage for getting in out out of the city via the expressways. I never have a problem but I get calls all the time from lost friends. The medical center, museum area really seem to confuse people leaving there. Better centralized safe parking vs. the random roaming around to find a lot.
I also always thought that especially during games,events etc. a designated shuttle service from the burbs would draw people. Maybe a route to Dearborn, Royal Oak, and Downriver. There are alot of times when I get the urge to head downtown for a game or festival and talk myself out of it. I figure by time I deal with parking, traffic, blah, blah it's not worth the trip. It would have to be a designated timely shuttle service that could use a pass system that would also give discounts to events, restaurants etc. It eliminates alot of false safety concern paople have about driving in Detroit.