Lafayette Park : Buzz

In a piece last week in Atlantic Cities, Richard Florida tackles the recently released 7.2 study that shows greater downtown to be better educated and more diverse than the city at large. There is much complexity to this finding, such that we plan on following what it all means in a variety of ways in the near future.

Here's an excerpt from Florida's story:

The Greater Downtown corridor has a population of 36,550 people or 5,076 people per square mile. It might not be not downtown Manhattan, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, or Philadelphia, but it compares favorably to other Midwest city-centers, like downtown Minneapolis, with 3.4 square miles and 28,811 people; downtown Pittsburgh at 1.3 square miles and 4,064 people; and downtown Cleveland at 3.2 square miles and 9,523 people. Of these downtowns, only Minneapolis has greater density than Greater Downtown Detroit.

Read more here.

A report published today and to be shared with investors, developers and city planners, found that greater downtown residents are wealthier than Detroiters at large, but less affluent than the average for the full populations of cities such as Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, which some see as prime examples of successful urban rebirth.

John Gallagher of the Freep has the scoop. An excerpt:

(Data Driven Detroit's Kurt) Metzger pointed out that things are changing so rapidly in the areas that the report may already be slightly dated. For example, gains from the Live Downtown and Live Midtown incentive programs that have bought hundreds of new residents who work for participating businesses into the area in the last two years are not fully captured in this report.

Read the rest of the story (and the full report) here.

Nice to see the world re-discovering -- or discovering for the first time -- the simple residential charms of the Mies van der Rohe towers and townhomes. Fast Company's Co.Design noticed.

An excerpt:

Nestled in a leafy neighborhood adjacent to downtown, Lafayette Park is a collection of high rises and townhouses designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1962. As Detroit suffered the roller coaster of the 1970s and '80s, the community has remained conspicuously healthy and diverse--a mix of old and young, black and white, professional and creative. In short, it’s a holy grail of 20th-century Modern architecture.

Good stuff. Read on here.

Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies, due out at the end of the month on Metropolis Books, gets a sneak preview in the New York Times. Yes, it's an architectural love story set in Lafayette Park; and, yes, as promised, we do have a dandy feature book review this week.

If you missed it, check this out. And another, a little bonus from the Design Observer Group.

Some of the best news we heard all last week was about the extention of the Dequindre Cut, from Gratiot to Mack Avenue, and the creation of the Midtown Loop, which will take the trail through the heart of Wayne State University and Brush Park. Also in the plans: a connector that will link Eastern Market with Hamtramck.

Pictures tell even a better story. Take a look at these accessed from the Mode Shift Move Together site.

If an evening of exploring the role of large scale urban visions in post-industrial cities sounds like your cuppa tea -- as it is for us --- this is your weekend huckleberry.

The panel discussion "Urban Futures" in Lafayette Park will ask some pertinent questions about Detroit Modernism. Some of those questions include: Detroit’s Lafayette Park development has achieved many of the goals of Modernist planning and urban renewal, creating arguably one of the most vibrant and diverse neighborhoods in the city: does this speak to the unique conditions of Detroit? Does Detroit offer similar opportunities for avant-garde planning and large scale urban interventions today? What successes and sacrifices accompany the Modernist social agenda, and are there lessons to be learned as we seek to engage in equitable and sustainable redevelopment here and in other post-industrial cities? 

“Urban Futures" is April 21. Panel Discussion: 6 - 8 p.m. Reception: 8 - 9 p.m. At Lafayette Park Retail, 1565 East Lafayette, Detroit.

The pictures say it all. Well, no: Data Driven Detroit's Kurt Metzger and his charts say it all during episode 11 of DetroitUnspunTV. Plan to spend a good half hour getting an education on proper council re-districting that manages to keep the integrity of neighborhoods intact. Metzger knows his stuff.

Watch the video, commercial free, here.

A few months ago, the Free Press began asking its readers to share pictures that reflected their experiences in metro Detroit. The project took its cue from "Detroit Revealed: Photographs 2000-2010," an exhibit up through April 29 at the Detroit Institute of Arts that features local and international artists' photos of Detroit and Detroiters.

Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson contributed his own family snaps to the slideshow. Check it out here.

Winged horses, Athenian temples, and color, color everywhere -- those were the trademarks of muralist Nick Kastrantas, whose paintings graced dozens of Detroit's Coney Islands and Greek restaurants. He died Aug. 31 at age 91, a World War II paratrooper who landed at D-Day, a multi-linguist equally adept creating fine art or commercial logos. To the metro area's Greek-American community, he was a celebrated figure, says Leo Stassinopoulos, founder of the Leo's Coney Island chain.

Excerpt:

"He was my hero. He told me all these stories in World War II, with the Germans and all. ... I asked him what he was doing now, and he said 'I'm painting,' and that's when I started doing the murals." The first one was in 1983 or '84; it was followed by about 22 others for Leo's alone.

Learn more about Kastrantas here.

History buffs, architecture enthusiasts and savvy Detroiters know that Mies van der Rohe's Lafayette Park complex, built over the remains of Black Bottom, was one of the nation's first successful urban renewal projects (not to mention a pioneering example of modern design). But there's more to the story of Lafayette Park, as evidenced by this lengthy blog from Toronto writer Jamie Bradburn. He posits the development as an urban planning success story -- and an example on how landscapers and architects can help foster community through good design.

Excerpt:

Lafayette Park shows one way urban redevelopment projects could have enticed people to stay in cities rather than spread into the suburbs or made suburban developments more land-effective. The neighborhood demonstrates the role of careful thought during development--as opposed to some Toronto condos where it feels like buying the land to build upon was the only planning consideration. It shows that architectural and landscaping considerations play a large role in whether a planned neighborhood can develop into a community.

The rest of the article is available here.

Much has been made of Detroit's status as a "food desert," an assertion based almost solely, as the USDA admits, on the proximity of big box supermarkets doing over $2 million in annual sales in urban areas. But in Cleveland, as well as Detroit, the phenomenon of the corner store -- where one can find everything from peanut butter to produce -- is a valid and unappreciated source of food for many residents.

Even the Honey Bee got a shout out in this ode to the neighborhood market. And, more importantly, the author takes the USDA to task for exaggerated statistics that blatantly ignore our grocers serving it up in the 'hood.

Excerpt:

One of the two studies cited by the USDA [PDF] showed that depending on which definitions are employed, between 17 and 87 percent of New Orleans is a food desert. To say that food sellers who do more than $2 million in business provide fresh food and those who sell less do not is a rough estimate to say the least. In fact, in my experience, it's false. According to the locator, I live right on the border of a USDA-defined "food desert." The thing is, I've never had better access to food in my life.

Make sure to check out Detroit's newest grocery store, Lafayette Foods, which opens June 6. And get a helping of the article here.

Detroit's affordable real estate, diverse architectural styles and urban leadership won high praise from the Financial Times, with an article that digs deeper than statistics to interview several residents who couldn't be more optimistic about the city's progress. And though prices are still low around the city, one local real estate expert says the housing market is finally moving upward again.

Excerpt:

Kelly Sweeney, chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel, has been a local estate agent for 30 years and is convinced of an upward trend. "Because of the loss of manufacturing jobs, our market went into freefall well before the subprime crisis," he says. "But we reacted quickly to that, and we are in a better position now. And there has been some improvement in employment. Also, our inventory of bank-owned properties is going down."

Read the rest of the article here.

All of famed architect' Mies van der Rohe's modernist Lafayette Park homes look alike -- from the outside. Dutch photographer Corine Vermeulen, who now calls Detroit home, photographed nine Lafayette Park families inside their identically-designed townhouses. With audio interviews and photographs, this interactive article in the New York Times shows how differently these families interpret Mies' design.

Excerpt:

Then again, Detroit has an abundance of beautiful housing options: one can live in a huge Victorian mansion, a beautiful arts and crafts house or a cavernous loft-conversion space in a former factory. Living in a townhouse built by a renowned architect isn't as noteworthy as one might think. At the same time, such nonchalance is a mark of success: the homes are great because they work, not because they come affixed with a famous name.

Interact with the piece here.

Time Inc. has descended onto Detroit either like a thunderstorm or as liberators, depending on who you talk to. There has been a blitz of blog posts, features stories, and videos from its self anointed "D Shack" portraying the Detroit they've seen so far.

Videos include an interview with K-9 to Five's Liz Blondy, a piece on 85 cent hamburgers, asking Detroiters why they love and hate the city, and another piece about how Detroiters "survive."

Stories have covered entrepreneurs, housing costs, Detroit's decline, and Ernie Harwell.

So, what's your take? How would you grade their assignment so far? Is it the same ol' same ol'? Or is it something different?

Our own media outlets and bloggers have been discussing the coverage as well. Read a piece by Crain's Detroit business here.

Listen to an interview with Daniel Okrent -- writer of Time's Detroit cover story -- on WDET's "Detroit Today" here.

And, last but not least, Dyspathy's "Assignment Detroit: The Drinking Game" will keep you reminded of the Detroit cliche's as well as keep you totally sauced when reading through Time's project.

Let us know what you think about the Time blitz on our Facebook page here.

Check out the Time Inc. coverage here.

Time Inc.'s interest in Detroit has been well documented so far. But, in case you missed it, the big media machine has bought a house in East English Village and will set up shop there for a year to cover Detroit and all that it brings - both negative and positive.

In this week's In The News we have a piece up written by the New York Times, as well as a mention in the Tweet of the Week.

However, is a direct link to the Time Inc.'s Detroit blog. Track their work as they track ours.

See the blog here.