Members of the AIGA Detroit Chapter created a design for the “Facing Forward: AIGA at 100” exhibition in New York. So awesome that they chose a map image design of the Detroit area for their Real Good Chair!
Design team: Rachael Beresh, Maria Bologna, Stephanie Luscombe, Chad Reichert, and Kelly Salchow-Macarthur.
The ongoing debate about neighborhoods in Detroit have been troubled by the lack of clear definition in the Detroit Future City report. However, the report did define “traditional residential” neighborhoods, which were described as areas that would be maintained. The report states that with these neighborhoods have been hit by population loss, foreclosures, and lack of investment. The Midtown/ Downtown areas are given new labels in the report, so they do not appear in the “traditional neighborhoods” category. However, the report states that traditional neighborhoods:
“need improvements to their city systems and infrastructure to make them competitive with peer neighborhoods in the region.”
The color scheme for this map was chosen through inspiration from an article in Cartographic Perspectives: Expressive Map Design Based on Pop Art: Revisit of Semiology of Graphics? The article looks at using pop art graphic choices applied to map elements. This map is based on a Warhol example.
This map was published in Field Notes III of the Detroit Geographic Expedition and Institute (DGEI), which had a large focus on the 18-block area defined as the Cass Corridor. The report looked at demographics, assets, owner’s of land, etc. This is a very telling map as to the distribution of power and land in 1970s Detroit when Cass Corridor was not the best neighborhood to visit. It appears that Palmer Park, a wealthy, gated neighborhood to the North off of Woodward held much of the Cass Corridor land. Even as Midtown and Downtown see extensive development the legacy of Cass Corridor is seen in the poverty, homelessness, and social services. Time will tell how the new Arena District will impact the Cass Corridor and its history.
The saga of “Detroit vs. Everyone” has a host of racial, social, and economic factors – but who knew it included legislative action? The Metro Times was sent this map from a reader and dug up some interesting history.
“[…] an idea spawned by, it appears, then State Rep. Thomas Brown, a Democrat from Westland. Based on the map above, the plan would slice off everything besides Detroit and the Grosse Pointes. […] Then-Gov. William Milliken’s proposed solution was to reorganize the county under a structure that had a single top executive, but the county’s “36 independently elected commissioners and department heads do not want their political bailiwicks tampered with,” the Times reported […]”
The proposed plan passed in the Michigan House, but was sent to Committee to die. Can you imagine living in Metro Detroit where there was Suburbia County and everything Detroit and East? If anything this is an important representation of the municipal and legislative mentalities that have continued to push for this invisible line drawing.
Curbed Detroit took a look inside the Herman Keifer main building. The complex is up for sale and looking for a developer. Could this be housing to anchor neighborhoods north of the Medical/ Education zones of Detroit? The main building, designed by Albert Kahn, was used for vaccination campaigns up until 2012.
Matt Clayson of the Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) said in 2012:
“Its location is prime and strategic – immediately behind Henry Ford Health systems and proximate to M-10 – and, as such, it could play a key role in connecting Boston Edison, Lasalle Gardens and Virginia Park to the greater downtown area.”
We aren’t sure what the map on the wall represents, maybe just a reference map for employees?
About to head out to the Recycle Here! Main Location, which has been a great recycling resource as the city works to improve city services all around. In late 2013, it was announced that there would be citywide curbside recycling. This announcement makes the future of sites like Recycle Here! uncertain and new business models like Detroit Greencycle obsolete?
This map is in Field Notes I from the Detroit Geographic and Expedition Institute. Polish populations in the 1960s were concentrated in Hamtramck (surprise!) and near the Ford plant just across the city line in Dearborn.
Just a beautiful map of Detroit (Necklace District area) inside the Guardian Building. The bottom corner reads that this is a map of Wards 1,2, & 3. Detroit is no longer broken into wards, which were based on the original ribbon farm boundaries, but recently voted to move to new Districts.
This Detroit transit fantasy map has absolutely no geographic accuracy, but is quite comprehensive in its scope and connectivity of the metro Detroit region. The rail lines reach all the way to Auburn Hills and include Selfridge, Kensington, White Lake, and Ann Arbor.
“Detroit’s roads are lacking, urban sprawl is out of control, the inner city is fledgling, the state budget and Detroit budget are in crisis, pollution is still a concern, people spend hours in backups, and yet, politicians do nothing. Why? I’m not one to ask to speculate, but I am one to try to come up with a solution. Polls in recent years have said the same thing time and time again, the people of the Detroit region want better mass transit. Not only would it ease a clogged road system tied down to millions of spending for repair and upgrade, but it would also introduce more commerce to areas that only currently serve a majority of neighborhood residents. Just think about it, being able to go to the big game or show without leaving hours in advance due to traffic backups, having a more reliable way to work and be able to access new areas that weren’t open before to serious job inquiries. It’s time to stop dreaming and start doing.” – BT
From the 1970 “Master Plan for Ford Properties” the expansion of sprawl was predicted and mapped before it reached its full extent. Others have already talked about how the “center” of jobs has shifted from Wayne County to Oakland County, this map provides an interesting perspective on the process of “urbanization.”
I came across this alternative use of mapping/ GIS data and was surprised by what I found. Beyond the psychedelic visuals, I found the idea of “railbanking” to be quite interesting and not beyond what many others have attempted to do with projects like Rails-to-Trails and the Detroit Greenways. This representation of railbanking takes it to a whole new level.
“This project hijacks and radicalizes the tactics of railbanking by manipulating geodemography through the productive misuse of conventional GIS software. In doing so, the project attempts to locate a constructive position relative to the hegemony of market segmentation geodemography from which the architect can operate.”
Read more from author McClain Clutter (now at the University of Michigan). . .
A disparagingly named series of bike rides originating in Grosse Pointe covered nearly the entire city. Rides were based on major roadways: following Grand River, Outer Drive, etc. You can see the common entry roadway was along E. Jefferson Ave and routes are more dense Downtown where the rides would stop for food and drinks. The organizer, Arthur Miller, spent a good amount of time taking picture to document the various areas of Detroit. His photos have captured some excellent Detroit painted typography as well as massive pot holes.
Now there are a plethora of organized bike rides around the city: Critical Mass, Criterium, Tour de Troit, Slow Roll, Bike Detroit, Wheelhouse Detroit, etc.
This map also comes from the “Master Plan for Ford Properties” created in 1970. Ford recognized the importance of Detroit as a hub for goods and the need to adequate transportation. Here is an explanatory excerpt:
Historically, Detroit owes its existence and its importance to water transport and a plentiful supply of natural resources. Its modern growth has been largely dependent upon manufacturing, especially manufacturing associated with many different means of transportation.
The Pullman car works were first established there and continued in operation until 1893. The first freight car works were established in 1853. In 1902 these two industries employed employed 7,200 men.
Detroit’s geographical situation led to the construction of small and large vessels for lake traffic, which commenced in 1852 and has continued to the present day. […]
Mayoral candidate Benny Napolean, former Police Chief of Detroit, developed a “one square mile” plan for improving Detroit. His campaign tagline was “Together, transforming every neighborhood, one square mile at a time.” Although Napolean did not win, the idea wasn’t bad: bringing a community focused effort that defined the Detroit mayoral race. This map was created to demonstrate how his plan could work for better community policing.
Looks a little similar to the Microhoods used in the recent parcel survey, Motor City Mapping project.
How logical do you think these grids are?
Rob Linn had some “Ruminations on Right-sizing Part I” and utilized data from a massive survey similar to the recent Motor City Mapping Project. Here is a snippet from his blog:
According to the Detroit Residential Parcel Survey data, 10,683 of the city’s 32,913 blocks are comprised of at least 25% vacant lots.
Mayor Duggan’s ten-point plan for Detroit lays out an urban planner’s approach to remaking a city. It lacks, however, any real economic plans that are necessary for breathing new life into neighborhoods where unemployment reaches over 30% in some areas of the city.
Mayor Bing had pledged in his term of office to demolish 10,000 blighted structures. The numbers aren’t out yet, but Bing’s team says it was a success. The Detroit Residential Parcel Survey on 2009 noted that 86% of homes in Detroit were in livable condition and only 9% or 3,480 needed to be demolished. Bing’s administration reported that 8,966 structures had completed the demolition process as of the close of 2013.
What other 5,486 structures did Bing demolish and what new properties are Duggan/Gilbert (private and foundation supported “Blight Authority”) planning to demolish based on the $1.5 million Motor City Mapping blight survey? Is it all part of Duggan’s efforts to incentivize people to move to more populated areas (right-sizing Detroit)?
Employment in Detroit has followed a downward trend since automobile companies left the city starting in the 1950s. Recent jobs added to the city have largely come in the form of relocated offices rather than new employment opportunities for Detroit residents.
Why can’t Detroiters be offered job training in demolition and construction to both improve their neighborhoods and help Detroit rebuild? Where are the incentives for residents to maintain and improve their homes instead of continuing to turn a blind eye to vicious landlords and blight hoarders? If Detroit’s neighborhoods are going to improve than Duggan needs to consider long-term employment opportunities for residents.
At Duggan’s swearing in ceremony he mentioned that he is bringing together individuals and groups who are tackling blight in order to improve the Detroit Land Bank so that delinquent property owners can be sued and dangerous properties can be demolished. Duggan praised Gilbert’s efforts as part of the Blight Authority, but hasn’t yet made any specific plans or goals for his administration besides stating that reducing blight is a priority.
Anyone have access to the full list of demolitions under Bing?
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Thanks to Nick Micinski for help with brainstorming this piece.
Unemployment in Detroit in 1960 was focused within Detroit’s black population. The continued auto company layoffs and discrimination in hiring practices disproportionately affected the black population.
From the Detroit Geographic Expedition and Institute Field Notes I.
Yes, another fantasy map of regional transit in Detroit comes from John Good, who grew up near Detroit.
This time, as opposed to truly dreaming about what Detroit transit could be as we saw in the Jackson Woods’ Detroit Metro Transit map, John builds on the work that is currently being done to upgrade and improve regional transit such as: the M-1 LRT along Woodward Ave., tri-county BRT route between Macmob County, and other pieces from the 2008 “Detroit Regional Mass Transit” (PDF) plan from SEMCOG.
Two immediate thoughts:
Homelessness is a common idea of Detroit that many people hold, but what does the data really show? The Homeless Action Network of Detroit (also serving Highland Park and Hamtramck) publishes an annual report based on the people that they have worked with throughout the year. The best metric that they have is of individuals who report being homeless and the zipcode of their last residence. The vast majority of individuals that HAN Detroit sees have been homeless more than once and most for more than 2 years. Counting a population of homeless individuals will never be accurate or easy. This is just one example of an organization that works with 74 member organizations across the city and likely has a pretty good dataset.
What is most surprising about this data is that “eviction” and “no affordable housing” were the top 2 reasons for homelessness. The concentration of the most people reporting homelessness followed the Woodward corridor. I’m not sure if there is any real correlation there, but it isn’t surprising that a main area for renewed economic development would potentially be causing an increase in homelessness.
This map comes from Field Notes I of the Detroit Geographic and Expedition Institute.
I only recently learned more about the significance of the Hungarian population’s concentration in Southwest Detroit from the Old Delray Project. Delray was at times was called “Hunkytown” or “Little Hungry” due to the strength of this cultural population.
“A lot of residents call their neighborhood “Death Valley.” They complain about the huge trucks that rumble down the streets from Zug Island and other nearby industrial sites.
They recall fondly the great Hungarian Fancy Pastry bakery shop where you could get rum and walnut tortes. But the bakery moved to Allen Park. And the trucks keep running. And the factories that remain keep belching soot and grime across the aging, dilapidated buildings that once made Delray a place where people yearned to live.”
Delray was at one time its own incorporated village before being annexed by Detroit in 1906. The area used to be known as Belgrade, but Augustus D. Burdeno returned from the Mexican-American War in 1851 and convinced the residents to rename it after a village he had passed through in Mexico called “Del Ray.” The historic Fort Wayne is located in the northeastern corner of the area Zug Island is not far off.
This is the neighborhood where the new Detroit River International Crossing is planned to demolish most of the historic and blighted buildings.
Anyone ever visit Szabo’s Hungarian Meat Market or Kovacs Bar (closed 2011)?
Detroit Traffic Survey 1936-1937: Mass Transportation Passenger Flow During General Traffic Peak Hours, 5pm to 6pm
Thanks to redditor DetroitStalker for posting this great map!
This map uses a very innovative visualization method with the increasingly wide or narrow pathways of traffic. The method has become popular again with transit planners (see GraphServer). This map is pre-expressways, so you can see the importance of Detroit spoke streets and public transit system. Great use of data visualization in the 1930s to understand traffic flows on the street railways.
DETROITography 