Detroit

[kurt]

Just got back from a 2 1/2 day excursion to Motown with a couple urbanists and deep thinkers. Stayed in Corktown, checked out downtown, Midtown, DIA, King's Bookstore, Lafayette Coney's, Ren Cen, toured the vast wasteland north of The Lodge, cruised up and down Woodward assessing material and immaterial changes, stopped into Hitsville USA and Studio A (absolutely the coolest), then finished up with a tour of the Rouge plant where they assemble F150's.

Slow's BBQ.

Les, you checked any of this stuff out? Anyone else?

[Les]

Yep, been to all of that. Have not been there much in the last year. It is not as bad as people would have you think. The house situation certainly is bad, but the life of Detroit is still there and getting stronger by the day.

[kurt]

Corktown, the change is evident, but it's still at that immaterial stage. Good place to stay while in town, though. Midtown, that's slamming. One of our contacts is a Deloitte guy, he said downtown office space is 90% occupied. If that's true, that's impressive material improvement.

The wasteland areas are unbelievable though. Vast neighborhoods of dozens of square miles that are all torn down and reverted to prairie.

www.jamesgriffioen.net/index.php?/prair ... hborhoods/

www.jamesgriffioen.net/index.php?/prair ... al-houses/

[palmettoinspect]

It's amazing to see how run down and abandoned parts are. It's so fascinating. I wonder sometime if one should buy a few homes while they're dirt cheap and just sit on them. It's bound to turn around one day right?

[Jim Baird]

Thanks for posting the links.

[Les]

millions and millions of dollars - gone. I would love to retire and spend my days pickin and choosin what to salvage!

[kurt]

It's a city, evaporated. Empty patches comprise 100+ square miles....yes, miles... with a house....or maybe a couple houses in a row with someone across the street... popping up here or there, like little mini villages. Some intersections have retail, boarded up or simply collapsed. It's not just a dead couple blocks, then activity, then dead couple blocks; it dead for miles and miles.

It's real easy to find horizons where it's prairie with streets & sidewalks on a grid, and power lines, and nothing else.

It's one of the weirdest sensations I can remember.