Southwest Detroit : A neighborhood getting squeezed/written out of existence?

Southwest Detroit: A neighborhood being written/squeezed out of existence? 
I hope not. 

By margothefoodie

Lets see ...Southwest Detroit / Bagley street = Mexican Village Restaurants Row .A destination in the 1980s.
Not too many Mexicans here now, in 2017.

The dwindling Mexican population is not due to gentrification,

 or 
recent policy decisions by the Trump Administration. True 1985 was a long time ago, but now, the flavor is not the same. Having experienced the same in NYC Washington Heights I noticed something off right away.

 I  just recently located back to the Detroit Metropolitan area. Through  surviving a  NY through several waves of gentrification (Park Slope loft, Fort Green Brooklyn  conversion of a Mansion, Spanish Harlem Loft,  Central  Harlem Historical Rent Stabilized apartment etc ) I should  know the first thing that kills a neighborhood is the arrival of more money. WRONG.

The first thing that kills a NYC neighborhood is the arrival of more $$$. But in Detroit the first thing that kills a neighborhood is the squeezing of physical boundaries of a neighborhood; causing a loss of Identity.

I am not the only one who has noticed that Detroiters have a nebulous hold on their neighborhoods reason #1 for Southwest Detroit's problems is this ....
Poor neighborhood identification. Ask a Chicagoan where they’re from, and they will likely give you a neighborhood name — Wrigleyville, Jefferson Park, Chatham. The same is true in other neighborhood-oriented cities like New York, Boston, even Washington, D.C. However, ask a Detroiter where they’re from, and they will likely tell you East Side or West Side; if pressed, they might note a key intersection. While the Motor City does have its share of traditional enclaves (Indian Village and English Village) and emerging hot spots (Midtown), Detroit is notable among large U.S. cities for having very poorly defined neighborhoods.

Neighborhood identification is important because ideally residents live in a neighborhood context. Schools, convenience shopping, social activities and recreational uses, all connected and shared by locals in a defined area, can provide a sense of community ownership. An argument can be made that’s been lacking in Detroit for decades.

excerpted from

Nine Reasons Why Detroit Failed

 http://www.urbanophile.com/2012/02/21/the-reasons-behind-detroits-decline-by-pete-saunders/comment-page-2/

 No Identity= No reason to go there and spend $$.

What is odd/off?

Bagley Overpass is a work of art  But there is no foot traffic ...

Mexicantown was distinctly Latinx when I left.     Instead of relying on a distinct restaurant row on Bagley I ate food from Xochimilco and Tamaleria Nuevo Leon. In 2017 this

includes  Pupusería y Restaurante Salvadoreño too.

 Note that the last place I mentioned is not even Mexican but San Salvadorian.  It is included because it adds to the cultural mix, with a shift toward the fun in eating food from a Latin perspective/and possibly conversing in Spanish, without paying for a plane ticket.

In NY the Latinx diaspora live happily together on 5th avenue in Brooklyn, Roosevelt/ 74th ave  nexus  in Queens, etc. Every cultural culinary representation makes $$$ as a result, and it evolves constantly. It is also fun, a destination. Do not say only Vernor or Bagley is the destination- Create a new district instead that is not a strip...
Expanding your perceived borders creates commerce opportunities.

Some History 

The foodie revolution started in the 1980s when people started eating here in Southwest Detroit and calling it Mexican Town .

Today in 2017 on a map below ,the Restaurants @ the Ambassador Bridge   to  Taqueria Mi Pueblo on Dix form a curve.  It is what I call the   Culinary Cresent in English or the Creciente Culinaria 

click on image to enlarge

This crescent is a larger swath of SouthWest Detroit than the original Mexican Town.

Notice that I renamed the Southwest Detroit area SoWeDe  (pronounced swede) 
Do not say so weedy - not the image you want...

 I am an outsider. How do I get away with this?

 Well, the Southwest Detroit insiders let outsiders define the area. Example from 2006 

Meghan McEwen of Model D said "Nebulous are the borders of Mexicantown" and that "Some say it begins at the old train station and ends at Clark Park. Others passionately insist it includes Clark Park. More than a few people expand its spread all the way to Livernois."

The problem with the above description is not only is it by a non Southwest Detroiter, it lacks a central vision of southwest Detroit.
It also does not define what is left of Mexican Town.
 In SouthWest Detroit , the commerce  in 2017 is Latinix and  not necessarily Mexican...

Solution #1

Physically making Clark Park the Central area of SoWeDe 

 means you can have a district within a district which is happening already on Vernor between Clark and Scotten streets. There is a Food truck with a patio,(RockysRoadBrewDetroit) an artgallery/vintage store,(GreyArea) a hangout bar dance/concert venue(El Club) - all new within the past 5 years.

Look between the 2 stars connected by the green line.

click on image to enlarge

By foot , walking and sampling  the  restaurants that are  Mexican  on a  path  between the Ambassador Bridge along both Vernor Ave and Bagley to this new Central SoWeDe (swede) area is only  a 2.9 mile  adventure. Detroiters tend not to walk. Ok -this  is also a  good bike route !!
-see Red line in the map  here: and click on map for a slightly bigger image.

SoWeDe Central Bike Route

 Follow Michigan Avenue west to 6th street, jog over to Bagley and miss all that crazy confluence of  freeway to Canada and beyond by crossing over the Bagley Overpass and it is a straight line to Clark Park near the north end -where the above mentioned gallery food truck Concert/club are located on Vernor.  Cross Clark and now you are on the west side of SoWede. 

click on map for bigger image

Unfortunately the direct route (proposed) is  not driveable. Google says it is not. The map shows 2 routes,both indirect. 

click on image to enlarge

 Bagley or Vernor could be made more pedestrian friendly so a walk or bike to the area from Downtown would be doable on a nice day.

Solution#2  

Grab the edge of Hubbard Farms from Scotten/Clark Parks Eastern Border and take it all the way to the Fischer Freeway/Ambassador Bridge/ 21^st street causeway.Let us designate this  now as the east side of SoWeDe.  Why ?  Hubbard Farms is a dull name. Hubbard Farms- there are no farms there now.  SoWeDe (pronounced swede) sounds cool. 

Pronounce  it suede if you do not like swede. It is very urban to have a tomatoe/ twomato dichotomy. The insiders could pronounce it one way and the outsiders could be immediately identifiable when they pronounce SoDeWe the other way. Eventually everyone will adopt a pronunciation and consolidate your location as identifiable in their heads.

 In any case, make sure you have kiosks with maps that show the 

Creciente Culinaria  route 

 

click on image to enlarge

Solution #3 

 Now we  considering the west side of SoWeDe which begins on Clark and extends over to the Central Avenue/Dix nexus. It does not have to extend to the official zipcode /ward/ map. That is ok for business/industry
but for people enjoying themselves  
think differently.

 Every cool neighborhood needs a  less expensive side- especially if it is near the remaining jobs. Gritty and cheaper is ok too, just make it stay safe!! Citizen / precinct community policing is muy importante throughout the district boundaries…

Following the Creciente Culinaria  route 
explain the quantity of places to eat  on the kiosks , the variety of the environment etc. This side of Southwest Detroit is more industrial and true to Detroit’s Past so why not hype that a little? You can always write a grant or two to put in greenspaces here and there- Planting trees would clean up the air. You are not going to make industry go away - actually you need to enlist them in the concept of west SoWeDe...

 

click on image to enlarge

...which leads  to Branding.

SoWeDe lends itself to great Geography .The map below is not the most accurate boundary of Southwest Detroit. The boundaries created by me in thisarticle fit inside the yellow area in the map.

click on map to enlarge

Creciente Culinaria  route 

Bridge to Canada is @ 21st street/ Jeffries Freeway 

 =The Eastern Border

Central Avenue is the Western Border 

John Kronk =Northern Border 

Fisher Freeway = Southern Border 

Notice SoWeDe does not claim the Michigan Train Terminal.  SoWeDe is too cool for that.

SoWeDe

Labels: branding, cook, culinary, Detroit, economy, food trucks, gentrification, menu, restaurant, southwest detroit, urban, urban renewal

http://detroitgetlucky.blogspot.com/2017/11/southwest-detroit-neighborhood-getting.html

Tiny Homes in Detroit --- Why or Why Not ? A guest Blogger answers...

 Guest Blogger answers...ROBIN RUNYAN     Thank You Curbed  Detroit (oops almost said Curbed NY) for covering this -

 In Detroit- we are a special case. Detroit is post hurricane. We are a candidate for  not for profits like Habitat for Humanity. But Detroit has a history of social work projects  with a political aspect. As long as the Government entities in Washington allows cities to do their own social retooling and avoid the politics of poverty, Detroit and other cities like it can be successfully habitat diverse post Hurricane, regardless of the cause for the storm.
Such a local effort - Cass Community Social Services is doing something no where near Cass Corridor, and they are getting support from corporate entities  and private persons.

 Placing women who were formerly homeless  and or unemployed  in these tiny homes does not overwhelm these first time homeowners. Having seen how HUD messed it up Post Rebellion/Riot in the Northwest section of Detroit by giving first time homeowners homes that they could barely afford These tiny Homes are a smarter alternative to a group home, or no home at all.

 (HUD blew it in Detroit post Rebellion/Riot: To mow the lawn on the regular  got to be expensive when the new homeowner  also owed on the utilities .... if the breadwinner  got laid off it was All Over - next thing you know there was an abandoned house on a perfectly good street ) Later this happened all over the city but HUD did it first -because it was an attempt to address the War On Poverty

They got it right this time... Tiny Homes teach you how to live sensibly on a low income and still enjoy your space without it being a burden . All homes  always have to upkeep/fix-.it  protocol. The problem is Can You Afford The Fix It Lifestyle?  I know .... I run my parents suburban home for them and I am always hiring someone - its the norm in my zipcode for a house with a circular driveway , etc.  Some things I am budgeting of course  - I mean I can rake my own leaves and forgo the Gym Membership . 

But many Americans are struggling and a Gym Membership is out of the question. Cass Community Social Services  has addressed the housing dilemma for this demographic before and this time its not renovating an apartment building. Having gone to WSU in the bad days of Cass Corridor (Pre Dally in the Alley) to be exact  the 1st Dally called  Gallimaufry, a 16th century word used to describe a jumble of things and people...

I salute the effort.

The Cass  Corridor  is so developed ( another article ) that the homemaking project had to move to the  zipcode next to Highland Park on the west 48206 . On Elmhurst between the Lodge and

Woodrow Wilson street in Dexter Linwood Neighborhood  a once beautiful middle class neighborhood with Big  Houses is now going tiny.

1st tiny house @ 1564 Elmhurst , 48206 



                  

                               ROBIN RUNYAN writes 
"A lot of questions have come up regarding the community of tiny homes developing in Detroit for the low-income population. We wanted to answer some of the most frequent questions and welcome more. It’s certainly a different program for Detroit, but one that’s growing in different areas around the country. Here we go.

Why don’t you just renovate some of the thousands of abandoned houses around Detroit?

True, Detroit has many abandoned houses. The cost of renovation is high, as is the cost of maintaining a larger house. The electric bill including heat in the winter is estimated at $32 a month in a tiny home.

Cass Community Social Services has renovated buildings for housing, including a neighboring 41-unit apartment building. A tiny home can give a low-income individual or couple a chance at owning an asset, giving them opportunities to borrow money in the future. This tiny home program is the only home ownership program for people earning as little as $10,000 in the country.

Who can live in this community?

At least half of the renters will be formerly homeless people and the rest will be low-income seniors and students who have aged out of foster care. Residents need to have a steady income in order to qualify for this program.

                                                            How much does it $ to build a tiny home ?

A 300-square-foot home is estimated to cost $48,000 to build, based on professional trades and purchased materials. CCSS is being helped out by volunteers and is utilizing donations, so the costs vary depending on size, donated materials, and volunteer hours. The Cass tiny home program is privately funded.

 

How many people can live in a tiny home?

One individual or a couple. Each tiny home has a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area. Each house is limited to two small pets.

Who will maintain the yard/exterior?

Residents will maintain their home and yards. Cass will loan residents lawnmowers, rakes, shovels, ladders, etc. The exteriors of the homes are mostly maintenance free.

How many homes will be in the community? When will they be built?

One model home was finished last fall, while six more were just completed. Three more will be started in June. The hope is to have at least 25 homes on these formerly vacant lots, as funding permits. If funding allows, Cass plans on building at least 10 more for families in a second phase.

Aren’t tiny homes just a fad?

Ask us in five years. 

Update:  BY ROBIN RUNYAN  NOV 7, 2017 in Curbed Detroit 

Ground broke on Monday on the next phase of the tiny home community in Detroit. Currently, seven homes sit at Woodrow Wilson and the Lodge in a new development by Cass Community Social Services. Five more are now under construction, with the goal of building 25 total for the low-income population in Detroit.

The General Motors Foundation is helping by building and funding three of the houses for low-income women. The Cass Community Service’s Women in Motion program is aimed at helping women gain upward economic mobility. This tiny home program is the only rent-to-own model in the country !!

The GM funding will provide support to three low-income women who are either formerly homeless, seniors, or students aged out of foster care. This seven year rent-to-own model has the goal of helping women escape poverty with homeownership."   Thanks Robin!

 I personally think this is reasonable  because 50 K  is what you can spend just trying to fix a Detroit Land Bank house after you spent the 25 K to buy it ...

 Note: NY taught me the value of affordability and working without killing myself.  I  am investigating building  a tiny house and or-  a motor home with a Pilates Studio  inside - since Retirement is the surest way to age. 

 Check out below : The mirrored  tiny home is an AirBnB in Sweden  I am thinking that the mirrors allow it to please the fussy neighbors as well as be avant garde . Imagine this in NY - spend 50 K for the lot, but be architecturally famous . Or maybe go the railroad car/container  route. Containers are  more hurricane proof- hmmmmm

Enjoy the video @) 20 minutes of educating the public about the possibilities