  Ericsprague Member Username: Ericsprague Post Number: 20 Registered: 02-2006 |
A "glass half full" opinion piece about Detroit from the Hartford Courant: http://www.courant.com/news/op inion/editorials/hc-plcdetroit 0819.artaug19,0,3288650.story | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 530 Registered: 11-2005 |
I liked it it was not overly optimistic but seemed to give a fair depiction of what is happening in the D. Now if we can create an infrastructure that will sustain Detroit's neighborhoods not within 2 miles of downtown to provide solid housing and retail stock throughout the city that would be great but that is unfortunately still years down the road. For now we need the retail corridor along woodward to sustain itself and the neighborhood initiatives to be funded. I wonder if the abandoned storefronts along woodward would offer two years of 50% of the current lease rate if there could be some serious entrepreneurial retail along the woodward downtown corridor that could sustain itself after that? | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 280 Registered: 02-2007 |
Incentives are the key. A tenant in a building for a hundred a month is better than an empty building. And too, tenants will inadvertantly make many repairs and upgrades often to operate their business. The city seems to almost penalize potential entrepeneurs with higher taxes etc. How about no tax, free water and other no cost to the city helps to get Detroit's retail sector going again. Empty dwellings scream failure to tourists. Something is better than nothing. Business tax should be based on the appeal of the location. All in all though, the city is definitely being transformed. Kudos to those folks making it happen. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 875 Registered: 11-2005 |
Hehehe. I love reading schitt like that when it puts a smile on my face. Not overly optimistic, not overly pessimistic. Right on all accounts. The only challenge for rebirth that the author missed was the ongoing tension between suburbs and city, but that's not the easiest thing for an outsider to pick up on. | ||
Jjw Member Username: Jjw Post Number: 414 Registered: 10-2005 |
From the article: "But to get even bleaker, the region's employment and commercial centers continue to be located outside of the city. And though partnerships across public and private sectors are finally being nurtured within the city, relationships with the wealthier suburbs remain strained at best." --He did mention this in his article related to the suburbs. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6354 Registered: 02-2004 |
The city is making a slow recovery. Thanks to gentrification, property tax deductions folks who invest in our city for years. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 284 Registered: 11-2003 |
It all smells like a "Tipping Point" situation to me. Gradual buildup - then WHAM - it all hits. That why I don't think it'll be twenty years, I think five or seven at the most as far as the core city, and that will reverberate throughout the 140+ square miles. And the kicker is it will be some perceivably insignificant thing that makes it happen. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3763 Registered: 10-2004 |
quote:Just how many times has that been said over the past thirty years? Somehow, I think that the casinos would just love your action. But, it's nice to dream, though. Yet three years ago, a bunch of Troy Tiers weren't bankrupt, nor was Delphi. Visteon was even planning to move some of its operations downtown. Who would have thunk it? Ever wonder what the next three years might bring? | ||
Philbert Member Username: Philbert Post Number: 273 Registered: 10-2003 |
Debby Downer strikes again, lol. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3764 Registered: 10-2004 |
Laugh away, why doncha? BTW, what happened to all those several hundred posts about glowing hopes wrt QL's presence in Detroit? It now seems awfully silent in that regard. Perhaps, stark reality is slowly sinking in for some. QL may (if the dust ever settles) eventually move to Detroit, but it now doesn't seem so evident to even DY's dreamers. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 1400 Registered: 04-2006 |
I think the tipping point will come in the overhaul of the transit system. I wonder if the abandoned storefronts along woodward would offer two years of 50% of the current lease rate if there could be some serious entrepreneurial retail along the woodward downtown corridor that could sustain itself after that? I totally agree, and made a similar point in another thread about Merchants Row. Someone said that the lease prices charged there are what keep prospective tenants away. I think the city should be doing whatever it has to do to keep those store fronts along that corridor filled. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1477 Registered: 10-2006 |
Market demand is what drives rent prices. If the owner really wants to rent out his retail space, then he will lower his rent to fill it. Let's not get into rent fixing here. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 286 Registered: 11-2003 |
That's my point, my morose friend - read a little closer in my post - it WON'T be something like casinos or stadia. I never thought it would be. Don't get me wrong - I think those are great and all, but that isn't what it's going to push things over the edge. It will be little things - getting just enough cops to turn the tables of perception, or the filling in of a couple surface lots to make Greektown and Campus Martius a contiguous mass. I frankly don't know what that little bit is, but it's why I support and want to champion the little bits that happen. I think pinning hopes on a large development as some sort of saviour is tilting at windmills - so in that, I agree with you Livernoisyard. This is going to come from the likes of the forum - and it's by comparison, little stuff, from Canine to Five to the new coffee shop open near my friend's loft on Grand River. It's that "cool" factor that can't be manufactured by a government office - where a "Detroit Epidemic" organically spreads. The great thing is I see signs of it - as much as you've got the old guard still disliking downtown, I see lots of mavens in different circles talking very positively about Detroit, and that's how this starts. That gives me more hope than the prospect of Rock Financial coming downtown any day. |
