America’s “Motor City” is bearing down on the sustainability throttle: the city’s green engine is heating up and has propelled it up twelve spots in SustainLane’s 2008 rankings. What’s fueling Detroit’s upswing? First and foremost, adaptive reuse of land abandoned from decades of suburban flight. Detroit boasts a thriving community garden network growing on vacant land across the city. Quality-of-life issues are a high priority for Detroit officials, who are planning for more greenways, connecting landmarks and bringing in new businesses. The city has already seen a successful transformation of its formerly-blighted riverfront into a bustling area of parks, plazas, and a five-mile recreation path. Expect to see more greening in the near future: City council president and head of the recently-formed “Green Task Force,” Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., replaced the city’s mayor who resigned early September 2008.
(Photo by Matt314)
Located 25 feet below grade is the Dequindre Cut, an abandoned railway line in Detroit. A neon swath of graffiti – of surreal imagery and philosophical musings – cover the bridges that traverse the old track. Broken bottles, discarded building materials, and an overgrowth of vegetation characterize what was once a busy commuter and freight line for the city. Fast-forward a couple of years, and take in the scene anew...more »
Look no further than Detroit for the next trend in urban living. What’s so special about the 17-unit condo complex slated for construction near Wayne University? How about low-flow plumbing fixtures, tankless water heaters, energy efficient appliances, radiant floor heating, and a special paint that repels radiant heat. And as though all that were not enough, the condos will be constructed from old shipping containers—93 of them to be exact.more »
It’s a simple equation: more apartment vacancies in a neighborhood equals less stability in that neighborhood. Unless of course, you add another variable: community gardens. That’s where Detroit, with a staggering 27 percent vacancy rate, has succeeded. There, 520 family, community and school gardens bind neighborhoods that were once better known for blight than community activism.more »
Submitted by Michael Cipielewski Jr.
I walk into the scrap metal center with a box of copper I collected all over Detroit during the summer—parts parts from the water-heater that broke in July, old computer wire, parts from televisions I’ve found, and a million other bits from who knows what. The guy operating the scale jokes about the rain that’s so hard we can’t even see my car yards away. I look like I showered with my clothes on, but it’s worth it. I grab the sheet of paper that spits out of the scale, trying not to drip all over it, and head to the cashier. The box of copper put $90 in my pocket. Fred Sanford ain’t got a thing on me.more »
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Gloria L.
Land prices: keep looking in the 4 corners area. I bought 36 acres for 32K about 3 years ago. more »
Richard B.
Sure "Green is good" but Land Prices and Land Costs are the driving force in supposedly "overpriced housing" The cost of land was the driving piece in the Real Estate bubble we see... more »
Gloria L.
Yes! I have been thinking of using cargo containers to put on my 36 acres in Arizona. Including radiant floor heating, tankless water heaters, energy efficient appliances, low... more »
How does age of a city affect how it performs? Take a look at how pre- and post-war cities measure up to each other.
It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things. —Theodore Roosevelt
US City Rankings, next edition!
