BY JOHN GALLAGHER
DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER


As Mayor Dave Bing strives to reinvent the city, a small neighborhood on Detroit's east side illustrates the complexity of that challenge.

Gratiot Woods runs south of Gratiot near I-94. Signs of distress include vacant lots and burned-out homes. Yet pockets of renovation include new houses and the popular On the Rise Bakery run by Capuchin friars.

So is the district going up or down? Will it be a winner or a loser in Bing's plan? It's hard to say. Like many Detroit districts, Gratiot Woods is caught between decline and revival.

Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/2011022.../1002/business



Like many Detroit neighborhoods, Gratiot Woods boasts pockets of development, including the Gratiot Woods Cooperative Apartments for senior citizens, which opened in 2008. But the area also suffers from vacant lots and burned-out homes. / January photos by PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press