A Blueprint for the Greening of Southwest Detroit

Friday, June 11, 2010

By lori ella miller, detroit lisc scribe

A once abandoned lot has been transformed into Springdale Green

The place is Detroit.  The time is now.  The challenge is to create a working blueprint that will chart a new course that will lead to a true rebirth and economic revitalization for this once great city. 

The residents and business owners of Southwest Detroit have accepted that challenge, and taken an important first step by creating a blueprint for the greening of Southwest Detroit. 

Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) partnered with the Southwest Detroit Development Collaborative (SDDC) to fund the Green Infrastructure Project, a working plan for adding value to Southwest Detroit neighborhoods by using green infrastructure to make each neighborhood more livable and sustainable.

“We are pleased to work with our partners in Southwest Detroit on this innovative project that directly supports the Detroit LISC mission of transforming distressed neighborhoods into healthy, sustainable communities,” said Victor Abla, Detroit LISC Program Officer. 

Green infrastructure development can cast a wide net that encompasses a number of categories, from greenways, parks, green buffers, community gardens and wildlife habitats to urban agriculture, natural grasslands, landscaped industrial parks, green alleyways and energy-efficient homes and businesses.

The Project, spearheaded by Urban Neighborhood Initiatives (UNI), one of the SDDC partners, identifies, conceptualizes and outlines projects and components for creating a sound green infrastructure. The goal of the project was to produce a plan for multiple and synergistic green developments that would move Southwest Detroit forward and establish the community as a model for sustainable green living in an urban environment. 

Dennis Nordmoe, executive director of UNI, spearheaded the creation of this comprehensive, turnkey plan, or “blueprint” that ultimately will be utilized by each of the communities in the SDDC.  He assembled a team, which included urban architects and University of Michigan graduate student Brit-Ingrid Zimmerman to conduct extensive research and identify all the ways to enrich Southwest Detroit with green development. 

“It is time for a fresh new approach to development,” said Nordmoe. “The Green Infrastructure Project is a vision that will guide and shape the future of our community, while at the same time enhancing our social, cultural and economic development.”

The UNI team conducted focus group meetings with residents and businesses in the community, as well as employed the latest, state-of-the-art technology to identify the appropriate green enhancements for Southwest Detroit.  Nordmoe’s team employed the new Community Mapping Tool, a cutting-edge digital interface and three-dimensional GIS (Geographic Information Systems) database designed by Lawrence Tech for the SDDC, as well as Google Earth.

The nine-month project resulted in a sweeping plan that features recommendations that address how to: increase home values and decrease energy costs; make the environment more attractive; focus on the developmental needs of children; brand and market neighborhoods as a unified green community; and attract creative, young professionals, as well as businesses to the area.  The plan also features budgets and conceptual plans for the proposed ideas, investments and projects.

Nordmoe and his team also took a strategic look at positive and viable uses for the massive amounts of vacant land that now sits in a formerly robust and bustling community.

“We are proposing turning those big vacant spaces into charming uses that add value to the quality of life of the adjoining neighborhoods, which will eventually increase property values and stabilize the community,” said Nordmoe.

An example of an innovative use of vacant land is the installation of rain gardens.  Rain gardens, in addition to their decorative qualities, are used primarily to absorb run-off water that would traditionally accumulate in storm drains.  They are also low-maintenance, ecological alternatives to traditional gardens.  UNI has already installed a rain garden next to its headquarters on Longworth in Southwest Detroit.

Another progressive concept outlined in the plan is the development of a gated and attractively landscaped industrial park that would serve as a type of green business incubator for the city of Detroit.

“We want to challenge by ideas and lead by example,” said Kris Miranne, Executive Director for SDDC.  “The Green Infrastructure Project provides every neighborhood with creative and green solutions that will add value to their neighborhoods, as well as strengthen the social fabric of the community.”

The Green Infrastructure Project is designed to be a plan that will be implemented over the next five years.  Currently, a number of SDDC’s members are moving forward with several of the ideas and initiatives that were outlined in the plan.

Detroit LISC, SDDC and UNI hope that this plan will also inspire other communities, and ignite a green movement in Detroit.