Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 11:51 pm:

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About Living and Investing in the D
Lean who made this special addition to Crain's Detroit Business possible.

Mary Kramer: Why I live in Detroit
Living in Detroit is not for everyone. And investing isn’t a sure thing, either.

Complex deals help projects pay off
A sales trailer had not yet gone in, the ad campaign hadn’t begun, and none of the first 15 homes were near completion. But by early August, six homes in Morgan Waterfront Estates had sold, by word of mouth alone, at prices ranging from $580,000 to $880,000.

Turning tax credits into cash to build
How do you build affordable housing that allows a developer to make a profit while allowing low-income residents to get the equivalent of a $1,200-a-month apartment for $400 or $500 a month?

Other uses for tax credits
Affordable housing is financed primarily through low-income housing tax credits, but many market-rate commercial projects in Detroit are funded by tax credits, too, such as brownfield development credits, historic tax credits and single-business tax credits.

A decade-long push
After 10 years of overcoming obstacles and securing funding for the Mexicantown International Welcome Center and Mercado, construction began last year, and the center is set to open this fall.

Zones of opportunity
Newly designated Neighborhood Enterprise Zones in Detroit and a change in state law on what kinds of properties qualify have resulted in tax breaks in some of Detroit’s stronger neighborhoods, and real estate agents hope they translate into increased buyer interest.

Linda and David Bade - Indian Village
Indian Village is one of the storied neighborhoods in Detroit’s history. And Linda Bade may have created a mantra that describes why residents and nonresidents covet the homes in the area.

Financing perks
Jacqueline Green was delighted by the reduced mortgage rate and lower tax rate offered to her when she bought a new house in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood.

Cynthia and Kenneth Reaves - Boston-Edison
Not many people can say that they live in a house once owned by a music icon.

Building communities
As downtown Detroit sees three new casino complexes being built and continued loft and retail redevelopment, some two dozen community groups in neighborhoods across the city have almost $271 million in new development underway.

What is LISC?
Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corp. is a nonprofit corporation that is an affiliate of a 26-year-old national organization with offices in 38 cities across the country.

Where’s a good school?
David Ellis Academy in Detroit pays students when they come to class.

Walking to city health
Fifteen hundred feet. That’s the maximum distance people will walk to a destination under most circumstances.

Denny and Richard Freitag - Midtown
Denny Freitag moved to Detroit six years ago based on a recommendation from her son, who was looking for a place to live near Wayne State University.

Are newcomers redlined?
Relocation redlining” — the notion that executives and professionals who move to the Detroit area are steered to live in the suburbs — is still going strong, according to some city boosters. But Detroit area relocation specialists say change is in the air.

‘Almost like a fairy tale’
Since ArvinMeritor Inc.’s largest division opened its new headquarters in southwest Detroit two years ago, the company has become an active and vital part of the neighborhood, community leaders say.

A modernist jewel
Fifty activities are planned for Sept 16-Oct. 16 as residents of Lafayette Park celebrate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking of Detroit’s first major urban-renewal project.

Neil McEachern - Lafayette Park
A green oasis on the edge of downtown is how Neil McEachern describes Lafayette Park.

The grand city tour - Detroit Neighborhoods
Who lives in Detroit’s stronger neighborhoods?

Who buys historic homes?
Historic neighborhood specialist Doris Thiele, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Schweitzer in Grosse Pointe Farms, said there are two types of historic-home buyers.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Arden Park-East Boston
Boundaries: North of Arden Park Boulevard, south of East Boston Boulevard, east of Woodward Avenue, west of Oakland Avenue.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Boston Edison
Boundaries: North of Edison, south of Boston, east of Linwood, west of Woodward

Detroit Neighborhoods: Midtown/Brush Park
Boundaries: South of I-94, north and west of I-75, east of the Lodge Freeway.

Defining historic districts
A historic district is a group of buildings that have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the State of Michigan Historic Register, or has been designated, by ordinance, as a Local Historic District by the Detroit Historic District Commission.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Corktown
Boundaries: North of the Detroit River, south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, east of 20th Street, west of the Lodge Freeway/Grand River Avenue

Detroit Neighborhoods: East English Village
Boundaries: North of Mack, south of Harper, east of Cadieux, west of East Outer Drive.

Detroit Neighborhoods: East Village
Boundaries: North of Jefferson, south of Kercheval, east of Fischer, west of Cadillac

Detroit Neighborhoods: Indian Village
Boundaries: North of East Jefferson, south of Mack, east of Seminole, west of Burns

Detroit Neighborhoods: West Village
Boundaries: North of East Jefferson Avenue, south of Kercheval, west of Parker, east of Seyburn Avenue.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Green Acres
Boundaries: North of Pembroke, south of Eight Mile, east of Livernois, west of Woodward.

Detroit Neighborhoods: North Rosedale Park
Boundaries: North of Grand River, south of McNichols, east of Evergreen, west of Southfield

Detroit Neighborhoods: Joseph Berry Estates
Boundaries: North of the Detroit River, south of Jefferson, west of the west side of Parkview and east of Fiske

Detroit Neighborhoods: New Center Commons and Virginia Park Avenue
Boundaries: North of West Grand Boulevard, south of Virginia Park, east of Lodge Freeway, west of Woodward

Detroit Neighborhoods: Palmer Woods
Boundaries: North of Seven Mile, south of Strathcona, east of Argyle Crescent, west of Woodward.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Russell Woods Sullivan
Boundaries: North of Cortland, south of Waverly, east of Livernois, west of Dexter.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Sherwood Forest
Boundaries: North of Seven Mile, south of Pembroke, east of Livernois, west of Parkside.

Detroit Neighborhoods: University District
History: Once the largest parcel of land in the Detroit Golf Club district, this residential community adjacent to the University of Detroit was developed in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Detroit Neighborhoods: Woodbridge
Boundaries: North of Grand River, south of I-94, east of Rosa Parks Boulevard, west of Lodge Freeway.

The cheering section
A lot of people wish you would buy your home in downtown Detroit or in one of the city’s many tree-lined neighborhoods. And they are not necessarily real estate agents, developers or lending institutions.

Detroit has good schools all over the map
Good schools change lives. Detroit’s good schools – and as this map clearly shows, there a number of them – can also help to change the image of Detroit.

Why I Live in Detroit: Marsha Bruhn - North Rosedale Park
Diversity is what Marsha Bruhn believes separates North Rosedale Park from many other neighborhoods in the city.

Why I Live in Detroit: Gary and Doris Green - Arden Park
Fifteen years ago, Gary Green stood with his new wife, Doris, in his Arden Park home to take a wedding picture similar to the 20th-century painting “American Gothic” with a pitchfork in hand.

Why I Live in Detroit: Jerome Raska and Robbin Yelverton- University District
Jerome Raska makes an effort to welcome new neighbors into the University District because neighbors showed him so much warmth before they knew him.

Why I Live in Detroit: Richard Berlin - Grandmont
Richard Berlin’s family has lived in Detroit since the Civil War. He has been a resident for 62 years, and he has experienced a lot in his Grandmont home. It’s been the only home he’s owned and he said up until recently, “it’s always done well by me.”

Skillman begins making grants in targeted Detroit neighborhoods
The Skillman Foundation has begun making grants in four of the six Detroit neighborhoods it has chosen for targeted funding over the next decade.

Skillman funding leverages $36 million from other sources
The Skillman Foundation's commitment to invest about $100 million in six Detroit neighborhoods over the next decade has leveraged additional investments of more than $36 million from other private and public sources.

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Posted on Friday, August 25, 2006 - 2:38 pm:

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Are newcomers redlined?
Some say steering to suburbs persists; others see change afoot

By Marti Benedetti
6:00 am, August 21, 2006

“Relocation redlining” — the notion that executives and professionals who move to the Detroit area are steered to live in the suburbs - is still going strong, according to some city boosters. But Detroit area relocation specialists say change is in the air.

“Yes, we know relocation redlining exists,” said Kim Schroeder, past chair and current board member of the Detroit Historic Neighborhood Coalition, a group of more than two dozen Detroit neighborhoods that coined the redlining phrase a year ago. “Last year, we called relocation (experts), and they said Detroit was not discussed as a place to live, and people were directed to the suburbs. People say, ‘No, it’s too dangerous. I can’t live there.’

“There are 30,000 people living in our historic districts, and it’s just not communicated to people. Those relocating here are discouraged by employers to live in the city,” Schroeder said. “They think it is barren here, and it’s a misconception.”

Brian Boyle, co-founder of the Issue Media Group, which owns Detroit-oriented Model D Media and similar e-zines that promote city living in Grand Rapids and Pittsburgh, said he hears many stories that relocation specialists steer new arrivals away from the city. “The constant theme is relocation teams are not engaged in the city. They are not selling the city effectively. Understanding Detroit is different than understanding Chicago or Boston.”

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