"I've been priced out of downtown Detroit"

stlcardsblues1989 · PostMay 28, 2014#12014-05-28T03:09+00:00

Amid efforts to revitalize Detroit's downtown, some residents are finding they can no longer afford to live there.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/27/real_es ... ?hpt=hp_t2

It's an interesting contrast between Downtown and the rest of the city. While a one-bedroom Downtown costs $1,000 a month, in worse areas of the city an entire house can be bought for that much.

Detroit is auctioning off wonderful homes starting at $1,000, though the prices go up from there. There have been recent cases in the news of houses selling for less than that.
http://buildingdetroit.org/Home

Detroit is doing something to avoid absentee owners, though.

Winning bidders won't just hand over a check and walk away; the city requires new owners to sign contracts agreeing to bring properties up to code and occupy them within six months of purchase or risk forfeiting the property. The Land Bank may extend the six-month deadline on a case-by-case basis for owners who have made significant progress on renovations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/1 ... 48152.html

Anyway, I thought that was interesting. That's a weird contrast to me.

onecity · PostMay 28, 2014#22014-05-28T14:14+00:00

For his new neighborhood rebuilding program, which focuses on improving individual neighborhoods as a whole rather than a more scattered approach throughout the city,

That's the key. High impact requires picking winners. Imagine if the city made a similar commitment, i.e. they were only going to focus on Visitation Park. Or other specific neighborhoods. You'd see fast and substantial improvements.

roger wyoming II · PostMay 28, 2014#32014-05-28T19:46+00:00

^ presumably we've chosen the Northside Regeneration neighborhoods as the priority?

onecity · PostMay 28, 2014#42014-05-28T20:04+00:00

I guess so...many of those areas were really emptied out not only of people, but also buildings and up to date infrastructure. I'm not sure how much of Northside counts as "re" development versus just plain old development.

I like the Detroit program because by putting things into individual homeowners' hands, it should result in a more varied urban setting, and it would more closely resemble the way a lot of the city was developed - lot by lot. If STL could do that and pair it with form based code, with a one or two neighborhood focus, I could see successful reinvestment occurring in the targeted nabes fairly quickly due to the certainty of city support.

kathleencjustice · PostJun 11, 2016#52016-06-11T05:14+00:00

It was good to read.