Downtown Revitalization: Detroit

[Metro Jacksonville]

Downtown Revitalization: Detroit



Downtown Detroit was one of the first cities featured in Metro Jacksonville's Learning From series in 2006.

Since that initial article, Detroit has lost 200,000 additional residents, Mayor Kilpatrick has been sentenced to 28 years in prison, and being $18.5 billion in debt, it became the largest municipality in U.S. history to declare bankruptcy.

Ignoring the negative national press, Metro Jacksonville's Ennis Davis returns to highlight a few successes this city has made with the ongoing revitalization of its downtown.


Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-jul-downtown-revitalization-detroit

[simms3]

Thanks for the photos.  Still, Detroit depresses me.  Never seen a photo thread of that city where I thought to myself, "I'd be OK if I had to live there."  Yikes!

[taylormiller]

Great work Ennis! The Book Cadillac Hotel especially is a great reference for restoration of the Laura St. Trio, Greektown having casinos is fantastic, and as far as the Campus Martius Park goes - they have movie nights about once per week much like our Movies in the Park events were in the past (but we played more family freindly films than the one's Detroit plays ex. Jax: Brave, Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Detroit: American Hustle, Grand Budapest Hotel). But why did Movies In the Park take a hiatus this year? If it's a matter of venue, I think Campus Martius is a great example of how Hemming Plaza could facilitate the event.



http://www.campusmartiuspark.org/

http://downtownjacksonville.org/marketing/Movies_in_the_Park.aspx

[Kay]

These photos make Detroit look a lot better than Jacksonville.

[thelakelander]

They've made downtown revitalization a major priority. However, their struggling neighborhoods are a lot worse off than ours.









When you see what the city is up against, if Detroit is finding a way to improve its core, Jacksonville has no excuse for its struggles.

[KenFSU]

Ennis, how would you describe the overall mentality/vibe on the streets in Detroit right now? Is it still doom and gloom, or have recent events (like Dan Gilbert's massive investment in downtown Detroit and the population loss starting to level out) given a sense of optimism that things are beginning to turn around?

Also, Shad Khan said a few weeks back that "a homeless man in Detroit has more mojo than a millionaire in Jacksonville." Any thoughts on this after visiting Detroit?

[taylormiller]

These photos make Detroit look a lot better than Jacksonville.

I was afraid of that conclusion.
While there are great things we can learn from Detroit, they have had their share of failures. We can learn from those too. Detroit is one of only two of the forty largest metropolitan areas in the United States to experience negative population growth in the past five years, the other being Cleveland. There are several reasons for that, but Jacksonville has had about 2.18% population growth over the past five years, meaning people want to be here. Every city in America, Detroit and Jacksonville included, experiences success and failures and this article is designed to find the diamonds in the rough: a city like Detroit that has had so much failure can find success and Ennis did a great job displaying them. But better than Jacksonville? Take a look at these photos just to be fair.

http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/

[thelakelander]

Ennis, how would you describe the overall mentality/vibe on the streets in Detroit right now? Is it still doom and gloom, or have recent events (like Dan Gilbert's massive investment in downtown Detroit and the population loss starting to level out) given a sense of optimism that things are beginning to turn around?

Also, Shad Khan said a few weeks back that "a homeless man in Detroit has more mojo than a millionaire in Jacksonville." Any thoughts on this after visiting Detroit?

There seems to be a good buzz around and in the streets of downtown. There's nothing but doom and gloom from many of the residents living in the struggling neighborhoods outside of it. There's also rebirth occurring in small pockets like Mexicantown.  That was one area, I'm going to have to explore a little more.  Basically, the same thing occurring in Jax's Baymeadows is happening in SW Detroit.

[theprodigal]

Thank you, Mr. Davis, for presenting our city in such a thoughtful and honest way. It's good to see Detroit through the eyes of someone committed to the preservation and revitalization of historical spaces. As you point out, Downtown Detroit is rich in history, beautiful structures and sculptures, great parks and arenas, and many accessible recreational spaces. And in spite of all the media attention to the blight, crime, and loss of population that has plagued our inner city, Detroiters believe and are hopeful that, in time, our city will return to her days of glory.

[ProjectMaximus]

I spent several days in Detroit last winter. Mostly inside a downtown hotel, but the little that I did get to see was nice. Visited an old historic neighborhood (not very close to downtown though...seemed like almost 10 miles away) with amazingly restored homes. The couple who lived there had reluctantly relocated from Chicago but were quite happy going on five-ish years. Their house was diagonally across the street from an enormous mansion, which they said belonged to the Ford family.

I wanted to ride the people mover but, like you mentioned yesterday Ennis, it only goes in one direction and wasn't useful for me.

[fieldafm]

DT Detroit, Midtown and Eastern Market are all pretty cool areas. Then you have really nice suburbs like Grosse Pointe, Bloomfield Hills, Huntington Woods, etc. Plus, you have a nice Canadian city across the ditch (with really nice adult clubs, er churches there).

Detroit is kind of the opposite of Jax. Nice urban environment, some really awful urban/mixed use neighborhoods and then some nice burbs in the outer ring.  Instead of a huge hole in the core, you have big holes in the neighborhoods just outside what is considered the urban core.

I have met some really impressive people in Detroit doing some really cool things for their city. That narrative definately rings true.

[jaxlore]

For those that dont know Detroit is the birthplace of techno music and the city has truly embraced this honor. I usually go every other year or so the Movement festival and love going. Some of the best record shopping hands down in the country and a city that totally embraces diversity. So many grass roots projects going on and such passion from the folks that live there. It is always a pleasure and I am hopefully too that Detroit will make it back on its feet.

[Jaxson]

I agree with fieldafm about how Detroit has a great urban environment that features sports, entertainment and cultural events for a metropolitan area that is over three times our metropolitan area's population.  We have our NFL team and Detroit has professional teams in all four major sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey).  I visited Detroit to visit with family for the holidays and I was impressed by how much activity there was in downtown Detroit and its environs.

[Lunican]

The Post-Post-Apocalyptic Detroit

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/magazine/the-post-post-apocalyptic-detroit.html

[Jaxson]

I shared this article with my aunt who lives in Detroit.  She said that she was grateful for the positivity.  I agree.  This is a very well-written article about the Motor City. :-)