Big Ideas, Little Agreement

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/us/dreams-but-little-consensus-for-a-new-detroit.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig&_r=0

Detroit Skyline
mypeoplepc.com

Hello Everyone:

I hope those of you in the United States and Canada had a lovely Labo(u)r Day.  Today, we go back to the more serious topics of architecture, historic preservation, urban planning and design and right back to Detroit, Michigan. Before you groan, "Oy, not another post about Detroit," it's been awhile.  Besides there's so much to write about, at least from the scope of this blog's point of view.  Monica Davey of the New York Times reported in her article "Big Dreams, but Little Consensus, for a New Detroit" published on September 2, 2013, that despite the daunting task before officials of remaking the city, there are a lot of big ideas but little in the way of consensus.  So what's a city to do?

1906 view of Campus Martius Park
campusmartius.org

Right now there about 78,000 abandoned buildings in the Motor City that are in various states of deterioration.  City services are mired in dysfunction and the bills are piling up higher than anyone can see.  Yet amid all this chaos, this former capital of American industry has been given a wonderful opportunity to reinvent itself top-down.  Chaos=opportunity as the oft quoted Chinese proverb goes.  However, I disagree with Ms. Davey's assertion of top-down reinvention.  I firmly believe that any make-over of Detroit should start at the bottom by providing the necessary services to low- to moderate-income neighborhoods in a timely and efficient manner.  Everyone has an idea but the real question is how to proceed?

An abandoned neighborhood in Detroit
agnostica.com

 One looming question is what to do about the swarths of nearly vacant lots?  Should they be transformed into urban farms, parks, or ponds made from storm water?  That's one idea.  Can the former center of the automobile industry shift from a manufacturing economy to one based on technology, bioscience, and international trade?  Why not?  After all, the Detroit suburb of Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, one of the best schools in the country.  Sorry all you Ohio State fans. Another question posed by Ms. Davey, "Should Detroit, which lost a million residents over the last sixty years, pin its sharpest hopes on luring more young people here, playing on an influx of artists and entrepreneurs?"  This is already happening in the Corktown section of the city where these young artists and entrepreneurs are laying down roots.  What Ms. Davey doesn't ask is what would happen to the low- to moderate-income families that may get pushed out by the younger crowd.  The Campus Martius Park is part of the revitalizing downtown Detroit commercial district of Woodward Avenue.

Michigan Central Station
historicdetroit.org

Then there is the question of what to do about urban ruins such as Michigan Central Station. Should the city take them down  or restore them and make them into museums or something else. Well that depends on the condition of the buildings.  While I'm all for recycling older buildings into more useful things like schools, housing, clinics, and so on, sometimes the only solution is to take down the building because it's in a very decayed state and rehabilitation would not be effective.  While a museum dedicated to Detroit's industrial past would be nice and generate jobs and revenue, I don't think it would meet the immediate needs of the city on a larger scale.  The city of Detroit needs more localized services such as clinics and housing.  I agree with the quote from former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, "Every once in a while you encounter a situation that gets so bad everyone has to put their weapons aside and say:"You know what? It doesn't get any worse than this."  Such is the case in Detroit.  The thought of remaking the city allows officials and average citizens the opportunity to have a dialogue about what direction the city should go in.  Eventually, you have to pick a direction and go.

Batman-Superman logo
tweaktown.com

Since July, the chances of a makeover have gotten better with the institution of bankruptcy protection.  A year from now, the city is expected to emerge from the courts no longer in debt for $18 billion.  This would enable it to provide better essential services such as crime protection and putting out fires.  According to planners, this would set the stage for a larger transformation outside the courts.  The number of ideas for which direction direction the city should go in include the creation of urban fish farms or making Detroit the hub of techno-music.  It was recently announced that a Batman-Superman movie slated to be released in 2015 will be filmed around the city.  Again all well and fine but these seem like small-scale ideas.  What's really needed is for people to think big.  Essentially, we have a tabla rasa, something not seen since Europe and Japan after World War II or Hurricane Katerina in 2005.

Abandoned Ballroom
all-that-is-interesting.com

The choices come down to either going back to the things were or moving forward.  According Scott Cowen, the president of Tulane University in New Orleans, "What you really need is transformational change, not just incremental change to get to where you were."  Further, "that's been very important to the resurgence of this city, and Detroit has to do the same thing." For some Detroiters, urban farming is an elegant solution to several of the city's woes: abundance of land, shortage of jobs, and according to some, a lack of fresh food.  While there are plenty of thriving area farms, critics question how much of a dent in the economy do they make.  There really isn't one answer.  Rather, civic leaders have pinned their hopes on a range of solutions, pushing for  more science and medical-related businesses near Detroit's universities.  Some are hoping to expand national trade by building a new bridge to Canada.

Another big question looming in the horizon is who's going to live in Detroit?  According to regional planners, the demographics of the city show 82 percent African American and 36 percent living below the poverty line.  This number is expected shrink in the coming years as those numbers level off.  Some believe that the city must actively go out and seek newer and younger residents, playing of a trend among twenty-somethings, in recent years, who search for cheaper housing.  However, trying to find a lasting consensus on what a new Detroit should be economically, demographically. geographically, and culturally.  What remains is how to rebuild a city, original built for two million, now for half that amount.  This is extremely controversial  especially for families still living in homes in otherwise empty blocks.

Tearing down whole blocks' worth of buildings may not be the best solution.  Then again, there are blocks where there is one house still standing or there is no real way to efficiently utilize city services and resources.  Of course, you could always move families into denser areas of downtown but remember you'd be asking these families and individuals to uproot their lives.  The growing divide among those with "great ideas" is palpable.  There are those who prefer the incremental changes and those who want more rapid change.  Evidence of a new direction for Detroit can be found on Woodward Avenue.  For the last three years, thousands of mostly white and young workers have moved into the buildings in the district.  This has generated amenities such as coffee houses and public art works.  Perhaps, a more organic approach might be the best solution.  Perhaps what's needed is the people of Detroit, not civic leaders to take the lead in re-imaging their city.

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