| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Rodeorise |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 11:01:28 AM
An article on Yahoo this morning.
The new mayor of Detroit sees a way to vitalize the city by plowing under parts of it that are abandoned and not being lived in or used for anything (except junk heaps) and using the areas to plant vegetable gardens and fruit trees.
He is hoping that these little pockets of sustainability will give city residents pride in their community, while eliminating some of the blight that makes people not want to live there.
Since the population is about 1/2 what it once was, there are lots of areas lying fallow.
What do you think?
I think he will have trouble convincing some of the powerful people who don't ever want change; but it does seem like a way to give hope to the residents
Michele
Farmgirls for Peace
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| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| vintagediva1 |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 4:01:14 PM
These homes aren't family homes. They are abandoned and many of them used as crack houses.
It can omly help and improve these neighborhoods by getting rid of this blight
No one is being relocated to provide these houses.
There are hundreds if not thousands of abandoned houses in Detroit
Actually, Yahoo puts the number at about 30,000.
Some of these buildings have been vacant since the riots in 1967.
Over a generation
Michele
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| traceyg |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 2:13:11 PM
I am very hopeful for the "Greening Of Detroit". It's certainly a move in the right direction. It makes me (and I hope the residents) feel very optimistic! I live about half an hour from Detroit ... I can see the skyline from my front yard. Grosse Ile is an island in the Detroit River (St. Lawrence Seaway) at the mouth of Lake Erie.
Here are some photos and info about what is already happening:
http://thinkdetroit.blogspot.com/2009/09/visiting-detroits-urban-gardens.html
http://www.whatsthediff.com/2009/08/urban-agriculture-in-detroit-touring-the-land-of-opportunity.html
What do you think??? 
traceyg
Life is sweet ... Bee happy! |
| patchworkpeace |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 09:19:15 AM
Hmmm,... It sounds good but I can't help but wonder what the people being bought out so their neighborhoods can be bulldozed think about this. What if their homes have been in their family for generations? Do they get enough money from their homes to buy/lease/rent a home big enough for their families? My husband and I have been interested in this and all the letters to the editor and stories that are appearing in the Detroit Free Press aren't positive. My understanding is that Mayor Bing more or less pushed this through without public input for the plans. I'm concerned with the amount of government involvement in our daily lives. Cleaning up our cities is great, but I think the people whose neighborhoods are targeted should be a big part of the solution. Not trying to sound negative, but I know people when I lived in Oklahoma who had their homes bought by the city and didn't receive enough money to relocate. I feel for these people.
Judy
Farm sister #932
Success is measured not by the position one reaches but by the obstacles one has to overcome to reach it. Booker T. Washington |
| vintagediva1 |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 08:19:52 AM
Just read on Yahoo that the first houses started coming down yesterday.
The people in the neighborhood seemed happy that this is beginning
Michele
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Love that good ole vintage junk |
| Yart |
Posted - Mar 19 2010 : 10:20:50 AM
He is succeeding in getting Michigan and Detroit on board. It is a lot of little steps but they are making great strides in turning the city around. I for one hope that he will be able to continue to encourage and mentor others into this way of thinking. Plus, he also has a great group of people here that have already started doing it on a small scale.
Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~Jim Davis
http://urban-eco.blogspot.com/ |
| vintagejenta |
Posted - Mar 14 2010 : 08:43:31 AM
I've got a musician friend who simply adores Detroit. I think the idea of pockets of urban residential areas surrounded by gardens and parks is a FANTASTIC idea!
Detroit has so much to offer, including gorgeous (if somewhat dilapidated) historic buildings. I hope people invest the money and sweat equity to save this city! Of course, bringing some sort of manufacturing back would help too. Can't sustain a big city without jobs.
---------
http://citygirlcountryfood.wordpress.com |
| ddmashayekhi |
Posted - Mar 13 2010 : 05:43:29 AM
I think it would be a great idea too. A city full of gardens and parks is always a more desirable place to live. I think the this would bring forth jobs other then car factories too. The need for garden architects, green houses, volunteer and professional gardeners and other types of "green" type jobs would be created.
Dawn in IL |
| Beverley |
Posted - Mar 12 2010 : 6:49:36 PM
I hope he gets what he wants. since I used to live 20 minutes from detroit, I would love it personally!!!
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog....Charles F. Doran
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| Alee |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 8:44:05 PM
I think is an excellent idea! I think they should do something like that in my little town as well! It would be great to consolidate the town a bit and really get some of the land planted to flowers and vegetables. It would be a great way to see more insect wildlife such as butterflies and bees. I even think they could leave a house or two on the block for homes for "Garden Directors" etc who would be in charge of watching over the property to make sure vandalism and such didn't happen.
I think making dog parks out of some of the neighborhoods is a good idea too! Any community improvement project that brings people together1
Alee
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| graciegreeneyes |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 5:36:50 PM
It could be a really valuable way to grow community too, if people were working together on gardens etc. We are missing that so much these days
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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| Marybeth |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 2:16:11 PM
I think it is a great idea. Back to the land that sustained us for so long. I hope it works. MB
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"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
| Amie C. |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 1:34:32 PM
I saw this article too. I think it's a great idea. The biggest difference between what they are talking about doing and what many other cities already are doing in a small way by tearing down individual vacant houses is that Detroit is talking about scrapping whole neighborhoods. They would buy out the few residents still living in the blighted areas, and relocate them to houses in neighborhoods deemed "strong" enough to keep. Wow, actual urban planning! I'd like to see it happen in my area. |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 12:28:06 PM
I see it happening in blighted areas of Over The Rhine (a once incredibly beautiful German part of downtown Cincinnati) and in Covington, in lower income neighborhoods where they've torn down crack houses and other vacant eyesores and planted community gardens.
In the East End, near the Ohio River, there are many old neighborhoods that have been affected by years of the Ohio flooding, and where the houses once were, there are now sprawling community vegetable and flower gardens.
It's working in small pockets of the city, here. Don't know why it couldn't help Detroit!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
| melody |
Posted - Mar 09 2010 : 12:20:13 PM
This is a subject that is dear to my heart. Our city is located in a very economically depressed area...I see a lot of abandoned buildings and homes that are in a very dilapidated state and in dire need of repair or sad to say most should be razed ---But our little city council is very constricted in their way of thinking. I don't understand how they can drive by some of the houses here and not try to do something about it. There has not been any sustainable growth economically here in many years---since I have lived here; with schools closing due to lack of enrollment and our graduates leaving by droves after graduation. My own daughter will invariably have to leave the area after graduation because there is just nothing here to hold her besides us!
I can hardly compare my little city with Detroit! Detroit has suffered greatly and it is such a terrible shame to see that happening in our Land of Plenty. I hope the mayor and the other political figures in office in Detroit can see the wisdom of re-inventing Detroit by encouraging city garden plots run by their constituents....
It makes me smile to see some of our own local little cities in our area with public city plots growing veggies and flowers! It's a start and that can only be a good thing! 
"The best mirror is an old friend."
- George Herbert
Melody
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