Detroit - Whatever you want

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by tallboy66

They tear down buildings, turn it into a parking lot or put a coming soon sign.

The pics of the projects on Lodge, half were torn down 2000/01 or so to be turned into less dense affordable apartments with a mix of single family homes. You see how well that's going.

Those downtown buildings have been vacant since the 70's and 80's and still not occupied or even re-habbed.

You mean the projects that were falling apart and largely uninhabitable? The ones that are being replaced by mixed-income apartments and townhouses that people actually want to live in? Yeah, that's not going well at all...

Seriously, man. You come into every Detroit thread and bash the hell out of the city for everything, even the things that are being done well.

[C.Lan]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Yes to Tallboy's ambivalence. There is the sad story of Mr McNicol; an australian who bought an apt bldg in february to fix up and got into an argument with a tenant who refused to pay rent; the tenant's dad showed up an shot him to death. You can have a lot of dreams about the city, but it is an unforgivingly tough place to deal with on many levels.

Detroit, the Metro area, can be difficult sometimes to deal with, but its toughness is also one of the most appealing things about it. Love it, personally. You tend to be in awe sometimes of its complexity and the sheer brilliance behind the motor industry out there. Miss going out there, also, since work had me relocate out east: You have a harder time getting transport from where I'm stationed currently. Going back to the area is difficult at the moment, which is too bad, considering my general obsession with it. Crazy as it is, even my memories of the conflicts give me general nostalgia. Without them, you don't get a sense of its overall vitality even in the tougher neighborhoods. You know how that is.

When is it going to open its gates to more real-life collaboration? Are we going to see more of that any time soon? We could probably expect a lot of changes from people willing to head out there now that the economy is turning around, if in a complex, intricate way. Seeing this area and making it into a more supported place to live is what anyone who's familiar with it wants. Each time i've visited, especially after long periods away from it, i've remembered why i love it. Other cities just don't come anywhere near close to it. Again, thanks for these photos.

What ways will the city change around? Happens to be one of the biggest questions, in my mind. Next time we see it things might be entirely different, with trials from the past finally overcome.

Soon, rather than later. I would like to think this city would open its gates to progress along a higher-speed, real-life scope. Hope for the best and sometimes change does come. Missing it hard. You only have one like it.

[jodelli]

Originally Posted by Funkie

you know, a security person drove up to me and forbid me to take pictures!

I was thinking earlier "I probably couldn't get away with that shot".

Great views all around, BTW!

[espalorius]

Originally Posted by Weyerhaeuser1

Hear, hear. And Detroit needs to step up to the plate and make it be clear that it wants this change. It needs to let the US know that it understands how crises and afflictions have fallen upon the residents of its city. It needs to make it be known that it sees how its past politics have caused damage, recognize that history with total inaction now are causing even greater decay, see why and how it is taking place, and make the case that it would be willing to work with the US and residents in a way never done before, to make change happen, if it is to be possible.

so what do you propose?

[Paradox21]

Excellent photos. Lots of variety. Love it!

[tallboy66]

Well I can't access Lmich's pm to me and I see my post to him was removed so have fun driving nowhere in Detroit at $5 a gallon while GM rakes in the cash.

I'll stop bashing when I see ACTUAL development. mass transit/light rail and people walking down the street on a weekend in the CBD and all the way to the Fisher building.

And no pics of DEMF/Movement don't count nor do any other street festivals or Tiger Games.

[Michi]

Rush Limbaugh? Newt Gingrich? Sarah Palin? Glen Beck? Michelle Bachman?
Who hacked tallboy's account?

[Michi]

Originally Posted by tallboy66

I'll stop bashing when I see ACTUAL development. mass transit/light rail and people walking down the street on a weekend in the CBD and all the way to the Fisher building.

This attitude is what doomed Detroit. Expecting OTHERS to resolve YOUR problem while you sit back, wait and turn your back.

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by tallboy66

Well I can't access Lmich's pm to me and I see my post to him was removed so have fun driving nowhere in Detroit at $5 a gallon while GM rakes in the cash.

I'll stop bashing when I see ACTUAL development. mass transit/light rail and people walking down the street on a weekend in the CBD and all the way to the Fisher building.

And no pics of DEMF/Movement don't count nor do any other street festivals or Tiger Games.

You don't even live here anymore, how do you know what pedestrian traffic is like in Detroit right now?

[tallboy66]

Originally Posted by fishrose

You don't even live here anymore, how do you know what pedestrian traffic is like in Detroit right now?

I don't and that's why I say post pics from 2011.
Show me the People mover going to Comerica Park, Wayne Sate,New center.
Show me new development along Woodward, John R., Cass Ave.
Show me all those "proposed" loft/condos being actually developed with people living in them.
Show me Non-festival ballgame,Greektown,Wayne Sate students walking on Woodward, John R., Cass ave. Jefferson..

I'm no Donald Trump or any other developer. "My people" have no money to buy and sell and get people to move to Detroit.

There's something fundamentaly wrong with 200,000 leaving the city/state while Chicago booms, NYC grows.
Columbus,Indianapolis, Pittsburgh redevelop and GAIN population.

There's nothing wrong with building cars but to think it's the end all and to base an entire (failing) economy on it is dumb.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

(...) because I always have a really great time when I go now, and the people are killer

True dat, Detroit has one of the highest murder rates in the nation

The provincial government here forced a few large cities suburbs to merge with the core city a decade ago... retrospectively, it more or less worked, but in Detroit's case, it's probably something that will have to be done at some point.

[Michi]

Originally Posted by tallboy66

There's something fundamentaly wrong with 200,000 leaving the city/state while Chicago booms, NYC grows.
Columbus,Indianapolis, Pittsburgh redevelop and GAIN population.

Just fyi, the 2010 Census determined Chicago to have lost approx. 200,000 people.

Detroit's growth factors are unique to itself, just like Columbus', Indy's and Chicago's. Despite the # Chicago lost, look how many downtown condos were constructed. You'd think the city, in fact, boomed. Despite Detroit's losses, look at the hotel that was renovated, the Campus Martius district that was created, the riverfront parks expansion that took place. Though it's obvious Detroit wasn't booming...rather booming in the wrong direction...all these things that you see happening are the result of hundreds/thousands of people putting forth an enormous effort to sustain and grow this city despite the fact that those who call it home and HAVE called it home are leaving.

[tallboy66]

Originally Posted by Michi

Just fyi, the 2010 Census determined Chicago to have lost approx. 200,000 people.

Detroit's growth factors are unique to itself, just like Columbus', Indy's and Chicago's. Despite the # Chicago lost, look how many downtown condos were constructed. You'd think the city, in fact, boomed. Despite Detroit's losses, look at the hotel that was renovated, the Campus Martius district that was created, the riverfront parks expansion that took place. Though it's obvious Detroit wasn't booming...rather booming in the wrong direction...all these things that you see happening are the result of hundreds/thousands of people putting forth an enormous effort to sustain and grow this city despite the fact that those who call it home and HAVE called it home are leaving.

I know this was already discussed as families moved out of certain portions of the city of Chicago to the suburbs and were replaced by singles or couples with no kids. Detroit just lost population as they left the state, no longer moving to Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties.

It's also not fair for me to rag on the projects as they were a social failure in almost every city across America.

[Michi]

An interesting spin on this discussion, is that if you are focusing on spatial movement of people, then it is much more difficult for citizens of Indianapolis & Columbus to flee the inner city since the city encompasses so much of their metropolitan areas. The same is true of Houston. Even if your intent is to get as far from the city as possible, there's a lot of county to be developed and the county is heavily connected to the city.

In Detroit's case, if you flee the city to the north, not only are you turning off the lights of the city, you're also doing so of the county. The system is in place that you never have to look back and be held accountable for the least bit of the destruction left behind. To me, this is the definition of the American dream and the purest form of the free market. On the other hand, you have certain politicians in Oakland County proposing new metropolitan partnerships with fast-growing counties surrounding them. Perhaps this is more of a closeted socialistic experiment of redistributing of wealth than it is purity of a free market society. For as much as we'd like to think, sprawl isn't free, and its costs are even more exponentially prohibitive when there is no replenishment of what's left in ruin.

[north 42]

Had to bump this very old thread. It really struck me reading through the comments, just how much optimism and investment there is now in the city, compared to just 6 years ago. Detroit really is the Comeback Kid!

[Nightsky]

Still a great city! Sounds positive with the new investments. I noticed people still drive American cars in Detroit, and that's good. I visited Chicago recently, and I mostly saw small European and Japanese cars.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by Nightsky

Still a great city! Sounds positive with the new investments. I noticed people still drive American cars in Detroit, and that's good. I visited Chicago recently, and I mostly saw small European and Japanese cars.

Same in Montréal. Overwhelmingly Japanese and European.

[The North One]

I thought somebody posted a new photo thread and as I was scrolling I got very confused at the sight of a pre-renovated Broderick Tower and David Whitney Building, the contrast in the present day is pretty striking and enlightening to how scary those buildings looked before they were restored to glory. It's quite impressive to look at these old photos and instantly notice the changes in the last 6 years, it wasn't that long ago but it feels like over a decade has passed since these photos were taken.

[Doady]

Reading about Detroit recently and seeing pictures, it gives me some hope.

[Verve]

Great photos. As others have recently mentioned in the past several days, there are many positive things happening in Detroit since the original posting. Looking forward to a visit this summer to witness more of the changes in my former town.