Detroit Urbanism

Today on “Automobile Infrastructure is Bankrupting Our Cities“…. Yesterday one of my former cities of residence, Fraser, voted against borrowing $15 million to be paid over 12 years to fix local roads. Within the city of 14,500, “8% of the city’s roads are currently rated as being in good condition, 43% are rated in fair condition, and 49% are rated in poor condition.” We built more roads than we can afford to maintain and nobody knows what to do about it.

Fraser residents vote 'no' on streets bond FRASER — Fraser residents went to the polls on Aug. 8 and decided not to pass a bond measure that would have allowed the city to levy a millage collection to improve local roads. The measure was voted down with 1,339 voters selecting “no” and 836 voters selecting “yes.

In honor of Farmington Hills' 50th anniversary, here is a history of the changing borders of Farmington Township and the City of Farmington which led up to Farmington Hills' founding in 1973!

How Farmington & Farmington Hills Got Their Shapes Blue = Farmington Hills; lavender = Farmington. On July 1, 2023, Farmington Hills celebrates the 50th anniversary of its incorporation as a...

https://youtu.be/4Y3VkI3bHfI

Detroit Pickpocketed by Billionaires Now that the American economy has been exposed as a house of cards, let's take a look at all those glittering deals in Detroit. And the billions handed out t...

Scarier than Halloween 🎃 This abomination was proposed by an American city planner for the inner city of Amsterdam in the 1960s. I’m sure I can’t sleep tonight after seeing this… Source: https://buff.ly/422OXKB

Based on the results of my FB/Twitter polls (which essentially gave the same results), my next blog posts will be:
1) Mile Roads: Part One, covering establishment of the basic system
2) Royal Oak Township annexations and incorporations, documenting all geographic border changes, including a little bit of historical context for each. This will likely consist of multiple installments.
3) Mile Roads: Part Two, covering establishment of specific "superhighways" (basically most Detroit area roads where you have to make a Michigan left)
Thank you to everyone who voted! :)

I don't think I'm able to create a FB poll here, but I would like to know your opinion on my next research topic. I was thinking one of the following:

* Detailing the Hamtramck/Detroit border
* Early history/founding/development of Hamtramck
* Royal Oak Township's geographic history (detailing all annexations to Ferndale, Oak Park, etc.)
* The 1920s plan which gave us the Mile Roads and "Superhighways" (e.g. Telegraph, Eight Mile)

If you follow this blog, please let me know. I love doing this research, and because it is so time-consuming, I like to focus on topics that others will find interesting or useful. Thanks! 😁

After a 1.5 year hiatus, our series on Detroit's borders continues with a detailed look at the city's boundary with Highland Park!

Detroit Borders VI: Highland Park Facing west on Highland Park's south border with Detroit at Woodward Avenue. This article is the sixth in a series exploring the Det...

I enjoyed some of the sights around town (both city and suburbs) in this 15-minute educational film from 1970

"THE INDUSTRIAL CITY" 1970 EDUCATIONAL FILM DETROIT MICHIGAN MILWAUKEE PITTSBURGH GARY XD13424 Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilmVisit our website www.PeriscopeFilm.comThis color edu...

The Carola Building was renovated into lofts in 2004, and that's how you know the Carola Building is not owned by the Ilitches. Vacant and abandoned for nearly 20 years, the Carola Building was built in 1912 and resembled many of the vacant properties owned by the Ilitches.

In 2005, the Ilitches would demolish Madison-Lenox claiming that the building was not economically feasible for renovation and was in eminent danger of collapse.

In 2007, the Ilitches would use DDA grant money to demolish the Hotel Vermont . The Hotel Vermont was in better condition than the Carola.

In 2009, the Ilitches would demolish the Elizabeth Street lofts using public money set aside to demolish some of Detroit's most dangerous properties, even though the building had recently been renovated into lofts prior to the Ilitches purchasing it.

In 2009, the Ilitches would use that same public money to demolish the Chin Tiki, the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order of Noble Mythic Shrine, and several others buildilngs all in much better condition than the Carola Building.

In 2009, the Ilitches would use public money to demolish all but the facade of the Fine Arts building claiming that it was not economically feasible to renovate the building, even though it was the Ilitches that had let it rot for 15 years prior.

Over and over, the Ilitches continue to make excuses why their properties cannot be renovated, and over and over other developers and building owners prove the Ilitches wrong. And that's how you know when a building is not owned by the Ilitches.

Sorry folks, next research project is temporarily delayed…

This Aug. 16, 1955 Detroit Free Press editorial criticizes Highland Park for not wanting any more expressways because they remove property from the tax rolls which cannot be replaced. (Note: the proposed Oakland-Hastings Expressway is today's I-75.)

Thank you Planet Detroit for reprinting my research on Ford's role in putting Highland Park on an independent water system, and the consequences thereof.

OPINION: The origin of the water affordability crisis in Highland Park Reading Time: 14 minutes Republished with permission from Detroit Urbanism. The City of Highland Park once operated its own independent municipal water supply, from June 1915 through December 2012. Toward the end of that period, while the city was under emergency state financial oversight, inspectio...

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/1/27/church-members-propose-urban-village-for-congregation

Church Members Propose Urban Village for Congregation Parishioners of a historic church in Detroit want to develop eight vacant blocks with missing-middle housing to build a church-centered community.

Have you ever wondered *why* Highland Park built its own water treatment facility?

The Origin of the Water Affordability Crisis in Highland Park ( Virtual Motor City ) The City of Highland Park once operated its own independent municipal water supply, from June 1915 through Decembe...

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/f**kcars/comments/10krojk/decided_to_make_a_planning_for_dummies_image/

PHOTO OF THE MONTH: 12244 Woodward Ave, Highland Park, MI. Captain William Stevens residence, built 1893. Captain Stevens was known as a real estate tycoon and was responsible for a large amount of Highland Park's development in the early 1900s. Katherine McGregor and Tracy McGregor would then convert the home into an orphanage and in 1918 to a library for Highland Park before being demolished in 1925. The Tilton & Githens limestone designed building stands on the site presently. (Photo credit, unknown)

Detroit Free Press editorial, March 11, 1969

This newest installment of the Highland Park series, covering the history Davison Freeway, explains how a residential street became one of the first depressed urban expressways in the nation.

Highland Park IV: The Davison, Detroit's First Freeway ( Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library ) This is the fourth installment in an ongoing series covering the develop...

"They're calling it a 'freeway.'"

There's no road past Toontown... They're calling it... a Freeway.

I stumbled upon this 1936 map of building heights in downtown Detroit, which also happens to shade in vacant lots. By that point, the movement to outer neighborhoods and suburbs, with increasing demand for parking space, had been going on for 20 years and clearly left their marks on the old city.

Looking at a 1932 aerial photo, I noticed these few buildings on Linwood built to face the cardinal directions rather than the angle of the street. This is considered "Lathrup's Home Subdivision," platted in 1914 by John W. Lathrup, father of Louise Lathrup Kelley, founder of Lathrup Village. Perhaps Mr. Lathrup allowed a few simple homes to be built along the road in this countryside until modern utilities became available in the 1920s.

Facing south on Woodward Ave. south of 10 Mile in 1925, as the road was being converted into a divided "super highway."
Source: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071334166&view=1up&seq=2

The Woodward Plan in Cities Skylines:
https://imgur.io/a/lXctRON