Detroit CBD and neighborhood sampler

[Paradox21]

Amazing array of images here...even many of the more well-known scenes are captured from rarely seen angles. Great job! And from one long-time lurker to another - Welcome!

[stormkingfan]

Originally Posted by Warrenite84

Yeeesh! I have yet to see something this bad in Philly, and we most certainly have our share of decay.

[stormkingfan]

Originally Posted by Warrenite84

This shot looks pretty magical, esp. where the blvd disappears in the background.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by stormkingfan

Yeeesh! I have yet to see something this bad in Philly, and we most certainly have our share of decay.

Video of the house collapsing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p7G4hpvUn4

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent thread. Detroit has some of the best old skyscrapers in the world.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by EuphoricOctopus

The building on the left was renovated into the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and the building in the background is going to be renovated into apartments.

Good to know. Btw there's a set of short videos of the hotel (which is hard to recognize on the picture) filmed by a tourist as it had barely reopened in october 2008 on this Youtube channel :

http://www.youtube.com/user/travelandtransitions#p/u

Type Detroit in the search field above the added vids section, among some other things of the city there are some sights of the Book Cadillac inside with a guy working for the hotel to guide the tour.

[DuluthJon]

I'm in Detroit every year (I run the Detroit Free Press Marathon which is usually the third Sunday in October)...your style of photography is very similar to what I like to do; if you are around next year at that time (and if I can remember) I would love to tag along if you're up to doing a meetup & photo day in the city! After running last year's marathon I saw so many great buildings that I wish I would have had an extra day to take some pictures, so this year I'm planning on taking a couple extra days to enjoy the downtown.

Thanks for the great shots! What I really want to get is a photo that shows downtown Detroit, the bridge, and also downtown Windsor. I did a Google image search and found a photo, but I can't tell where it would have been taken from.

[Michi]

Jon,
You should post the photo. I'm sure one of us would be able to tell you where it was taken from.

[Warrenite84]

DuluthJon, thanks for the complement. I get my ideas of where to shoot pics from Bing Maps and Google Earth. I do like finding unique vantage points to photograph and muse about what infill i'd put up if I could.

Some areas are a little hazardous to get out and shoot pics so I only drive through, stop and shoot, and deal with cops when I inadvertantly entered their "decoy zone". No more of that!

Here are some of the resources I've used for safer and worthwhile subjects to shoot,(take pictures of).

http://www.preservationwayne.org/
http://historicindianvillage.org/homeandgardentour.html

Although the Penobscot Building no longer offers their observation deck, I've been using the views you get from our fine collection of parking garages with their interesting vantage points.

P.S. I'd highly recommend Preservation Wayne's Theatre Tour in mid August.

[boden]

An awesome collection of buildings and photos. Thanks.

[Expat]

Love seeing the potential of Detroit. Guess I am a sucker for marketing because since the Chrysler 200 commercial, I am suddenly very interested in everything Detroit. They used to say "What is good for GM is good for America". Today, one could say, "What is good for Detroit is good for American cities, therefore, America". Seeing Detroit come back would be an inspiration for all of our cities and an immense boost to our national pride. We need to do a Marshall Plan on Detroit and show the world what we can do.

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by DuluthJon

I'm in Detroit every year (I run the Detroit Free Press Marathon which is usually the third Sunday in October)...your style of photography is very similar to what I like to do; if you are around next year at that time (and if I can remember) I would love to tag along if you're up to doing a meetup & photo day in the city! After running last year's marathon I saw so many great buildings that I wish I would have had an extra day to take some pictures, so this year I'm planning on taking a couple extra days to enjoy the downtown.

Thanks for the great shots! What I really want to get is a photo that shows downtown Detroit, the bridge, and also downtown Windsor. I did a Google image search and found a photo, but I can't tell where it would have been taken from.

It would likely have been taken from Belle Isle or somewhere in southwest Detroit. If you post the photo I could probably figure out where it was taken.

[photoLith]

Downtown Detroit doesnt look quite as decimated as I thought it would.

[Warrenite84]

[Warrenite84]

It has been a few years since I updated this photo thread. A lot has changed since then but I will add a few oldies and give you an idea of what has happened since then.
2004
[img]016_16_0001 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]018_18_0001 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]019_19_0001 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]022_22_0001 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]023_23_0001 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]024_24_0001 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

2017
[img]DSC08991015 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09008032 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09010034 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

Stott building
[img]DSC09034058 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09040064 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09042066 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09045069 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09046070 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09069093 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

Book Tower
[img]DSC09070094 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC09073097 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02609 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02611 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02629 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02636 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02666 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02668 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

Shinola Hotel
[img]DSC02671 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02704 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02716 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02702 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02717a by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02721 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02723 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02725 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC02714 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

Hope you enjoyed the limited update.

[subterranean]

I continue to drool over the Book Tower’s cleanliness. What a drastic change. Thank you.

[Warrenite84]

1998 Tiger Stadium
[img]img797 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]img620 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]img619 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img][img]img617 by gab482, on Flickr[/img][/img]

2004 Statler Hotel
[img]Oct.12,20040002 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

2006 Pontiac Silverdome
[img]DSC03310 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

2007 Belle Isle Grand Prix
[img]DSC09026 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

2017 Belle Isle Aquarium- over 100 years old
[img]DSC01577 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

2017 Scott Fountain
[img]DSC01569 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[img]DSC01568 by gab482, on Flickr[/img]

[Docta_Love]

I love the comparison from 2004 - today back then just getting the Book - Cadillac renovation off the ground was a mammoth undertaking now the whole central core has completely changed with 2 billion in new high rise development starting in December and now were seeing a coherent city wide redevelopment strategy take hold. I just posted over on the Detroit development compilation an article which points out that according to DTE energy electrical hook ups have been rising all year and were in the latter half of last year as well which saw only a very small population loss, fingers crossed 2017 is the year when we see a overall yearly increase in population.

Btw the Book Tower's transformation absolutely blows me away every time i see it, i've been waiting for this since 2006 when the previous renovation and power washing fell through after only cleaning the original portion of the Book Building.

[Warrenite84]

In hindsight, The Lafyette Building, the Statler Hotel, and the Madison/Lennox hotel
should have been preserved. They certainly would have been restored and become noteworthy additions to the CBD.

[gatt]

beautiful!