Author Archives: Alex B. Hill

Map: the Smells of Detroit’s Midtown Loop

smells_midtown_loop

I’ve really wanted to do some psychogeography and while this is not the best example it did allow me to be more present in my walk around the Midtown Loop, a 2 mile placemaking project to improve the walkability of Detroit’s cultural institutions. Instead of doing the straight and scientific geography lines of the route I decided to record the smells that I experienced. Not all of them very pleasant.

My walk started at Hancock and John R. and moved counter clockwise. After crossing Warren and immediately at the Michigan Science Center the strong smell of fish hit me. It lasted quite a while and I assume is an issue with the sewers. The corner at Kirby and John R. is where the College of Creative Studies (CCS) and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) have well manicured lawns. After crossing Woodward I took in the smells of exhaust and some strong diesel before being greeted by nice floral scents along the Detroit Public Library (DPL). The fishy smell came back after rounding the corner and I wondered if the smells were related. Some big construction and contractor trucks passed by and brought more diesel. Upon reaching La Pita Fresh the strong smell of cooking followed and then again in front of Shangri-La with some grilling near the frat house on Cass. Fresh flowers dominated my nostrils at the corner where Go Sy Thai now sits. La Palma was undergoing renovations and freshly cut wood could be detected. Lawn crews were taking care of the VA Hospital lawn as well as putting down some new wood chips. Throughout my 2 mile loop I most commonly interacted with the smell of exhaust. These roads are all fairly busy and well traveled roads and it makes sense that they would have high car traffic. Since this is supposed to be one of Detroit’s shining examples of walkability maybe they could put some time into ideas to reduce car use.

 

Data: Detroit Homicide Reporting Doesn’t Add Up 2009 – 2013

homicide_data

I’ve been actively engaged in tracking homicides in Detroit for a few years now thanks to the efforts of Cham Green and the independent Detroit Crime and Homicide Group, which has spent the last years combing news articles, Detroit Police Department (DPD) major crime reports, and checking these against FOIA requested homicide numbers. There is no other comprehensive or working system to keep track of crime and homicide in the City of Detroit.

The Detroit Free Press requested homicides in 2011 as part of a FOIA. The data they obtained went back to 2008 with about a dozen cases from 1970 and 1980s. Needless to say, the FOIA made it evident that the City of Detroit was seriously lacking in its ability to keep track of crimes and report them in an accurate and timely manner. I can’t say that I’m surprised with the regular cost cutting within the DPD and the constant shifting of both officers and precincts, but there has to be a better solution.

I checked the data from the independent Detroit Crime and Homicide Group against the FOIA and it did not match up with the official reported Detroit Police Department (DPD) homicides (2012 Crime Statistical Information, Detroit Police Department) or with the numbers reported by DPD to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system. Technically, DPD isn’t required to report “justifiable homicides” to the FBI UCR. However, the DPD has a documented history of under-reporting homicides (LeDuff & Esparza, 2009) and other major cities have been cited for categorizing more “justifiable homicides” in order to decrease their homicide rates and appear to be safer. In many cases the reporting police officer may deem a homicide “justifiable” simply based on their own prerogative. In 2011, justifiable homicide was up by 79% (Madison & Duell, 2012) while 2012 marked the highest year for homicides since 2007 (Damron, 2013).

The City of Detroit has been utilizing the CrimeMapping.com site to aggregate and display its crime data for the past few years, but there are glaring issues with data accuracy and availability. Just yesterday the site displayed that there had been a single (1) homicide in Detroit between January 1, 2014 – June 22, 2014, when it is well documented in the news and the DPD that the numbers are just over 120 homicides in the 2014 calendar year. This demonstrates not only a serious lack of innovative thinking, but also a disregard for accurate data sharing with the public. In March 2014, the DPD put a full stop on publishing the 24 hour major crime report and now sticks to reporting drug busts, weapons confiscations, and successful arrests. It is nearly the end of June 2014 and the DPD website has still not posted any crime statistics update since the end of May 2014.

The City of Detroit, Detroit Police Department, and other city agencies need to adopt true open data policies. Data that affects the public on a daily basis has no business being kept behind closed doors or contracted out to those who will not be good stewards.

Data:

*FBI UCR data isn’t yet available for 2013 (only for Jan-Jun) and the DPD website has stopped publishing crime statistics.

Sources:

  • Detroit Crime and Homicide Group
  • Detroit Police Department
  • Detroit Free Press

homicides_1960detroitdata_get

 

 

Map: Detroit Urban Renewal Projects 1963

Detroit-Urban-Renewal-Plans-e1397015133573

Many of these urban renewal project failed to generate any forward momentum for Detroit when it was heading in its worst direction. I imagine that the remnants of some of these projects have allowed current developments to succeed, namely the development of “University City” areas at Wayne State University which has become a critical anchor for the city. I wonder how much the West Side Industrial projects have allowed Corktown to rapidly gentrify, Wholesale Distribution at Eastern Market, “Elmwood” projects fostering Lafayette Park area, and not to be forgotten the series of projects at “Medical Center” the other major anchor in what the Mayor’s Office and Brookings Institution are calling an “Innovation District.”

Renaissance, renewal, innovation – will this current era of Detroit development generate sustained change? and for whom?

Data: Marchers with Martin Luther King Jr. in Detroit 1963

detroit_mlk

On June 23, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., hosted by the Detroit Council for Human Rights, marched with 125,000 people down Woodward Avenue. Inside Cobo Hall, he gave his speech “Walk to Freedom” which would be the basis for the now historic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington.

“I have a dream this afternoon, that one day, right here in Detroit, Negroes will be able to buy a house or rent a house anywhere that their money will carry them, and they will be able to get a job.”

On the 50th anniversary last year (2013) of King’s march in Detroit, thousands marched down Woodward with the theme “Jobs, Peace, and Justice.” Detroit and the US have come a long way since King visited in 1963, but there is still a long way to go.

Anyone have estimate of number of marchers from 2013?

Sources:

Map: Military staging during the 1967 Detroit Riots

detroit_riotplanning_1966

This appears to be a map used during the 1967 rebellion/ riots to help the military and police stage various armed units related to areas of conflict. The Fairgrounds had become a landing zone for paratroopers, the City airport was a main base, and in all 17,000 men were brought to quell the discontent of Detroit residents.

More on the rebellion/riots. . .

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Map: The Geography of A Detroit Anthology

DETanthology

I read through every single memory, story, poem, and even photograph from the early release of A Detroit Anthology. I was excited by some of the author names and even more excited to read the stories of authors I had never known before. The poignant, perceptive, and powerful writing that comes out of this compilation of Detroit stories is important, but not all encompassing. A Detroit Anthology doesn’t try to be the one stop shop for all of Detroit’s stories and hopefully more projects like this can collect the histories and memories of Detroiters.

As this site is geo-focused, I highlighted all geographic mentions in the book. This took some time, but wound up being well worth it. The collective stories of Detroit are hardly bound by the city limits. Many residents are unable to travel much further than their block and some teenagers have never seen the West side, but the stories of Detroit reach across the country and around the globe. I picked out the top ten mentions inside the city and outside to give a picture of the breadth of the Detroit experience.

I found a cluster of locations in the Downtown/ Midtown zone, but this is largely because of the long historic significance of the area represented by Jewish immigration (Lower Hastings), Greek immigration (Greektown), Irish immigration (Corktown), post-prohibition entertainment [legal] boom (Paradise Valley), African-American migrations (Black Bottom/ Paradise Valley/ Hastings), largest open air produce market (Eastern Market), the land of Lewis Cass (Cass Corridor), urban renewal (Lafayette Park), new entertainment developments (Arena District), and places like Hart Plaza, the River Walk, Cobo Hall, and Joe Louis Arena. All of these areas overlap, overtake one another, and compliment each other. They show a storied, often troubled past, as well as a difficult, but not impossible future.

Map: Detroit’s Coworking Landscape

cowork_landscape

Just about every month there is a new “coworking” location added to Detroit’s aspiring technology and innovation community. One coworking space has finally not located Downtown, WorkPlace in Grandmont Rosedale. WorkBuild HQ is the most recent addition right Downtown. The map isn’t even able to properly display all of the locations because there is such a high density Downtown.

The Voronni tesselation is based on the costs associated with becoming a coworking member at particular locations. These were determined by available information – a number of locations make it very difficult to get their information if you don’t apply and get vetted (dark green). There are also a fair number of coworking locations that are very community focused and some offer free space and services.

Please send along any updated information if you know more about particular coworking spaces. Thanks!

 

Map: Detroit Public Schools Near Industrial Zones

det-schools-industrial-zones

 

This map accompanies the map on “air qualities around schools,” which was noted to have many issues. In this map it would make sense that you would want schools to have a certain buffer zone from industrial sites. This maps is potentially more methodologically sound than analyzing air qualities based on geography, but the problem is that there is no explanation of methods used.

  1. What is the measure of walkability? 0.5 or 1 mile?
  2. Are we sure some of these schools are even still open?
  3. What industries still exist and operate in the “industrial zones” or are they just dormant buildings?

What may be more interesting here is if it was possible to conduct health screenings at schools and determine if dormant or active industrial zones contribute to the poor health or students, which could also potentially be linked to in school performance.

Map: Most Common Country of Origin in Detroit

DETforeign_born

At first glance, this map is a mess to look. However, I made an artistic choice to keep all of the colors because I thought it gave a nice impression of Detroit as a colorful quilt of different countries, people, and backgrounds. The idea came from Slate‘s series of maps on “most common country of origin” by States. I pulled Census data for all census tracts within the City of Detroit and manually went through selecting the dominant country of origin (n=49) for each tract (n=323).

The dominant country of origin was by far Mexico with 19,327 residents across 40 census tracts. Bangladesh was represented by the second highest number of residents, but they were very concentrated in just 3 tracts. Jamacia came in second, dominating 29 tracts. Canada (19 tracts) and Nigeria (17 tracts) followed. Canada could also be found all across the city from Westside to Downtown to edges of the Eastside.

There is an obvious Mexico cluster in Southwest Detroit (Mexicantown), which has seen immigrants from Mexico since the 1960s. Iraq shows up in 2 main clusters. One in “Chaldean Town” just below 8 Mile and East of Woodward Ave as well as just North of Dearborn (bottom left). Yemen and Bangladesh are clustered around Hamtramck. Jamacia and Canada are interestingly clustered in the West side. China and India seem to be most concentrated near Midtown/ Downtown and I wonder what influence Wayne State University has on this population. European countries were the most represented with 13 countries, but never a significant number of residents.

World Map Legend: 49 countries, 37,084 residents

DETcountry_world

Map: Distribution of Races in Cass Corridor 1971

dist-of-races

This map comes from Field Notes III of the Detroit Geographic Expedition & Institute (DGEI) which had a series of maps and features on the Cass Corridor. The last Cass Corridor map noted the racial differences in Cass Corridor. This map illustrates the racial divide where Black population rarely crossed 3rd Avenue to reside within the Cass Corridor.

The Cass Corridor was considered a “society” neighborhood in the 1860s – 1900s as Lewis Cass sold his farm land and the wealthy began building large Victorian homes there. In the 1960s – 1970s it was considered one of the pockets of White population in the city.

From DGEI’s Field Notes III publication:

“But, physical proximity has done little to bring the white Appalachians of the corridor any closer to blacks socially. Their dislike for each other has a long history, which stretches back to the days when they were both poor in the South. Poor whites and blacks have always had to compete with each other for jobs. An “outsider” may be able to see their mutual hatred as a trick played to keep them from uniting. To them, it is a deeply rooted cultural feeling.”

Map of Detroit in 1796

1796detroit

Although Detroit was formally established by the French (Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac) in 1701 and the Fort was called Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit, the British took over in 1760 after their victory in the ‘French and Indian War.” The British renamed the fort as simply ‘Fort Detroit” and began confiscating weapons from the Frenchmen. The British had constant difficulty keeping colonists and Native Americans happy with their rule and attempted to keep them satisfied by ending tax collection, granting land, etc.

You can tell this is a British map before handing over to American control since there is a section of land dedicated to the British Governor as well as King’s Wharf on the Detroit River. This map represents the plan for Fort Lernoult, which was constructed by the British in 1778 due to its better vantage point on higher ground instead of the former Fort Detroit location right along the riverfront. This Fort Detroit once stood near where the corner of Fort St. and Shelby St. meet in present day Downtown Detroit.

Fort Detroit (Lernoult) didn’t change hands again until July 11, 1796 when the post was handed over to the Americans as part of the Jay Treaty. The Fort wasn’t officially renamed to Fort Detroit until 1805. It was recaptured by the British in the War of 1812

Historical Events Rundown:

  • 1701 – Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit established along riverfront
  • 1706 – Ottawa attack Fort Pontchartrain
  • 1760 – British gain control after French and Indian War, renamed Fort Detroit
  • 1763 – Siege of Fort Detroit by Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa
  • 1778 – Fort Lernoult constructed on higher ground than former Fort Detroit
  • 1796 – Fort Detroit and Fort Lernoult handed over to Americans as part of Jay Treaty
  • 1805 – Fort Lernoult renamed Fort Detroit due to former Fort Detroit existing as the town area
  • 1812 – British recapture Fort Detroit in War of 1812
  • 1813 – Battle of Lake Erie caused British retreat, renamed to Fort Shelby to honor of Isaac Shelby who helped regain control of fort
  • 1826 – Congress gives Fort Shelby to the City of Detroit
  • 1827 – Fort Shelby demolished
  • 1961 – Fort Shelby excavation

 

7 Great Hand Maps of Detroit

 

hand1nn313

I first came across the idea of using your hand as a mental map of Detroit from the Detroit Geographic Expedition & Institute (DGEI) Field Notes I. The group had collected anecdotal information from a Checker Cab driver in 1968 and started using the “hand map” of Detroit to help visiting students and researchers to get around. This past year I began asking residents to draw their own maps of Detroit using their hand as a guide. Among all the geographic information systems (GIS), parcel surveys, and other technological means that aren’t always accessible – your hand is a map right in front of you. Many of these maps have been collected anonymously while others have chosen to sign their maps. I did not create any of the maps shown here and am grateful to those who have participated.

Participate and submit your own hand map –> Participate & Submit

 

brennahand

lizhand

CThand

hand3nn313tthand

mhhand

 

 

 

 

Map: Cass Corridor 1971

cass_corridor_official

There has been recent confusion over what is considered the Cass Corridor.The area got its name because it is the former farm land of Lewis Cass, second Governor of Michigan.

Being engulfed by the idea of “Midtown,” the Cass Corridor has lost some of his important historic meaning. As I’ve written before, the Cass Corridor once had the highest crime and poverty in the whole state of Michigan. The effects can still be seen if you walk south on Cass Ave. towards Downtown. Just past Alexandrine St. you will begin to notice less new development, homeless encampments, and the various social service organizations that help those in need.

Some history from Field Notes III of the Detroit Geographic Expedition & Institute:

“Generally, those who lived there were white and came from the mountains of Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, and western Pennsylvannia. The neighborhood remained primarily Appalachian after the war [Second World War] , and in the early 1960’s, Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC) workers referred to it sarcastically as “Little Kentucky.”

Map: Detroit Public Library Locations

map_lib_locations

 

I discovered this map in the Detroit Public Library (DPL) Main Branch. My first thought was that many of the locations are no longer open. Then I noticed the way the city is broken into 5 parts, most interesting is the “Central Detroit” area. Anyone know where these areas may have come from?

I was also extremely saddened to learn that the “Map Room” no longer has any maps. When I asked where I could find maps, I was told by staff that they are all in the basement. I would have to search the catalog and then request to see a specific map.

Map: Non-Local Land Ownership in Detroit

nonlocal_landuse

The Detroit Geographic Expedition and Institute (DGEI) led by William Bunge mapped out “nonlocal land use” in 1969. I’ve been interested to see how it might compare today. This map is obviously different in that it is looking at who owns the land as opposed to land use, but still offers interesting perspective. It appears that Detroit’s commercial zones along major roads as well as industrial zones are largely held by companies and groups outside the city. What is surprising is the increase in outside land ownership of housing parcels. The map appears gray because there are individual housing parcels held by non-local owners across the city.

Here is a close up of Downtown/ Midtown area.

downtown_landuse

Thanks to Loveland Technologies for sharing data to make this map possible.

Map: Citywide pattern of children’s pedestrian deaths & injuries by automobiles

citywide pattern child auto 1971

Building off of William Bunge’s similar map, this map comes from the Detroit Geographic Expedition and Institute’s Field Papers III.

“[…] All the area about a mile going out from downtown Detroit is one-way traffic and runs right through the heart of the Black community. And on one specific corner in six months there were six children killed on one corner by commuter traffic. But, naturally, these deaths of these children or the injuries or whatever it happened to be were disguised as something else. They never said that a certain business man who was working for BUrroughs downtown who was on his way to Southfield went through the Black community by way of this commuter traffic and killed my people – Black children. Even in the information which the police keep, we couldn’t get that information. We had to use political people in order to use them as a means of getting information from the police department in order to find out exactly what time, where, how and who killed that child.

Maps: Demolitions, vacancy, income, and education in Detroit 2011

0406-nat-webDETROIT

 

The New York Times completed a series of maps about shrinking Detroit in 2011. They looked at where structures were being demolished and where vacant houses still stood. They posited that the city was looking for which neighborhoods to save in the process and also created maps looking at median income and college degrees.

These are nicely designed maps and help to show the contrasts of the city where problems reach all corners, but funding and solutions are more concentrated and disparate.

Map: the future of Social Services in Detroit’s new city within a city

socialservices_development

 

The idea of “Midtown” (district? region? neighborhood?) beginning around 2001 pushed the area to the forefront of Detroit’s most recent efforts to revitalize and bring people and businesses back into the city. At the same time Midtown developments were at odds with an area that had become historically known for its crime, poverty, and drugs. Well into the 1970s and 1980s, the Cass Corridor was the most impoverished area of the entire state of Michigan. Likewise, Cass Corridor had one of the highest crime rates in all of Michigan.

It is no surprise that what followed were a series of social services organizations and programs to assist the high populations of poor, homeless, and recovering addicts. In 2004, A Detroit Free Press article titled: “Development clashes with needs of homeless” highlighted the two different faces of the new Midtown area; the chain-link fence of a homeless shelter serving predominantly black men to the wrought-iron gates of a new condominium development where mostly affluent white people lived.

The serious concerns that low-income people were being moved out of Midtown have arguably not improved over the last decade. In 2003, Salvation Army treatment facility and offices relocated and in 2004 Crossroads of Michigan had to relocate from its original building.  In 2005, NSO was supposedly in talks with the City of Detroit to relocate out of the Cass Corridor.

The new Arena District, land owned and controlled by the Illitch family (Little Caesar’s, Fox Theatre, Red Wings, Tigers), will bring a new hockey arena as well as new development to connect many of the Illitch investment sites to create a strong entertainment zone for Detroit. I can’t imagine that the Illitch’s plan to have social services and homeless agencies as their neighbors. The concerns raised in 2004 have not been resolved and the increased level of development will only exacerbate the issue of resource disparities in Midtown, Detroit’s new city within a city.

“Overall, I think what’s happening here [Midtown] is exciting. I just wish our clients could be a part of it.” (Mary Honsel, 2004)

Map: Potential for School Integration 1967

integration1967

This map from the Detroit Geographic Expedition and Institute (DGEI) comes from Field Notes III, which was focused on all aspects of education in Detroit, represents areas of the city that were more likely to do well with integrating races in schools. It just so happened that these areas (darkest) were also the wealthiest. “Good” integrated education was available to the highest paid black families and middle or high income white families.

More from the report:

“The geographic phenomenon [integration] is not the result of pushy people aggressively invading other peoples’ neighborhoods, it is simply natural proportional growth. Further, the cause of white flight from integrated areas is not necessarily simply racism. “Integration” to whites too often means bad schools; and young liberal white families, the ones more likely to integrate, will not do so at the expense of their children’s education. The low quality of education, especially the predictable tremendous overcrowding that accompanies expanding black neighborhoods, is precisely the overwhelming factor that drives out young liberal white couples from integrated areas. The condition of the schools themselves are the most active instrument of segregation in the city today in spite of an officially proclaimed policy of integration.”