There have been many maps of walkability both national and local, but there always seems to be a gap in the data. Researchers at Yale University ran analyses of walkability compared to access to amenities. More from the project:
Walk Score and similar proximity-based indices are widely used as measures of walkability, and often treated as proxies for walking behavior, but they capture access to destinations rather than whether people walk. Using GPS-based mobility data for approximately 18 million devices across 272 U.S. urban areas, this paper tests how well amenity access predicts observed walking and under what conditions proximity translates into walking. We find that amenity access predicts walking only selectively. It explains just 25% of neighborhood-level variation in walking, and 89% of the gap between walkability and observed walking lies within cities rather than between them. Two findings help explain why. First, amenity access predicts destination-oriented walking well (R² = 0.51) but is unrelated to recreational walking (R² = 0.03), which accounts for 69% of all walking trips. Second, even for destination-oriented walking, other features of the built environment—street connectivity, traffic, and building design—shape whether access translates into walking. Well-connected, low-traffic neighborhoods generate substantially more walking than auto-oriented ones at the same level of amenity access. These findings suggest that proximity to amenities is necessary but not sufficient for generating walking.
We used to have a regional rail network. Detroit and the world were wildly difference places then and its too easy to fantasize about the past when a lot of things were not great. But … there was a regional rail network. This map from the Detroit Historical Society shows the reach and extent of the system. The map shows the interurban connections, but even within the City of Detroit streets were served by numerous trolley companies connecting different parts of the city.
HT: Dave Gifford for reminding me I have never posted this map.
DETROITography, Outlier Collective, DetroitData, and the GO DATA Advisory Commission invite you to explore the city’s open data and dig into the layers beneath the data!
We’ll be sharing information about public data tools and access options as well as digging into specific projects like Property Praxis, collecting data on secretive LLC property owners, and the Detroit Development Tracker, crowdsourcing real estate project updates, hosted by Outlier Media.
How can we better integrate property data sources to help Detroiters understand and make decisions about how land and property are being utilized in the city from land speculators and property taxes, to building incentives and affordable housing construction.
WHEN: Friday, September 18th, 11am-2pm
WHERE: Urban Tech Xchange, 1520 Woodward Ave.
WHAT: Bring your skills in open data collection, data analysis, system mapping, design thinking, prototyping, or anything else
Voters across the state turned out in significant numbers for primary elections, and Detroit saw increased participation in several closely watched races on the ballot. The unofficial results made public by the city list the turnout as 21% of registered voters–a significant jump from 16% in the previous primary–in a night that saw notable shifts to the left in Senate and house races.
In the 13th district Democratic House primary, Donavan McKinney defeated two-term incumbent Shri Thanedar, and in the Senate race Abdul El-Sayed won a narrow victory over Haley Stevens. Several other contested races without incumbents were the 10th and 11th districts of the US House as well as the 1st and 3rd districts in the state senate.
Universities flocked to Detroit after the Great Recession with every major Michigan university setting up a Detroit center of sorts. Today some of those universities are rapidly expanding and others are selling off their assets. Wayne State University (WSU) remains the top land holding institution of higher education in the city with a considerably larger footprint in the last 10 years while the University of Michigan (UM) has made big moves at the former Marygrove College campus and with a modern innovation center Downtown. There is a new knowledge corridor growing along 6 Mile that stretches from MSU’s urban agriculture experiments at the Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation (MSU DPFLI) all the way to the anchor at the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM).
A standout oddity was that UM Credit Union is listed as the taxpayer at the historic First Congregational Church, but no other land holdings in the city. Michigan State University (MSU) secured a long-term health and research agreement with Henry Ford Health and has significant new land holdings in the city, including majority ownership of the Fisher Building, although those don’t reflect clearly in the property records.
Wayne State University (WSU)
2015: Repurposed TechTown Two building as the Integrative Biosciences Building, but has largely remained empty since opening. Most recent addition was a brain research group.
2018: Opened Ilitch School of Business in the empty lots along Woodward
2022: Hilberry Gateway Performing Arts Center opens
2025: Groundbreaking for new Health Sciences Research Building in parking lot near School of Medicine
Michigan State University (MSU)
2017: Launched Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation (DPFLI) on city-owned land
2021: Launched Apple Developer Academy
2023: Became majority owner of the Fisher Building (taxpayer still listed as DPS)
2024: Invested in Piquette Flats affordable housing
2025: Innovation Hub launches as part of 30-year partnership with Henry Ford Health, new building in former HFH parking lot
University of Michigan (UM)
2017: Final third of ownership purchased of Rackham Building (WSU lease ended 2019)
2022: Detroit Center moves, but remains in same building
2023: LEAPS program at Marygrove campus, expanding into Madame Cadillac Building
2025: Center for Innovation broke ground Downtown
*BONUS: UM Credit Union holds the land where the historic First Congregational Church is located
Marygrove College
2018: College shuts down after years of decline, many students move to WSU and UDM programs
University of Detroit Mercy (UDM)
2022: Opening of new student union
2023: Fisher Administration Building demolished
Lawrence Technological University (LTU)
2021: Detroit Center for Design and Technology space closes up after consolidating LTU’s Detroit programs in one building, space is now used by AECOM
Grand Valley State University (GVSU)
2026: Selling Downtown building next to Comerica Park to the adjacent Detroit Athletic Club, for a DAC future expansion
Central Michigan University (CMU)
Maintaining Downtown outreach center mostly for alumni and partnership events
Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD)
2018: Downtown campus expansion, addition of health and wellness building
There is a lot in motion with some major projects still in progress. Who or what did I miss? I’m still waiting for MSU and UM to build rapid train lines between their main campuses and the city of Detroit.
DETROITography 