The music scene, both for local acts and as a destination for national ones, is superb. The food and beverage scene is starting to get props. Poverty is still an enormous problem. Its public schools system is on a long road to recovery after mismanagement from a state takeover. Public transit is also a work in progress. To help make your decision about whether to move to Detroit, here are 15 things you should know. While those companies are no longer the dominant force they once were, they definitely left their mark on the city.
For all the caveats about car ownership, Detroit has been investing more in its infrastructure and public spaces. The transit situation is improving. Bus ridership is up thanks to better on-time performance, more convenient lines, and a unified payment system.
More bike lanes are added to the roads every year. Streetscaping projects are underway across the city to make roads more walkable and bikeable. The Joe Louis Greenway, a mile non-motorized loop, is in development. A Detroit bike-share program has been steadily expanding since it launched in While most new developments are larger mixed-use structures , single-family homes are by far the most common housing type here.
And we look them in the eye while doing it. For people used to moving around anonymously, this can be jarring. Detroiters also hold the door open, make small talk, invite you over for a barbecue, and introduce you to their whole family.
You can easily get by in transient towns like New York or Washington, D. Not so in Detroit. Most things that define the state of the city today—its geography, demographics, and culture—can be traced back to racist policies and trends, like housing and job discrimination, demolition of vibrant black neighborhoods for freeways, and white flight.
Its neighborhoods are made up of tight-knit, friendly communities, and a sense of camaraderie makes the big city feel like home. Rachel Reardon, creative director for the Small Giants Community, moved to Detroit's Midtown neighborhood three years ago and immediately felt at home. Brian Polsgrove, who lives in Detroit's West Village , thinks that it comes down to common sense.
You've heard enough about Detroit's bad rap. But you definitely haven't heard enough about the city's thriving arts, culture and entertainment scene. Whether it's the food from every corner of the globe or the jazz, blues and punk music being played at bars across the city, Detroit offers something for everyone.
Detroit resident Molly Blakowski loves the accessibility of her West Village apartment. Let's tackle another misconception about living in Detroit: that there are no grocery stores. Like many urban areas, Detroit has faced serious struggles with food security and access, but it's made big strides in the past 10 years. Today, most Detroiters have access to urban farms, small markets and major chain grocery stores like Whole Foods, Aldi and Meijer.
Plus, Eastern Market offers year-round access to fresh produce and locally-made goods. Here's some more insider tips about Detroit. It's important to know that food accessibility isn't coming to all Detroiters equally: Residents of Downtown Detroit, Midtown, Corktown and New Center are seeing more markets and chains in their neighborhoods.
However, Detroit's food ecosystem is still growing. Check out the best grocery stores in Detroit. Even before Whole Foods opened, Detroit was full of small, independent grocery stores that I've come to love. The change has been traumatic, Ligon told me. Across Camden Street sits the hulking, two-storey carcass of Macomb Elementary School, closed since and unprotected from urban scavengers. The city is composed almost uniformly of such inner-city suburbs, low-density developments stretching for miles.
Residents receive paltry public services from the local government. And they return the favour. Decision-makers have slowly begun acknowledging the plight of residential areas. Mayor Duggan campaigned on neighbourhoods and has pledged to expedite the demolition of as many as 80, abandoned homes. And the state-appointed emergency financial manager has made blight removal and service provision a priority.
Big ideas and heartfelt pledges, however, are worthless without cash to back them up. So private donors have stepped in to partly fill the financial void, funding planning projects and renewal efforts to help staunch the bleeding. Detroit Future City DFC , a years-long effort engaging thousands of residents and funded by nonprofits, has become the de facto blueprint for shrinking the city and transforming the urban environment over the next 50 years.
It assumes population will drop as low as , — less than one-third of its peak. The framework makes no attempt to return Detroit to its glory days. Residential areas and commercial activity would be consolidated in densely populated nodes throughout the city — an effort to provide services more efficiently.
The vacant lots left behind would be converted for green uses, including urban farms, woodlands or storm water retention ponds. Planners and academics alike have generally lauded the plan, but it is, of course, predicated on a constant stream of development dollars, better city services — especially law enforcement — and improved public transportation. Many in the city still hope for repopulation, meanwhile, however unlikely that is. And then comes the logistical challenge.
The myriad vacant houses, empty land and absentee property owners have created an unnavigable web of land titles, according to Brent Ryan, an associate professor of urban design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT.
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