Architect Magazine finds the buzz in Detroit

Can Detroit turn itself around? There is certainly potential and the buzz is out. Architect Magazine is pulled in by that buzz.

Excerpt from Architect Magazine:

Despite the challenges, though, residents believe they can turn this
baby around. Developers are using tax credits—for preservation, green
renovations, workforce housing, and more—to leverage Detroit’s
incredible stock of architecture. And over the past 10 years, more than
$15 billion has been invested in the city.

Young people, drawn by a
thriving arts scene and low cost of living, are infusing Detroit with
new energy. “There’s a great momentum among the post–baby boomers, who
really do want to make things happen,” says native Michael Poris of
McIntosh Poris Associates. The younger set is jump-starting the small
business sector. And the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan
is driving growth in the aerospace and alternative energy industries.

In
March, the Kresge Foundation announced it would pay the undisclosed
salary of urban planning expert Toni Griffin. Griffin, who directed
Newark, N.J.’s revitalization effort, will spearhead the shrinking of
Detroit’s urban footprint. “The solutions—urban agriculture,
intensifying certain areas, allotting resources for others—aren’t from
left field,” says Archive Design Studio principal Mark Nickita. “It’s
not a new idea, but this time it feels more formal.”

Read the entire article here.