Midtown Inc.

**socks_mahoney** · January-11-11, 09:15 AM

Sue Mosey's new organization is absorbing the New Center Council and the UCCA to "create a new organization called Midtown, Inc – which will serve the New Center, Midtown, and Woodbridge communities". Its seems the UCCA is slowing all its operations until April when it will restart as Midtown Inc. So far, they are being very insular about their plans.

Thoughts about why this is going on? The push to Woodbridge, a largely residential neighborhood, seems strange to me when their previous ventures have been in commercial or mixed use areas that are utilized by visitors to the city, rather than residents.

**rsa.313** · January-11-11, 10:05 AM

midtown, inc. is not sure mosey's new organization. UCCA and New Center Council are merging. reasons behind it are very political. needless to say, the DMC, WSU, and Henry Ford Hospital are going to be collaborating on their redevelopment efforts and are streamlining mutual services and activities. I will let people formulate their own conclusions from that. nothing has been finalized yet, however. neither UCCA or New Center Council initiated this move or are very happy with it.

**casscorridor** · January-11-11, 12:55 PM

The reasons for not merging are also political.

Let's discuss whether or not this move will benefit the area it is intended to serve.

There is a new definition of "midtown" by the three anchor institutions. The boundary is roughly Rosa Parks Blvd on the West, I-75 freeway on the East, Virgina Park St on the North and Mack Ave/MLK Blvd on the South... This includes all of Woodbridge but not lower Midtown. But I'm sure lower Midtown will still be included in the "Midtown Inc's" mission.

Currently three separate orgs serve this expanded area: UCCA, New Center Council and Woodbridge NDC. Clearly, UCCA is the strongest and most successful of the organizations, and Woodbridge the least strongest. New Center continues to lag behind Midtown even though its directly north and has its many strong institutions, including one of the anchors. Woodbridge continues to struggle to diversify, lacking commercial/retail options beyond one pub, and a few liquor and dollar stores and gas stations. So it seems merging the organizations would help the entire area develop.

It is also important to remember all the smaller "neighborhoods" within this expanded "Midtown" have strong ties to one-another, almost one continuous area with many holes, like swiss cheese. All these sub-areas are emerging neighborhoods, with many education professionals seeking to life and work and invest here, many already doing so. The areas just need to be more connected, so a large vibrant urban area emerges. A strong development organization that can tie all these areas together is what is needed. Politics of non-profit mergers aside, I think this will be an overall positive move.

**Detroitnerd** · January-11-11, 01:10 PM

Where is Midtown? It's simple.

Somebody is investing money, painting a house, or opening a new business? That's Midtown!

Somebody is slinging drugs, homeless, pooping, murdering or raping? That's the Cass Corridor!

Oversimplified, I know, but that's one of my major complaints with the whole "Midtown" brand: the boundaries of the supposed area are meaningless, PR, not heritage.

**rsa.313** · January-11-11, 01:21 PM

don't drink the kool-aid cass. who do you think expanded the boundaries/definition of midtown? i can't speak much about woodbridge NDC, but it depends on your definition of "successful" to determine who wins UCCA vs. NCC. i don't think you can pick UCCA hands down if you correspond each organization to their mission statements.

what makes you think that a larger, mega-org is going to serve the smaller neighborhoods? do you know what the new board structure looks like? smaller neighborhoods and businesses currently have representation on these boards; what makes you think they will continue to do so? what makes you think these smaller organizations don't already talk and connect with each other?

[it's important to note that development is only one aspect of what these smaller organiztions do, not the only thing.]

**Gistok** · January-11-11, 02:49 PM

Um which part of the Cass Corridor heritage is it that you want to keep DN? The Slinging Drugs, the Homeless, the Pooping, the Murdering or the Raping???

It seems as though they're trying to eliminate all of the above, as well as the name Cass Corridor, which is only a small part of Midtown.

Why do so many people think that the Cass Corridor and Midtown are mutually inclusive?? They're not!

**Detroitnerd** · January-11-11, 02:55 PM

Cass Corridor gets its name from the parcel owned by Lewis Cass, so that's a slice of Detroit that runs between Cass and Third, from Michigan Avenue north. So it has an actual historical significance and real boundaries. That, in my opinion, is useful.

An amorphous designation that claims areas as they are perceived to be on the rise and occludes areas that are seen as dangerous [[Cass Corridor) is not as useful.

Eliminating historical designations because they are perceived barriers to development is not helpful. That is my complaint with the Midtown designation.

**casscorridor** · January-12-11, 04:05 PM

I'm actually for preserving the cass corridor brand. As midtown grows and becomes for visible, the smaller neighborhoods within it must also craft their own identities and become more visible themselves. Detroit, in general, lacks many cohesive neighborhood definitions. But there are many visible and historic neighborhoods within the Midtown area. Names such as Cass Corridor, Brush Park, Woodbridge and New Center should be preserved and their unique brands strengthened.

Also, there can still be smaller organizations working within the same area as the larger Midtown organization, especially if they have different missions.

But the three anchor organizations are planning to invest throughout the whole area, so it would make sense to have one development organization coordinating it all.