Detroit Photo of the Day

[RustTown]

Jefferson is just ridiculous. lol It would be nice to see some nicely-designed open-air skywalk/bridges.

[Allan]

I agree. It's not pedestrian friendly by any means.

[Ramcharger]

Yes, I desaturated it a bit and adjusted the contrast.

View from the people mover

Does anyone know what the ramp in the lower right corner was built for? One would think it was for handicap access but access to what?

[baldy]

It was for back when there was the trolley running. I believe this is where it ended.

Edited December 14, 2005 by baldy

[Ramcharger]

Thanks Baldy. That makes sense. What was the story with that trolley anyway? It was very popular when it first opened. No one expected it to be a viable transportation option or to pay for pay for itself. It was meant to be a bit of a tourist attraction. Is it that we get so few tourists that it run empty all the time? Or was it like so many other things in Detroit? It just broke down and nobody could fix it.

[RustTown]

They didn't work it into the redesigned streetscape of Washington Boulevard. Why, I have no idea. Maybe it was because of cost. Maybe they had been wanting to get rid of it for years. It was never that busy every time I saw it running.

[kneff]

Another view from the people mover.

[RustTown]

I like the trees outside of the Guardian. In fact, downtown Detroit would look SO much better with more trees. You'd be surprised at how far a little streetscapping goes. And Detroit is lucky to have relatively larger sidewalks. I never got why it was so unvegetated in the first place considering that the rest of the city was (and still is) one of the more green of the major cities.

[Exodus]

And to beat a dead horse, seeing those new homes being built is pretty uplifting when quite a few of the houses in Detroit look like this:

(And trust me, these aren't even bad compared to some neighborhoods.)

This looks like W. Fort St. near Wyoming Ave. or Miller Rd., which is a stones throw from Dearborn and The Ford Rouge plant. Edited December 19, 2005 by Exodus

[Exodus]

Basically that style of buildings doesn't belong in that location. They are very suburban in design instead of being urban and fitting in with their surroundings. Remember, this is at Woodward and I-75!

They don't look too bad. They have bayed windows, green trimming, dark brick, iron railings and tall stoops. I think it fits in ok.

[hudkina]

Those houses are actually on Fort St. in Delray.

[Exodus]

Those houses are actually on Fort St. in Delray.

Wasn't sure if that was Delray, but I knew it was close or bordered it. But those houses are near Miller Rd. and the Fort St. draw bridge that goes over the Rouge River. I spent a lot of time in that area working at the Marathon refinery, and though I've been out of state for five years, I knew those houses right off the bat. Great pics, thanks for posting them.

[Aaron]

Rivertown on a rainy but warm winter day.

Down Franklin from Rivard:

Last time I was here, about two years ago, this lot was occupied (albeit abandoned):

Wouldn't this be the coolest district if these buildings were rehabbed?

[Allan]

Thanks for keeping this thread alive, Aaron! I've obviously been too lazy to do anything about it...maybe if I ever get around to reinstalling photoshop on my computer....

The lot at Franklin & Riopelle used to be home of The Spot. There were about 40 homeless people living inside - I couldn't really believe my eyes when I saw that!

I like how the top of the Ren Cen gets lost in the fog in the last shot.

[RustTown]

Rivertown has such a human-scale build to it. It's too bad that it has lost so much particularly on the westside of the district.

[detroitfan]

The two blocks bounded by Woodbridge, Riopelle, Atwater and Orleans-which includeds that lot- are part of the land the city cleared and marketed lasted year. For the most part the demolished buildings weren't as nice compared the ones in third pic

Edited January 5, 2006 by detroitfan

[Aaron]

Cadillac Tower behind the huge First National Building, as seen from the Guardian Building.

[statedude3]

The First National Building is absolutely massive. What is the occupancy rate for this building? I looked at getting office space here, and found it was fairly reasonably priced for the downtown market.

[Exodus]

Is it true that an "Asiantown" is proposed for that area ?

[Zissou]

Which area are you talking about?

[Exodus]

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The new Cass Tech High School is under construction to the north of the existing school. The new building is set to be open for the 2005-2006 school year. The city is currently doing RFPs on the old building.

What is rfp ?

[Exodus]

More churches then any city in the world wow..... I never knew that.

Now we need to get more synagogues operating in Detroit so we can

be more diverse. Do you know that there are only two operating synagogues

In all of Detroit?! Basically the only major cities that have less are the one's in texas.

I suppose Detroit is biased, odd for a city that is majority black. Edited January 14, 2006 by Exodus

[Jin Kim]

What is rfp ?

Request for Proposal

Is it true that an "Asiantown" is proposed for that area ?

The proposed Asiantown is located in a parking garage east of the Ren Cen.

[Exodus]

Thursday, March 17, 2005

The newly constructed East Village infill houses on the city's east side.

Wow, I'm impressed, they really look like original Detroit homes.

[Exodus]

Thursday, April 7, 2005

The much-debated Woodward Place at Brush Park is replacing the empty lots in Brush Park near the city center.

There not that bad. They have bayed windows trimmed in a more traditional shade of green, nice brickwork & stonework, wrought iron railings, and tall "stoops". They fit in to some degree, and I feel they could have turned out a lot worse. Be happy for the development. Edited January 14, 2006 by Exodus