Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed
Post Number: 1095 Registered: 02-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 11:19 am: | |
quote:But this time everyone should pay attention -- especially everyone who lives in a mature, not to say old, inner-ring community being sapped quietly of population and economic energy by the sprawl machine that growls 24/7 out along the suburban frontier. Evanston, you see, has stumbled onto a formula for reinvigorating itself. So have Oak Park, Arlington Heights, St. Charles, Elmhurst and a handful of others. They are redeveloping old downtowns, often around a Metra station. They are saving bits and pieces of the familiar -- an old movie palace here, a beloved family restaurant or ice cream shop there -- while recruiting developers to build in their midst -- gasp! -- multiunit townhouses and condo towers http://www.chicagotribune.com/ news/opinion/chi-oped0702mccar ronjul02,1,2271065.story?coll= chi-opinionfront-hed No, this is not directly Detroit-related, but it is related indirectly, as Detroit also faces declining inner-ring suburbs, some of which are searching for their new identities, densifying, and building up. |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 852 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 11:22 am: | |
I love inner ring burbs with good downtowns. I think they speak for themselves! I like to walk to the fresh meats and produce market and pick something awesome out to barbeque and then walk home and cook it. Or walk up for a drink once in awhile. Or walk up to the guitar store because I broke my last string. It's great! I think some people are starting to rediscover how great it can be to live near a good old downtown. |
Dannaroo Member Username: Dannaroo
Post Number: 84 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 11:50 am: | |
There was a story about these issues in the Columbus Dispatch yesterday: Feeling the Crush - Suburbs Build Up And another story in the Philadelphia Inquirer on June 24th: Suburban sprawl reaching new heights I personally don't have a problem with this type of development in an older community. If they want to be able to attract new residents and you can no longer grow OUT, you need to adapt and look at growing UP. I also like the idea of more density just because ideally it will allow more people to leave a smaller footprint. I believe Ferndale passed an ordinance last year (or maybe it was in 2005) to allow higher developments than were previously allowed. |
Danindc Member Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2809 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 11:54 am: | |
You guys don't get it. This won't work in Detroit. Detroit is not New York or Chicago. Detroit was founded on cars and single family homes. |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 853 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 11:57 am: | |
Correct, in 2005 the Ferndale council approved a zoning ammendment that raised the height restrictions from 35 to 45 feet. |
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57
Post Number: 183 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 12:03 pm: | |
Sadly, newer metropolises like Portland have shown stellar examples of urban planning. They have an ordinance that created a green belt around the city, I'm not sure how large the radius is, but it has worked well for them. http://www.metro-region.org/ar ticle.cfm?articleID=277 |
Dannaroo Member Username: Dannaroo
Post Number: 85 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 12:05 pm: | |
Ferndale height restrictions in their CBD:
quote:1. Withington between Woodard and Livernois: 45 feet 2. Vester between Woodward and Bermuda: 45 feet 3. West Troy between Woodward and Allen: 70 feet 4. Nine Mile Road between Livernois and Planavon: 50 feet 5. Nine Mile Road between Planavon and Woodward: 70 feet 6. Nine Mile Road between Woodward and Paxton: 55 feet 7. Woodward between Withington, Vester and Troy: 70 feet 8. C-2 fronting Woodward: 70 feet, C-2 fronting 8 Mile and 9 Mile: 50 feet Ferndale Community Development Services I know these aren't anywhere near the heights being developed in Evanston, but 70' does allow for considerably more multi-family condominium developments than 25' or 35' would and still works to maintain the scale of a smaller town. (Message edited by Dannaroo on July 02, 2007) |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 855 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 12:11 pm: | |
Thanks Dannaroo. Guess the information I was looking at only applied to certain areas. |
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000
Post Number: 241 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 12:42 pm: | |
Former Ferndale City Manger Tom Barwin now manages Oak Park, Illinois. |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 860 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 12:43 pm: | |
True. Looks like he's brought some of his ideas and experience from Ferndale to Oak Park, based on this article. |
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott
Post Number: 503 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 12:45 pm: | |
I knew Tom. He left because he was frustrated with this region's chronic inability to do anything about transit and sprawl. He now lives on one rail line and just a short hop from another. I haven't heard from him in a while but it seems he's doing well. |
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed
Post Number: 1096 Registered: 02-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 1:00 pm: | |
Downtown Oak Park is virtually indistinguishable, built-environment-wise, from some lakefront neighborhoods in Chicago. Most of the entire city of Evanston is the same way. It's really quite odd coming from Detroit. Imagine that, what you can have in Chicago and New York. You can live in the burbs, in a quaint city that has a functioning downtown like you or your parents grew up with. Yet, you're still less than 20 minutes by train from the Loop or Midtown. |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 862 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 1:03 pm: | |
"He left because he was frustrated with this region's chronic inability to do anything about transit and sprawl." Hey, I feel his pain. ;) |
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1284 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 1:39 pm: | |
"You guys don't get it. This won't work in Detroit. Detroit is not New York or Chicago. Detroit was founded on cars and single family homes." There were cars and single family homes back in 1701??? My sister lives at the end of the line of a METRA train and worked downtown. Many of the times I have gone to see her was by AMTRAK to Chicago then out the METRA line. The changes in the smaller suburban station towns along the way are very impressive. At one time these areas were a lot like what you would see in metro Detroit (parking lots). Now you see housing, stores, all sorts of redevelopment with newer development filling in the holes. To say that suburban Chicago is different than suburban Detroit may be partially true, I'd take driving through suburban Detroit over driving through suburban Chicago any day in terms of ugliness, traffic snarls, rude drivers, poor planning, suburban Chicago has suburban Detroit beat by a county mile. |
Jb3 Member Username: Jb3
Post Number: 133 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 11:55 am: | |
Great article focusonthed. thanks! |