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Detroit in Ruins

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Re: Detroit in Ruins

#41

Post by riceadam »

kenjackson wrote: post #20
saturdaysaint wrote: post #6

This is unsympathetically referred to as "ruin porn" around Detroit. Yes, there are an exceptional amount of abandoned buildings (there are about 600,000 people in a city that could probably comfortably hold 3x that), but there are also world class universities, sports arenas, restaurants concert venues, houses and apartments, etc. http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n8/htdocs/something-something...

I assume when you mention world class universities you're referring to UM Ann Arbor -- maybe Kettering too. Is there a lot of cross fertilization between the city and the schools? Do a lot of UM students live or move to Detroit?

I'm a UM student and I can't say there's much alumni activity in Detroit itself. Grads generally either work in Ann Arbor, Metro Detroit (Birmingham, Royal Oak, etc.) or leave the state entirely.

This graphic from Forbes is pretty telling: http://goo.gl/4uBr

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#42

Post by lukejduncan »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #6

This is unsympathetically referred to as "ruin porn" around Detroit. Yes, there are an exceptional amount of abandoned buildings (there are about 600,000 people in a city that could probably comfortably hold 3x that), but there are also world class universities, sports arenas, restaurants concert venues, houses and apartments, etc. http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n8/htdocs/something-something...

I'm from Detroit, and in high school use to sneak into these abandoned buildings and take pictures. I loved it, and it was a distinct characteristic of the city for me. At the time I would have called myself an urban explorer.

There are many Detroit cheerleaders in and around the city who would dismiss this as "ruin porn" and then bash whatever media outlet published the articles. Detroit has perpetually been in a state of self-declared "renaissance" dating all the way back to the founding of the city and the motto on the city flag that translates to something along the lines of "out of the ashes rises the phoenix."

I love Detroit, and loved my time living downtown. For me, the ruins were a part of that and what I loved. It's also ultimately what led me to move as there wasn't much happening in the city. On the occasions when things did happen, they happened with banners and streamers and proclamations about how this is a testament to the cities viability.

Detroiters need to learn to love what's unique about their city. Embrace the history. Rome celebrates it's ruins, why can't we? In celebrating the ruins, maybe we can't stop being so sensitive to it and start drawing attention to the rampant corruption that has left this city in this state. Maybe if we stop ignoring the past, and its affect on the present we can shape the future.

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#43

Post by mgkimsal »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #30
noelwelsh wrote: post #7

I'd like to know more background on this. Why don't people move into the empty buildings? Housing in the UK is fairly scarce and empty buildings are likely to be colonised by squatters. After ten years or so squatters can actually claim the property. I thought artists would like the opportunity to get a big studio at a discount rate, and hackers who are bootstrapping would sure make their capital go a lot further in…

In the US, we also have squatters rights, but the more common thing is a thug claims to be the "property manager", and rents space to many bums for $10/month. Smartly, he signs 2 years leases with the bums, and because of strong renters rights laws, the actual owner has to respect the leases. Now if the owner wants to rehab the building, he must go through a legal eviction process, or buyout the leases from all the s…

So the real property owner has to respect leases that someone who doesn't own the property made? Why don't I just go rent out someone's home right now from under them, and get protection for my 'leases'?

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#44

Post by lukejduncan »

nkh wrote: post #37

I grew up in Michigan. If you want to see some of the prominent architecture that has been abandoned check out this site: http://www.forgottendetroit.com/ If you drive down Woodward Ave. to go to a Tigers game you get the sense you are in postwar Germany in parts. Some of the highrise buildings have facades on them so they look like functional buildings from the baseball stadium. However when you walk around the back…

Another great one from an amazing photographer http://www.lostdetroit.com/

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#45

Post by bullsbarry »

TomOfTTB wrote: post #16
saturdaysaint wrote: post #6

This is unsympathetically referred to as "ruin porn" around Detroit. Yes, there are an exceptional amount of abandoned buildings (there are about 600,000 people in a city that could probably comfortably hold 3x that), but there are also world class universities, sports arenas, restaurants concert venues, houses and apartments, etc. http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n8/htdocs/something-something...

I think being dismissive of this sort of thing ignores the bigger point. American Society has a group of people (I'm going to say age 35 and below) who had never lived through a significant downturn before this. So sites like this aren't necessarily saying "Detroit is a lost cause" they are marveling at the idea of abandon buildings which is a fairly new concept to a lot of us. I, for example, grew up in Las Vegas an…

This reminds me of the "Eyesore of I4" which is a high-rise building under construction for the past 10 years just outside of Orlando, Florida.

http://andrewlerner.blogspot.com/2010/05/eyesore-of-i-4_07.h...

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#46

Post by mgkimsal »

lukejduncan wrote: post #42
saturdaysaint wrote: post #6

This is unsympathetically referred to as "ruin porn" around Detroit. Yes, there are an exceptional amount of abandoned buildings (there are about 600,000 people in a city that could probably comfortably hold 3x that), but there are also world class universities, sports arenas, restaurants concert venues, houses and apartments, etc. http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n8/htdocs/something-something...

I'm from Detroit, and in high school use to sneak into these abandoned buildings and take pictures. I loved it, and it was a distinct characteristic of the city for me. At the time I would have called myself an urban explorer. There are many Detroit cheerleaders in and around the city who would dismiss this as "ruin porn" and then bash whatever media outlet published the articles. Detroit has perpetually been in a st…

Was Rome celebrating its ruins in 400AD?

Surely there's some interesting things to celebrate, but a 50 year old crackhouse that's still occupied by crack addicts probably isn't one of them.

What makes Rome's 'ruins' great is - well, probably a bunch of things - but certainly the longetivity is one of them. There's nothing impressive about rotting crack houses.

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#47

Post by dkastner »

My new business plan: 1. Abandon the city for the wealthy suburbs 2. Leave the poor behind, defund infrastructure 3. Sell tours and photos of neglect and destruction 4. Profit!

Some things to consider: * While the population of Detroit proper has fallen, the total population of the metro area has remained fairly static over the past 40-50 years http://www.somacon.com/p469.php * The Detroit suburbs are just as nice as your typical American suburbia. * The State of Michigan is training hundreds of Emergency Financial Managers who now have the power to go into any municipality the State deems "financially unsustainable," dissolve local governments, and terminate any contracts (union or otherwise) in order to force a balanced budget. So while urban areas continue to be defunded by the state and by fleeing wealthy residents, they are put in the precarious position of trying to balance their budgets or risk a hostile takeover. * Meanwhile, we all have a good time looking at the pictures.

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#48

Post by jrwoodruff »

probablycorey wrote: post #38
ethank wrote: post #28

What bugs me about the poverty-porn you see from Detroit is that if you really wanted to, you could do the same documentation in the wealthiest segments of Los Angeles, just by going a few blocks over. If I really wanted to, I could take my DSLR over to Canoga Park in Los Angeles and make it seem like I'm in a third world country. It's less than a mile from my home.

Sure, you can do that in certain parts of LA. But you can see these ruins almost everywhere in Detroit. It's really one of the most depressing cities I've ever been to.

Yea - Detroit is a sobering experience. I was honestly in shock the first time I went downtown. Bad parts of town and abandoned or nearly abandoned plazas are not new to me, but the scale of decay in Detroit - 20,000 people on the streets! - is overwhelming and depressing.

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#49

Post by rmason »

Some see chaos, others see opportunity. The story you're not reading about Detroit is that after hitting rock bottom in 2008 it's starting to turn around.

I've got a friend Henry Balanon who was recruited to a new startup, Detroit Labs, which is backed by Detroit Venture Partners

http://www.modeldmedia.com/startupnews/detroitlabs080911.asp...

Though it's been slow in getting started because of the state's right to farm law that never anticipated urban farming things are moving forward.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110808/BUSINESS04/108080324/C...

I've personally witnessed a number of 'unnofficial' farming efforts already underway that have never sought city permission.

Also the city under Mayor Bing has started to direct more of their limited resources towards neighborhoods that can be saved and away from lost causes.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110729/METRO01/107290367/14...

There have been two very successful Maker Faire's in Detroit that have showcased the enormous talent in the city.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110730/METRO01/107300364/14...

There are urban pioneers that are remaking entire neighborhoods. There's huge opportunites in the city, you just have to pick your spots.

Re: Detroit in Ruins

#50

Post by nkh »

ethank wrote: post #28

What bugs me about the poverty-porn you see from Detroit is that if you really wanted to, you could do the same documentation in the wealthiest segments of Los Angeles, just by going a few blocks over. If I really wanted to, I could take my DSLR over to Canoga Park in Los Angeles and make it seem like I'm in a third world country. It's less than a mile from my home.

I have lived in both LA and Detroit. These are really different animals. I read somewhere that you could fit the entire city of San Francisco in the vacant lots of Detroit.

Also, you can easily find lots of property in Detroit for 5000 USD or less. I was at an auction where abandoned homes were going for less than 500 dollars.

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