Detroit has received lots of positive attention in the urbanist community for a wide range of positive developments. On my first overnight trip to the city post-pandemic I found lots of evidence of good thinking — but at the same time not many people. Yes, it was Friday and the weather was cold and wet, but the streets were empty
Here are some photos I took on my walk.
Yes, Detroit remains car-centric.
Walking down Woodward Avenue, there was no easy way to get to the Riverwalk. You came to a hardscaped park, with few amenities.
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The Renaissance Center in the fog, looming over the downtown.
The new light rail is attractive and more urbanist than the failed people mover. But does it increase pedestrian activity? Probably not. Was it expensive? Probably.
There is a really attractive median in the center of Woodward, with movable chairs, a playground and other amenities. I was the only one there.
The rather forbidding entrance to the Rocket Mortgage headquarters facing onto Campus Martuis.
Campus Martius is one of the great national public space revitalization success stories. The ice rink was in place but not functioning (probably between seasons). There was other construction taking place. While there were a few people in the restaurant, the park was otherwise not usable and not being used.
A major new mixed use project on the site of the former Hudson’s department store.
The view up Woodward. Consistent high quality retail. Nice facade restorations. Some good streetscape amenities. No people.
The pizza place where we had dinner downtown was lively, doing a brisk business. The show that we attended at the lovely Gem Theater downtown was well attended. There seemed to be a lot of activity next door at the Detroit Athletic Club. But when the show was over, the crowd dispersed into the rain.
A colleague who had worked on public space revitalization projects in Detroit for many years observed that “there is no getting around that Detroit is the ultimate automobile-centric city.”