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.