From high tech soul to Mexican Town

Did you know Techno is from Detroit? Mike Clark, Delano Smith, and Al Lester (among other Detroit greats) came and talked to us about their experiences in Detroit at the start of the techno scene. No pictures, but afterwards I went to Corktown - a near southwest neighborhood with more urban agriculture than I have ever seen. Lots of backyard chickens, goats, gardens, etc. It kind of felt like the country. Almost. Except for this abandoned train station in the background:

Unfortunately it's privately owned and has been unoccupied since the 80's.

Saturday I saw Lafayette Park, an urban renewal project with buildings designed by Mies van der Rohe. I really liked the project aesthetically and in theory (well, not the urban renewal aspect, but the architecture, planning, and landscaping) but in actuality I'm not so sure about it... The neighborhood co-op owns the buildings and the outdoor space, so no one can really garden, and there are no bike racks for bikes. The large Mies-ian glass windows are fantastic to look at, but not so great for heating and cooling efficiently. And the semi-public spaces are set away from any public streets so that it really does feel like a gated community, for better or worse. On the upside, the neighborhood has maintained occupancy rates and home ownership to a much higher degree than most of Detroit, and our lovely tour guides seemed really happy to be living there. And their home is beautiful. Cool fact: there are underground tunnels that run underneath the town home units to pick up trash- so you don't have to put it out front! (someone tell david and josh)

Next to Lafayette Park is Dequindre Cut, a "rails-to-trails" project that has converted part of an old rail line that's depressed 25 feet beneath street level into a biking/running/walking trail. It's nicely paved, landscaped, and decorated by old grafitti along the way. So far only a small portion of the proposed trail has been completed, but hopefully there will be more to come.

We also went on a neighborhood bus tour, and one of the places we stopped was the Heidelberg Project. It's a small section of a neighborhood that has been converted to a massive art instillation. It's hard to tell how the community feels about the project, but it's now a non-profit organization that performs a variety of functions. There are definitely some problems with the project, but I found the art itself as well as the sheer number of people it brought to the neighborhood to be inspiring. Here is a small, small selection of the pieces there. There are many houses that are also decorated as part of the project.

http://www.heidelberg.org/

For our neighborhood visit today we went to Southwest Detroit, a primarily Hispanic neighborhood. Delicious delicious enchiladas and Mexican pastries...

the chairs at the restaurant

I'm sold- Detroit is the place to be

It has honestly crossed my mind to give up going to all these other countries and sticking around this place. Getting a cool internship, and actually tipping the city over the brink of some watershed that people seem to think is coming. The city seems like a playground for urban design/architecture/community collaboration- so much can happen here, and most people care about this place. We're already discussing what an incredible city this place will be in 5 years when we come back and turn it around. Naive and paternalistic, I know, but an exciting thought nonetheless. It's strange, but even in this city that's losing so many thousands of people year despite the efforts of the city, no where has change seemed more possible. It's inspiring.

Some facts about Detroit: It's HUGE! Within its borders, you can fit Manhattan, San Fransisco, and Boston combined. And all the vacant space in Detroit adds up to be the size of San Fran.

We finally made it out of the Carr Center in downtown Detroit, and went on "Agency Visits" around the city. I went to the Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC), a part of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture.


It is, in a nutshell, one of the coolest urban planning organizations I have ever heard of. They work exclusively with non-profits, often CDCs in Detroit and beyond, on design projects of all kinds: arts, neighborhood planning, and architecture. They are a professional firm that has ties to the university, but it's pretty much an independent entity. They work for reduced fees, and they view innovative, human-centered as a social justice issue. Awesome, right? I could easily see myself doing that kind of work with my life.

Detroit on paper:

Detroit in cardboard:

Detroit in life:



View of Canada across the Detroit River:

IHP Cities in the 21st Century!

My abroad program began yesterday in Detroit, and soon I'll have some pictures to share with you all. Detroit is grand and exciting in a "there's no one left here" sort of way, but it's incredibly interesting to learn about.

We had a couple speakers today- one from the human resources dept. of Ford, and the other from SMART, http://www.um-smart.org/ which is an innovative transportation organization working to connect already existing transportation infrastructure in cities around the worlds through inter-modal IT networks. I also gave a presentation on Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics, a contentious issue that I'm excited to see the outcome of on October 2nd. And now I'm off to pizza dinner.