  Frenchman_in_the_d Member Username: Frenchman_in_the_d Post Number: 148 Registered: 08-2006 |
Hey all, as many of you pointed out, Detroit is too big to be managed efficiently, and there are no clear targets that the city council has set and want to reach (economic, social, urban, etc.). I was in Kuala Lumpur last month, and I must admit I was blown away by the city, that was a dormant little bourg 30 years ago, now a major city with excellent urban planning. Very modern, but not Dubai like sprawl where it is IMPOSSIBLE to walk. Kuala Lumpur has the high speed train from the city center to the airport, the maglev train through the city, the metro, and an excellent bus network. After talking to many locals, they pointed out how KL became a true, bustling, walkable world leading city: KL set in 1972 consecutive 5 year plans where the city council set clear targets to be reached, be it infrastructure, economy, jobs, urban rehabilitation... I know Detroit is not KL, but would something similar to a 5 year plan ignite and spur development? Things are very blurry in Detroit's future. We don't know where we're heading, what we want to be... Why doesn't the city adopt a similar plan, where they set in writing with precise strategies and prioritize what should be done and set a clear yet realistic target in, say, 5 years. Plan development and not only let developers build their condos and lofts anywhere. Have a real, planned, organized, centralized and comprehensive plan to follow. follow me? | ||
Kid_dynamite Member Username: Kid_dynamite Post Number: 37 Registered: 06-2007 |
where the hell is Kuala Lumpur? | ||
Jasoncw Member Username: Jasoncw Post Number: 370 Registered: 07-2005 |
Detroit already has that. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 2426 Registered: 12-2005 |
Kuala Lumpur | ||
Titancub Member Username: Titancub Post Number: 54 Registered: 08-2006 |
Frenchie -there is no shortage of people on this board that agree and follow what you're saying on what you saw in KL. There are tons of emerging and growing cities that are really taking seriously the step of planning how their growth will be. Unfortunately the ship may have sailed with Detroit as now we have to retrofit any development plan into an already 98% developed framework. Impossible? No. Very difficult given how city council has historically 'led'? Yes sir. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5706 Registered: 10-2003 |
Detroit has a comprehensive master plan that divides the city into 10 regional clusters: http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/pl andevl/advplanning/masterplan. htm Are you perhaps talking about an even more specific plan for the central city? KL really probably wasn't the best example to use, BTW, as it's the capital and largest city of Malaysia, I believe, meaning that it is of the utmost importance to that nation's government. Detroit is a lower-tiered metropolis for the United States government, and not nearly the priority of a Washington or New York City. (Message edited by lmichigan on June 25, 2007) | ||
Frenchman_in_the_d Member Username: Frenchman_in_the_d Post Number: 149 Registered: 08-2006 |
Lmich... yeah, KL definitely wasn't the perfect example, but I was thinking about how critical planned development for the core of the city was. A strong centralized initiative that defines the short term future of the city. In KL, each five year plan had a major initiative, for instance, one would be "transportation in the city core", the next one would be "habitat and housing", etc. And yes Lmich, I was trying to refer more specifically to the core of Detroit (downtown). Thanks for the link btw. (Message edited by frenchman_in_the_d on June 25, 2007) | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 427 Registered: 04-2006 |
Detroit has a plan for growth It's called the SEMCOG Framework for Action 2030 Regional Mass Transit Plan. It should be called the SEMCOG Fantasy for more transit studies. Thousands have lost bus service so we can keep SEMCOG transit planners on the payroll who just play computer games and make colorful maps. These leaders were children in the 1960's when the Jetsons were on and their plans prove that they still watch cartoons. They want the public to believe that regional transit taxes will work. So, they can't get big retirement bonuses and then disappear into the woodwork. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 1026 Registered: 04-2006 |
LM - Have you reviewed the archived master plans in detail? Do they give any hints as to why the 1950s marked the beginning of the mass exodus from the city? | ||
Jasoncw Member Username: Jasoncw Post Number: 372 Registered: 07-2005 |
Frenchman, Detroit has that too. There are plans, there are short term and long term goals, the goals are being pursued in a logical and intentional way. What you are talking about exists in Detroit. It also exists in almost every other major city. | ||
Bits Member Username: Bits Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2005 |
A masterplan with 5 year goals would be great if the city and all the various fiefdoms would all buy in and follow it. Semcog has a plan, planning has another plan, Degc has their own plans, Illitches do their own thing. Lot's of plans, little coordination. It is actually hard to get people here to buy into a "plan" since the 1951 Detroit masterplan that created the civic center, Lafayette Park, Gratiot Redevelopment, DMC, Corktown industrial park and the freeways. That urban renewal plan displaced thousands of people through eminant domain to create these area's. It is the reason the population began to fall as people who could, left the city as their neighborhoods were demolished for these projects. The displaced population eventually rioted, causing more decline. During the 70's, 80's, 90's, planning became a bad word and some of that attitude still exists today. | ||
Jb3 Member Username: Jb3 Post Number: 19 Registered: 06-2007 |
Not without strong leadership and the community backing the ability to change public policy. Damn, i'm going back to Haussman! Maybe i should be referring to Teddy Roosevelt instead. Detroit has way to many private interest groups with millions of legal dollars on their side to block any comprehensive plan. The people of Detroit would need to get on board. I was really impressed with the Next Detroit Neighborhood initiative, everyone here that complains about no comprehensive plan should get out and get on board with some of the local groups and non-profits (if you haven't already) we need a critical mass from the citizens of Detroit, not just the citizens on DetroitYes. That means going door to door. That means getting people to invest in their own future and their childrens future. That means you pulling out the mortgage note on your piece of sh*t 1960's house and throwing it into a pool in order to finance a masterplanned community in which you would want to live, in which you helped masterplan, in which you could be proud to call home. If you live in a house built before 1945 then i guess we'll let you keep it.  ...Don't judge me too harshly, this blog is where i get to rant a little after days and years of trolling through miles and miles of redundant scenery helping people figure out how best to make a profit on a worthless and tragic investment...slum housing, slum senior citizen housing, slum subsidized housing...anything that demands a rent from some poor slob never taught what it was meant to appreciate life from here to California and back again. I put on a smiling face everyday, so i thank you Lowell for this blog! | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 376 Registered: 02-2006 |
LMichigan, after ready or trying to read the Master Plan for Detroit, and after a couple of asprin, I decided that the master plan is a bit outdated, by three hundred years. 1. The designers really don't take into account of the automobile, even in the Motor City. Here's the formula: 1 car= 120 sqft of space needed to operate. (Referring to "Building the Empire State Building") Detroit was built before the automobile, (that's infrastructure i.e. streets, water & sewage, ) I am referring back to the 1805 plan, not the 1955 plan (see. Washington D.C.) Looking at the big casino development, and the extensive freeway system, they all violate the Master Plan. Over a hundred years ago Chicago commissioned a famous landscaping architect by the name of Daniel Burnham to develope a Master Plan, and even with all of the development in that city it has managed to "stick" to the M.P. (ex: W. Congress pkwy was supposed to be widen at one point in the east loop, guest what it did, and became the 280 Eisenhower Expressway.) I mean WTF is the The Jefferies doing running parallel with Grand River? Might as well cover that section of Grand River and make it a car-park, parking lot, or a car wash, ya know for cars! As far as Detroiters are concern, it's Car, God, Car, the family! <313> | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 325 Registered: 07-2006 |
If Detroit could provide something close to a tax-free economy, you would see incredible growth (that is a reason Dubai has risen so dramatically in the recent past). Of course, that will be difficult, given that the city cannot simply eliminate most taxes. It already does not have enough money to provide basic city services. If the state were ever serious about attracting new business to Detroit, however, establishment of some kind of tax-free (or tax-low) zone could do wonders. I do not think this a realistic plan, but it would work if it could be implemented. |
