Why hasn't Detroit ever owned up to its urban planning blunders?

[digitalvision]

Some of those blunders were carved out when, let's just say, another group of people controlled the city government. The current government structure from Coleman Young on [[Bing's not been around long enough to know), as it's been told to me many times, does not feel they have much to apologize for. That, and administration attitude changes - Riverfront Casinos were Archer's baby. Did you expect Kilpatrick to apologize for Archer's mistake?

If anything, you're going to find anger for the black neighborhoods that were erased due to the freeways and "urban renewal" plans.

And if you're thinking suburban leaders would apologize... the freeways [[with pockets of urbanity) have worked out really well for L. Brooks Patterson and Oakland County, which now has more economic activity than some small states.

These policies, in general, are the policies that people want here. If you want New York or Chicago, move there. Detroit is Detroit, not Boston.

[Detroitnerd]

These policies, in general, are the policies that people want here. If you want New York or Chicago, move there. Detroit is Detroit, not Boston.

I don't understand this comment. Are you saying that anybody who wants decent urban planning should leave?

[iheartthed]

Some of those blunders were carved out when, let's just say, another group of people controlled the city government. The current government structure from Coleman Young on [[Bing's not been around long enough to know), as it's been told to me many times, does not feel they have much to apologize for. That, and administration attitude changes - Riverfront Casinos were Archer's baby. Did you expect Kilpatrick to apologize for Archer's mistake?

If anything, you're going to find anger for the black neighborhoods that were erased due to the freeways and "urban renewal" plans.

And if you're thinking suburban leaders would apologize... the freeways [[with pockets of urbanity) have worked out really well for L. Brooks Patterson and Oakland County, which now has more economic activity than some small states.

These policies, in general, are the policies that people want here. If you want New York or Chicago, move there. Detroit is Detroit, not Boston.

Well, I did move there. But the whole point of this forum is to bitch about why Detroit is dead. [[That's what the question asks every time I log in.) So apparently the people who live there don't have what they want.

I'm not saying that someone should come out and "apologize", but there seems to be no acknowledgement at any level that these ill-thought out policies have had a tremendous detrimental effect on the city. Kilpatrick did not need to be the decision maker at the time to acknowledge a previous bad decision by Archer. Coleman didn't need to be mayor to acknowledge a bad decision by Cavanaugh [[but Coleman was the mayor during Poletown). Only when the bad decision making is acknowledged can there then be an effort to correct the mistakes.

What I see in Detroit is that there is no challenge to the line of thought that created the current mess that is the city. And I'm not talking about racist/classist bickering between city and suburban leaders. I'm talking about engineering an environment that is inhospitable for the type of dense population that once existed in the city.

[Detroitnerd]

We'll fix the problem by enlarging it.

[rustic]

Detroit's urban planning blunders well predate the 1950's-1970's freeway construction projects. In addition, some of the results of these blunders are often praised by many and have become iconic over time [[MCS, RenCen). Here is one to consider that many might find suprising:

New Center. New Center was a disaster in terms of it's overall impact on the urban fabric of Detroit. Way worse IMO than, say, the impact Northland had on CBD shopping. New Center was isolated from its initial concept. any grandiose thoughts of linking the 3-4 miles [[!) between New Center and downtown with high-density skyscraper infill construction were absolute nonsense. Not only is New Center located miles away from the CBD but it also leapfrogged an active and valuable industrial manufacturing area and major industrial rail lines.

The bulidings are certainly individually beautiful, and as a cluster they are very impressive. New Center is a monument to a swaggering arrogant olden tymes Detroit, a Detroit so wealthy and arrogant that within the short span of a couple of decades could concieve of, build, and populate the equivalent of a downtown Cleveland or St. Louis miles from it's actual CBD! Too bad alla that development didn't happen just north of grand circus park along Woodward rather than waay out on West Grand Blvd. Imagine the fabulous ruins THAT woulda made ...

[Detroitnerd]

Yeah, Detroit grew fastest just as American cities were abandoning [[or freed from) all the things that made them attractive.

[mwilbert]

As digitalvision says, the people responsible for the initial errors are long gone and buried. Current leaders are rather short of resources, but need to figure out how to manage shrinkage. If they don't, there will be a new set of people to blame.

There have been a number of steps discussed on this forum as to how move forward from where we are, but my impression is that the ideas which I think might work are not popular, and that there are no mainstream ideas that have any chance of working. Probably people will have to be completely desperate before it will be politically possible to do what is needed. Maybe not even then.