A few months ago, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan underwrote a series of interactive workshops with urban revitalization specialist Ian Lockwood to encourage the consideration of urban design options for central and eastern Detroit and to build the capacity and knowledge of people involved in the process. The common theme was to encourage discussion and urge city leadership, activists, and the business community to create more livable communities to help the city become more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Implementation of such a design approach would encourage community safety and health for all residents, no matter their age, health or physical ability.
Check out the video and presentations about the design ideas, which included:
- Narrow Jefferson to enhance pedestrian connections between the neighborhoods and the River;
- Replace I-375 with a human-scale street network to reconnect downtown and the east side;
- Concentrate retail development into mixed use buildings around likely transit stations along Woodward;
- Utilize vacant land for agriculture to provide resources and pride to the community;
- Support multi-modal travel by providing on-street bike lanes; and
- Encourage more context-sensitive street designs to encourage social and economic exchange.