Blogging again and thoughts on storm water

It has been a long time since I've made an entry for this blog. In fact, I had forgotten that I had even started it. I was pleased to see that it was still all here, still active, and ready for me to resume. I was moved to start it again after hearing about a weather event that hit very close to home, and I thought about how the built infrastructure is at the mercy of nature, regardless of what we plan, design, and build.

A big spring storm blew through the Great Lakes last week. In the north, especially in central Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula the storm hit as a severe ice storm, knocking out power for tens of thousands, and damaging trees, wires, roads, houses, public buildings, and so much more. It ended up being the worst ice storm in a century.

In the southern part of the state, the storm was a rain and wind event. The system brought several inches to many communities in only hours, and that put quite a burden on the storm water system, including the storm water system in Plymouth, an old, established town that has morphed into a suburb of Detroit. It is in Wayne County, as is Detroit, and in the past was an important railroad junction. And, like many of the old railroad towns, it was built along a stream. That stream is Tonquish Creek. 

As Plymouth grew and developed a real town center in the early 20th Century, the spring flooding of Tonquish Creek began to be a problem. By 1930 or so, county officials buried the creek in the downtown area, channeling it in a 36-inch culvert. That same century-old system still moves the creek's waters through the business district, which continued to grow over the last century. Now the culvert goes under a public parking garage, under several businesses and streets, and emerges several blocks south of the downtown area into its open channel. That natural course has been modified over the years as new subdivisions and commercial properties were built. This is a common drainage design across the country.

Of course, that downtown area and many of the subdivided home sites are still in the low flood plain for Tonquish Creek. Last week's rain (April, 2025) was so heavy that the creek's flow escaped the culvert and flowed across the low-lying area of downtown Plymouth. Several business and streets were affected. Some businesses ended up with 18 inches of flood water inside their buildings. 

The same kind of thing happened in 2023. And in 2014. It happened in 1947, 1948, and in 1950. In fact, every few years the same thing happens. It happens so often that Wayne County has repeatedly studied ways to prevent the flooding. In 2021, the Wayne County Drain Commission rejected a plan that would have attempted a remedy along a portion of the creek.  That proposal would have concentrated on flooded subdivision back yards, which can flood as deep as six feet. 

In 1980 the county was presented with a plan that would have followed recommendations from the federal government in its Flood Hazard Analyses of Tonquish Creek, prepared in 1978. Those recommendations included setting aside upland open areas, creating large open areas that could absorb rapid rainfall, and maintaining forested stream banks. The report also warned that increased urbanization of the Plymouth area would make these steps even more important. The 1980 proposal went nowhere. 

A few years ago, the City of Detroit and other local authorities began planning a huge billion-dollar storm water storage tunnel that would have been tens of miles long, buried hundreds of feet underground. It would have begun on the far west side in Rouge Park, and extended southeast to the Del Ray area. The work actually began in Rouge Park, but the city suddenly abandoned it, choosing instead to re-think their approach. Instead of the tunnel, the city decided to take the more prudent and far less expensive approach of keeping the storm water out of the storm water system to begin with. They replaced the Rouge Park entrance to the planned tunnel with a several-acre swale that would hold storm water from the Warrendale neighborhood and let it gradually return to the ground water system. Smaller swales are planned for the Brightmoor neighborhood along the Fenkell Street corridor and along Lyndon Avenue. The Brightmoor retention swales would follow a long-buried creek that runs through low floodplains. Both Brightmoor and Warrendale have suffered basement flooding during extreme rainstorms. Other low-lying areas have suffered during severe rainstorms, too, so the city is building retention swales in other neighborhoods, as well. 

One of the large storm water retention swales in Detroit's Rouge Park. Image captured from Google Maps.

Ultimately, cost is a major factor. The current county code requires new developments to address storm water retention. But we still have huge areas of development that happened before the newer requirements were in place. The 2021 proposal to deal with Tonquish Creek flooding would have required a special tax assessment of about $5000 for every resident and property owner in the affected area. That adds up to a lot of money, but it would be money that would start to address a big problem that will continue to pop up every few years. Any major work would require money and a lot of disruption to areas that have built up since the old infrastructure went in decades ago. We'll have to make a lot of decisions about how that will work. 

Detroit City Council Districts

I attended the Detroit City Council’s special hearing on the proposed maps for new council districts on Friday, February 3. The districts were mandated by the 2011 vote that approved a revised city charter. It has been over 80 years since Detroit has elected council members by district; this revision replaces election at-large representation. The hope is that having a new hybrid system (two council members will still be elected at large, and seven will come from districts) will increase accountability for improvements and the livability of the city.

I noted two threads among the citizens who commented at the hearing. First (and this was duly noted by the news media that covered the hearing), people are attached to their neighborhoods, and they value the connections their neighborhoods have with others that are close-by their own. They spoke about shared responsibility for parks and area-wide initiatives, for coordinating on development and crime initiatives, and so on. Virtually all of them prefer districts that will maintain these relationships, so that when neighborhood committees meet with council members everyone will “be at the table,” as one resident put it. Another speaker, who works for a community-based health program in Brightmoor, reiterated that point. Council President Charles Pugh asked where, exactly, she lived, and she responded that she lived in the Riverdale Park neighborhood, which is a very small section between Old Redford and Brightmoor. Pugh wasn’t familiar with the neighborhood, but he put it into context by clarifying that it was in the far Northwest area of the city.

Several members of the Council pointed out that setting the boundaries for the election districts wouldn’t stop the relationships that already exist, and that neighborhood boundaries don’t define the functioning of Detroit or the place of citizens within it. But, one speaker from Corktown said that there is a strong emotional tie to the neighborhoods, and that Pugh himself had proved that connection when he placed Riverdale Park in his own mental map of the city to understand how the speaker related to the rest of Detroit. Neighborhoods do matter, and the relationships between neighborhoods are just as important as the relationships people build on their own blocks.

The second thread I noticed came from several residents who spoke about the institutions and amenities within the proposed districts. Some talked about these as if hospitals, schools, shopping districts, and the like would serve them better if they were within the boundaries of their council district. This is what really prompted the response from council members about district boundaries not being walls separating neighborhoods. They warned about balkanizing the city.

I think that this interest in how amenities are distributed reveals a deeper issue: people are very concerned with fairness in the way constituents are treated, and, second, they hope that creating a City Council elected by district will empower neighborhoods that have been neglected and forgotten by city government. Development and access to the everyday necessities of life are NOT evenly spread across the city, and people are desperate for the things that wealthier or more powerful citizens take for granted and demand. What the speakers were expressing was their dream of a city that works on a neighborhood level.

I just saw a story about a city council member in Seattle who said that the aim of the city was to create neighborhoods that are “safe, green, and connected.” Green might be too specific, but if you let that term mean sustainable economically, environmentally, and politically, then that phrase perfectly describes what every speaker at the hearing on Friday wants, and what very few neighborhoods in the city have. I’m not so sure that everyone on the present council recognizes that.

Letter to Gov. Snyder

I wrote this letter to Michigan's Governor Snyder, outlining my concerns about the cuts he has proposed in his 2011 budget. His cuts run counter to the things I believe we need to do to strengthen this state.

Dear Governor Snyder:

While I agree that the fiscal and tax structure in Michigan needs to change to foster business growth in the state, I do not believe that some of your proposed changes to next year’s budget are in the best interest of either business or residents. In particular, I believe that your cuts to education (K-12 and higher education) and to targeted tax credit programs are counterproductive and bring great harm to the state.

I ask you to reconsider these cuts:

K-12 education should be funded at a rate higher than has been the case over the last several years. Your proposed cuts will gut education funding, leading to grossly overcrowded classrooms and lower performance. I believe that K-12 education is the single most important area of concern in the state, and any cuts that reduce the quality of educational opportunity for all students must be avoided.

Similarly, I support continued and expanded funding for higher education. Study after study have shown that increasing the average level of education brings the best return on investment. In particular, in region after region around the U.S. and the world as a whole, the percentage of the population with a college degree has a strong correlation with economic health. We should do everything possible to increase this number and to maintain it.

Brownfield tax credits have become an important tool in the economic redevelopment of our cities and many other areas, as well. As we shift from a heavy manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy, we have to deal with the “fallout” left behind by the industries that once fueled our growth. It is too easy to close our eyes to the contamination left behind as these business facilities close. Until another way is found to deal with the abandoned and neglected sites in every corner of our state, these credits offer the one workable solution.

Historic Preservation tax credits have also served as a tool to help reinvigorate older developed areas in Michigan. As the finance and housing industries go through massive upheaval and change, we need to maintain programs that will allow older housing and commercial properties to remain in use. It is doubtful that the ready financing that we’ve enjoyed for the last few decades will be there to support new developments in the way it has in the past. It is vital that we keep our heritage buildings and housing during this transition period, as we move away from mortgage and finance programs that have been the base of our building projects in the past.

Similarly, I am in favor of extending the film and video credits for three more years, then beginning a phase-down in the program. In the short time the production credits have been in place, Michigan has seen an extremely rapid growth in this world-wide industry. Not only have over 3,000 full-time-equivalent jobs emerged (the equivalent to the number of jobs found in one to two auto plants), but business people from inside and outside Michigan have invested millions of dollars in new facilities based on the promise of continued support. Right now, most of the projects that have been produced in Michigan have come from outside companies. But, as this new industry takes root and grows, our own production companies will lead the way. We have to give this investment time to develop.

I believe that public transportation will play a larger role in the state as the cost and demand for fuel increases. I appreciate your support for light rail and other transit programs in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and other cities, and I support your efforts to gain further funds for high-speed rail routes in the state. Further, I encourage continued support for new energy industries, a field that will play increasing importance over the next decade.

Michigan’s business tax system needs to be simplified and reorganized. We should encourage entrepreneurial growth and incubate the start-ups that will fuel our economic growth. However, a blanket transfer of tax burden away from businesses at the expense of individuals is unfair and not good policy. Michigan’s current tax system causes many difficulties for business, to be sure, but our overall tax burden is not excessive—it is not even ranked in the top half of the most burdensome in the country. I believe that claims that the tax burden in Michigan is excessive are incorrect, or at worst, blatantly false.

I do believe that there are many reasons other than financial concerns that should drive decisions on these and many other issues, including quality of life and cultural concerns. However, I realize that the urgent pressures arising from the current deep recession and the massive effects they have had on Michigan make it important to deal with short-term budget issues very quickly. There are certainly many long-term questions that need to be addressed after these current emergencies are solved. I hope you choose to maintain the programs that I feel are so very important to Michigan.

Sincerely,

David A. Legg

Active Transportation

This news story popped up today:

New research illustrates the health benefits of regular biking, walking or taking public transportation to work, school or shopping. Researchers found a link between "active transportation" and less obesity in 17 industrialized countries across Europe, North America and Australia. "Countries with the highest levels of active transportation generally had the lowest obesity rates," authors David Bassett of the University of Tennessee and John Pucher of Rutgers University conclude. Americans, with the highest rate of obesity, were the least likely to walk, cycle or take mass transit, according to the study in a recent issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. The study relied on each country's own travel and health data.

Only 12% use active transportation in the United States — 9% walk, 1% ride a bike and 2% take a bus or train — while a quarter to a third are obese, the study said.

By comparison, 67% of commuters in Latvia, 62% in Sweden and 52% in the Netherlands either walk, bike or use mass transit. Latvia's obesity rate is 14%, the Netherlands' is 11% and Sweden's is 9%.

This seems to be common sense... but someone has to "prove" every little fact when it is used to create policy, or the opposition will cry, "not true!"

Detroit Automobiles

I'm not a car nut, but like any American, I enjoy the cars I drive. The Detroit Free Press printed a good short article today shooting down some myths about American cars and the Big 3. It goes to prove that the mistakes the companies made decades ago still haunt them today, even though the problems they used to have are long past. Memories are hard to overcome.

http://www.freep.com/article/20081117/COL14/811170379/?imw=Y

Also, I got a chance to to see a 2010 Camero a few days ago here in the neighborhood. Holy Cow!

Mystery solved! I always wondered what the deal was with that strange interchange on I-94 (Ford Freeway) at Woodward in Detroit. Eastbound, for instance, you go under Woodward, then shoot off on a bit of a siding, which continues east, but to exit, you go onto John R Street and circle back to Woodward. What were they thinking when they built that?

Well, this article and picture answer the question. There were originally stairs leading down from Woodward to the freeway, where pedestrians could link to a planned rapid bus system that was supposed to run on the expressways. Check it out here.

So the idea was that the rapid busses would pull off of the freeway onto the siding, pick up passengers, then re-enter the highway. That would make too much sense. It never happened. Somewhere along the way the stairs disappeared, and we were just left with a crazy interchange. That sounds like the downtown People Mover, which was designed to be the end section of a rapid rail system that ran out the spoke avenues from downtown. The rail system was never built, so the PM is left to circle endlessly, shuttling people around downtown in its counter-clockwise circuit. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Here are some thoughts on sustainability, adapted from a posting I made on the Discuss Detroit board.

The idea is that society, or a business, or an industry, is founded and operated on a set of beliefs and understandings, which are translated into rules, regulations, or policies. As long as the rules are working and successful, there is growth and more success. At some point, sometimes, the environment changes and the rules don't fit the reality so well. Operating with the old set of rules doesn't work so successfully any more. If we're lucky, the only result is less success, but the system still operates. Sometimes, though, as time goes on, the gap between the environment and the rules widens, and there can develop a strong downside to operating under the old rules-- so much so that the society or industry causes so much damage that the whole thing implodes or falls apart. The system can't sustain itself anymore, because the old rules don't work any more. Let's take gasoline prices and the effect that will have on our society (even beyond Detroit). Take a look at this chart: http://inflationdata.com/Infla tion/images/charts/Oil/Gasolin e_inflation_chart.htm I know, it's only one chart, but I've seen others that say basically the same thing. Google around and look at some others. The charts say that gas is expensive in adjusted dollars, but no more than was the case at the beginning of the auto boom years, the years when Detroit boomed, too. And during the auto industry's second boom, in the 1950's, gasoline was significantly more expensive than during the 1990's. In fact, we nostalgically see the 1920's and the 1950's a golden years of the automobile. There were two really unusual periods on that chart-- 1980-82, and the '90's. We survived the high prices of 1980, but the '90's cheap prices caused what I think is the biggest difference between now and the '50's. The spike in the 1980's caused people to buy smaller, more efficient cars, the drop in the '90's allowed people to buy bigger less efficient cars, but also to move farther away from any destination and drive many more miles each week. Up until this past year, gasoline had risen to roughly the price it was post-WWII, and people didn't give up their gas-guzzlers back then. The big difference? They didn't drive as many miles. Farmers, yes. Urbanites and suburbanites? Much less. So how do the "rules" work here? The federal government and the state have plenty of laws and regulations that actively support sprawl, from how mortgage money is used to where roads are built to where water and sewer lines are built... right down to zoning ordinances that require quarter-acre lots or larger. (Remember the "super sewer" lawsuits in the '80's? There would be no development west of Novi Rd. if that case had been decided differently.) Even the media get into the act: I read somewhere that Better Homes & Gardens magazine began pushing suburban-style design in the early 1940's. What fuels this? Cheap gasoline and private cars. Are people going to give them up? No. I'm not, either. Can people continue to drive 50 miles each way to work? Depends. If this peak in gas prices is temporary, like 1980, then we'll get through it. Will prices drop to the super-low levels of the 1990's? Probably not. The chart says those were unusually low prices. If those low prices are what drove the sprawl out to the exurbs, then the exurbs are probably not sustainable. The rules of the 1990's fall apart. Books like "The End of Oil," whether you buy it or not, warn that at the very least, oil prices will be very volatile and spike wildly for the next two decades. At worst, they will spiral up and up with no end in sight. Look at this chart: http://www.randomuseless.info/ gasprice/gasprice.html For the last three years, the graph swings wildly up and down... big jumps with big drops. The cycles lasted about a year, but this last peak looks like a six-month cycle, with a super-high maximum. Will prices drop soon? Maybe, but in the long run, the trend is always up, at least since 1997. That's an 11-year trend. I think "up" is the trend from now on. A lot of factors have contributed to this. It is not the stupidity of the US auto industry. It is not the War in Iraq (1997 was four years before 9/11). It's not even George W. Bush. Nor was it Bill Clinton. He's been out of office a long time. It is our reliance on rules that are not sustainable. If we're smart, we'll change the policies that support those unworkable rules, and quit throwing our money away, money that supports big boxes and miles of infrastructure in places that will show zero growth very soon.

Transit again

In a recent podcast of the Smart City radio program, a researcher from the National Housing Institute, Alan Mallach, discussed a new report he recently published on the factors that help revitalize neighborhoods. The way it is done, he says, is to increase the demand for housing, and that is accomplished by adding or changing neighborhood features that make it desirable. The number one factor: adding a light rail station. This feature will change a neighborhood more quickly than anything else. He cited two examples, such as the increase in development that has happened in East Los Angeles after they announced a new light rail line to the area. Transit is part of neighborhood amenities, one of six factors that affect the housing market. The entire report is available in .pdf format here.

Links to Detroit Webcams

I just added links to webcams in Detroit, just for fun. The links are in the right column of this blog page.

The Detroit River Webcam is user-controlled, which can be great... but if the camera is panning and zooming all over the place when you log on, that just means that someone is playing with the controls. This one is used by a lot of freighter hobbyists. You'll see a listing of vessel passages on this page. Actually, the Detroit News keeps a similar log every day. There are a lot of people who follow which boats (that's what huge lake freighters are called) and ocean-going freighters pass through each day. And, for those of you who don't know, the Detroit River isn't a river: it is a straits between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. If Lake St. Clair were included in the list of the Great Lakes, what would happen to the acronym used to memorize the names of all of the lakes? HOMES=Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. HOMESS? SHOMES? HOMSES? SOMESH?

Work Starts on Grand River

Construction on the Grand River project started about three weeks ago. The work started at Southfield, and currently goes west to Artesian. They have torn up the sidewalks on the north side of the avenue, and have actually poured some concrete close to Southfield/Fenkell/Grand River.

BUT... I DON'T SEE ANY BUMP-OUTS! We'll see how this all progresses.

Grand River Improvements-- maybe traffic calming?

I get really fed up with the crazy way traffic moves on Grand River Avenue-- and on Fenkell Avenue, for that matter. Heck-- on every main street around Detroit. People drive much too fast, and the bad habit of passing at high speed in the parking lane makes me crazy! It is definitely all about "Get out of my way!" Dangerous, thoughtless, and rude. One very visible result: smashed light posts all around town. Two summers ago, the city installed new light posts along Grand River, which is also known as M-5, as state trunk line. Grand River Avenue actually runs from Lake Michigan, along the Grand River itself, all the way to downtown Detroit. (A sign at the end of our street says, "To Canada.") It is a major highway. But, it is also Rosedale Park's main street. Unfortunately, it is a main street that you can't use as a pedestrian. There isn't a traffic light for over six-tenths of a mile between the Southfield Expressway and Warwick, and traffic really gets moving. And as people zip into the right turn lane at the few lights, then floor it to get ahead of traffic, they often lose control when a parked car gets in their way, and they smash into one of the new light posts. At least it isn't a pedestrian!

The state awarded a grant to the local development group to enhance the streetscape in the neighborhood. The work is supposed to start next month. One of the announced features: curb bump-outs at bus stops. Excellent! That means that every two or three blocks the parking lane will be blocked, regardless of the number of cars parked along the curb. Maybe that will slow down traffic. Some other traffic calming features were slashed by budget cuts, such as more traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, and a median that would run all the way through the area. These things have been proven to slow things down, making the areas safer and more usable for pedestrians. Some strategic pedestrian islands will be built at some intersections. Let's hope for the best!

Balanced Transportation

Although this is still a state dominated by the automobile-- dominated in the economy, in the way we sprawl, in the way we think-- several trends are popping up to hint that things may be changing. Yesterday I wrote about the HOV lanes that will appear next week on Michigan Avenue. That also includes a joint operation between SMART, DDOT, and MDOT. Amazing! And last week came the announcement that Grand Rapids has nailed down millions of dollars from the federal government for a transit "New Start" operation, which will be a bus rapid transit system that will run south from downtown Grand Rapids along Division Avenue. That will be the first new transit program in the state funded by the federal government. And, it appears that by taking this funding, it will open the doors to funding for future projects all across the state.

I continue to believe that the biggest transportation issue in Michigan, and specifically Metro Detroit, is that we don't have a balanced transportation system. The vast majority of suburban residents drive as their only means of transportation. Figures from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) show that in some suburbs, as many as 95 percent of residents drive to work alone. In the region as a whole, 85 percent drive alone, nine percent carpool, and two percent use public transit. Virtually no one in the region walks to work (again, only two percent), and in some areas, the number of people who use public transportation is counted in dozens rather than as a percentage. Several upscale suburbs have opted out of the SMART bus system, thinking that the added tax burden, which would amount to less than $50 per year for the average home, only supplements low-income people who use the system to come into the community. Those riders add up to about a quarter-million riders per week on SMART. The separate Detroit bus system serves many more riders--nearly 40 million riders per year--and a much larger percentage of DDOT riders rely entirely on busses for their transportation. There is no commuter rail system, even though that would serve primarily white-collar commuters. There is no rapid transit at all. In the meantime, our roads are falling apart as construction efforts are spread more and more thinly to reach the ever-expanding boundaries of what we now call the metropolitan region. The region is so spread out that using slow bus systems makes it a daunting challenge to travel from one side of the area to the other. So, it is no surprise that most people choose to use their own individual car to commute. Still, the policies put in place by the state Department of Transportation local governments have determined the growth patterns, and therefore the transit options available to us. Look at the projects outlined by MDOT, (no transit projects are listed) and look at the transportation data provided by SEMCOG, and you'll see what is important to our leaders. As of this writing, virtually all of the information was about highways, traffic counts, traffic bridges, road conditions-- and only a minor amount about transit or other transportation options. As recently as SEMCOG's latest version of the 2030 regional transportation plan, highways and automobile transportation were essentially all that got serious attention. All of this as oil hits $100 per barrel, and SEMCOG lists hot topics on their site such as the "dilemma" of transit funding, and the need to address environmental issues brought on by automobile pollution. Thank goodness that SEMCOG and DDOT are each studying transit alternatives in two projects: commuter rail to Metro Airport and Ann Arbor; and light rail on one line in Detroit and perhaps Dearborn.

Compare our situation to that in Seattle. They have a much more fully-developed bus system (even though it is operated by several different entities), bus and light rail tunnels under downtown that allow more rapid movement around the area; free bus fares within downtown; commuter rail to the north and south; two streetcar lines, one along the waterfront and a new line in the South Lake Union area just north of downtown (100,000 riders in the first six weeks); a new light rail system set to open next year between downtown and SeaTac Airport; another light rail extension that is about to begin construction toward the University District and north; and now a bus rapid transit system that will serve the West Seattle neighborhood. In addition, they have bike lane networks and have provided for pedestrian uses in many places. They also have an extensive car and pedestrian ferry system run by the state, serving spots in the city and the outlying islands communities. Not all of these elements have come without a fight--a monorail system between downtown and the Ballard neighborhood to the north was voted out of existence when costs began to spiral upward. They look at their commuter auto traffic as a real problem, and have found many ways to offer alternative transit, each of which seems to be appropriate to the neighborhood it serves. Only nine of 18 transportation projects in Seattle this year are specifically street or highway projects. The rest are trails, transit, or other kinds of projects.

Seattle and Detroit are different, with different densities, different patterns of development, different industries, and certainly different needs. But Detroit should be able to find a balance that will work for us, just as they are working to develop a balance that works for Seattle.

HOV lanes come to Detroit

This is something I never thought I'd see-- lanes reserved for high occupancy vehicles (HOV lanes) in Detroit. They are a common sight in other cities, but not here. I can't imagine the violent response to the idea that you can't drive your car anywhere, anytime. Heck, I've had guys pass me on the expressway ON THE SHOULDER AT 70 MPH!

Here's how the lanes are getting started: the state Department of Transportation is rebuilding the interchange area around the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. That will require basically closing I-75 for about two years, and that will cause drastic impacts on traffic headed north from the downriver areas. So, SMART and DDOT are running joint express bus routes from Gibralter to downtown, and traffic is being rerouted to several other main arteries, including Michigan Avenue (US-12). That's where the HOV lanes come in. Michigan Avenue will have lanes set aside during rush hours for high occupancy vehicles and busses only.

We'll see how it will work, but even though it might be a sneaky way to get HOV lanes going, at least they'll get a test in Michigan for the first time. I'll guess that they'll be more common here in five years.

A Couple of Museums

During the holiday break my wife and I decided to finally visit the newly-remodeled Detroit Institute of Arts on January 2. We are members of the Founders' Society, so we have free entry, but it turned out to be a poor choice of dates. Midtown was packed! There was absolutely no place to park-- anywhere. Even the parking structure at Wayne State two blocks away was full, since classes had apparently started again, and there wasn't an on-street spot anywhere. The Science Center was jammed with the Bodies exhibit (held over for the last eight months, at least). It was a nice problem to find, I guess, but frustrating, none the less. We ended up driving to Dearborn and visiting the Arab American Museum, which we had never visited before, so the day wasn't a loss. Actually, the Arab American Museum is actually a little gem of a place on Michigan Avenue in east Dearborn, right across from Dearborn City Hall. They have a really interesting collection of silver jewelry from around the Arab world, and a multimedia display that chronicles the history of Arab immigration to the United States. That part of the museum just reinforced in my mind the senselessness of the anti-immigration sentiment we see so often these days. The pattern is the same one the US has witnessed for centuries: hard-working people immigrate to our country, and their children work hard, study, are successful, and become significant contributors to our society. Why would we want to keep them out? Everyone is enriched by their contributions and by the energy they inject into our communities.

We ended up trying the DIA again on Saturday. It was, again, extremely busy in that part of town, but we decided to use the valet parking so finding a spot wasn't an issue. The museum was great. The art is presented in a totally different way, thematically rather than chronologically or by artist (with some exceptions). So, for instance, modern art isn't divided by decade, but abstract expressionism is together, installations are together, and themes are developed as you walk through. Decorative art and furniture are included with the artwork to give a sense of how these themes played out in other art forms. Landscapes are presented together, and a flow of how they changed over decades is pointed out. The new, larger gallery space allowed them to put out lots of works that weren't displayed before. There was much more African and Native American art, which was really interesting, and plenty more. I saw a Stuart portrait of George Washington that I don't recall seeing before, and there were several American Impressionist paintings that seemed new to me. I highly recommend a visit, or two. We just did a quick run-through, which is not how I like to visit, so I'm sure we'll be going back soon for another look.

As we left, and we waited for the overworked valet to literally run to get our car, we noticed that a line of at least 200 people were lined up outside of the Science Center to see the Bodies exhibit. Knowing what the inside of the building is like, I'd guess at least that many more were in line. All of the surface lots and street parking appeared to be full again.

I felt really guilty about giving up on finding a parking spot on our first try. I hate to think of myself as someone who is so dependent on my car that if I can't find a parking spot, I bail out. But, face it, that is not that far from the truth. I don't have a problem walking for a few blocks to park, but the problem is that everyone else who came to the area that day did the same thing. By the time we gave up looking for a space to park, the museum only had a couple of hours left on their schedule for the day. We wasted an hour on our quest for parking. And, there was no option. There's no rail we could take downtown with a transfer to a Woodward line to get to the DIA. Instead, we had to join a hundred thousand other people who all wanted to spend a day in midtown, all looking for someplace to park their car. Our bus system is a joke, so that was out. All of that needs to change. Then I wouldn't have to feel so guilty when I want to visit a museum for the afternoon.

12 Angry Men

S. and I saw the stage play, "Twelve Angry Men," at the Fisher Theatre last Sunday. The play is well-known, originally written for television in the "golden age," and made into a stage play and film versions (twice on film).

It is a short play, just over an hour-and-a-half, with no intermission. One set, which was excellent. It is an ensemble piece, with a couple of star performers, including the headliner, Richard Thomas-- of "Johnboy" fame. He played juror eight, the role made famous by Henry Fonda in the original film version. Also in the cast was Kevin Dobson, who became famous in "Kojak" years ago, playing juror six, a loud, biggoted man who drives a lot of the drama in the show. I've called it an ensemble piece, and it is-- no single actor took extra bows or curtain calls, and all of the cast entered for the curtain call at the same time. That was nice to see.

I've always been amazed at how a group of characters locked in a single room can keep the viewer's attention. The program flew by. The acting was excellent, as was the production in general. An excellent production. It is at the Fisher until November 18.

A report released yesterday showed that Michigan's University Research Corridor, comprised of Detroit's Wayne State University, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Michigan State University in East Lansing, accounted for over 68,000 new high-tech jobs in the state last year. That's in the first year of its existence. The three member schools are the major research-level universities in the state. The Detroit Free Press wrote about it here. The URC says on the website for an upcoming conference:

A knowledge-based economy may be the best hope for long-term economic recovery by states like Michigan that were built upon manufacturing as the core industry. To realize this hope, the conference organizers believe that universities can and should play an important role in building such a knowledge-based economy.

Check another article in the Seattle Press-Intelligencer site about jobs added by Microsoft in Seattle:

Microsoft's move bodes well for the city, said Bill McSherry, economic development director of the Puget Sound Regional Council.

"If anything, it reinforces the notion that our economy is going to grow as fast as we can supply well-educated and well-trained people," McSherry said. "If there's one thing we need to continue to work on, it's more and better education" to help companies fill these kinds of jobs.

These two examples underscore the basic truth that more support for education is the best way to build a base for improved economies. The big difference between the two regions is that leaders in the Puget Sound area actually believe it. In Michigan we have the state legislature making power plays and practicing their political posturing for power at the expense of growth.

All we have to do is look at the numbers: we've lost manufacturing jobs by the truckload in Michigan, but thousands of desirable high-tech jobs have begun to replace them, diversifying the economy and building for the future. We educate outstanding scholars here in Michigan, but the status quo continues wallow in an outmoded view of the world... and that is what forces our young people to take their top-notch education to other states, where they are snapped up to build new economies. The legislature needs to support all education, including the institutions that provide basic research, and those that educate people who will work in the new economy. We know what needs to be done; now the Michigan legislature needs to follow through and fund our schools and colleges.

Michigan's Creative Class

I loaned a former student the book, Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. He's been reading it this summer, and sent me an email about a note I wrote in the margin regarding the need to balance social capital and economic growth. Here's part of my reply:

As for Richard Florida-- you have to remember that his ideas reflect trends, not absolutes. When he shows the percentages of workers in each type of career from one era to another, those are drawn in pretty broad strokes. Keep in mind that during the agricultural age, there were still some people working in manufacturing and in creative-class fields-- it was just that the balance among the types of work varied. There will always be manufacturing jobs, it is just that the creative class jobs are expected to have a greater influence in the overall economy than was the case, say, 20 years ago. The creative class will provide what might be called the "value-added" parts to the manufactured goods, like adding sophisticated software to a car to improve performance or add a desired function. (I just talked about that this evening with a neighbor who is an engineer for one of the car companies. He's working on software to adjust the way a prototype car "feels.") And a company like GM or Ford will still have both manufacturing and creative functions, as well as financial and sales-- even if they outsource some of the work. So, even within one company, you'll see technology and creative jobs and human service functions. I think you can have economic growth and growth in social capital from all kinds of jobs. It is just very disruptive when the changes in the current structure come all at once-- like in Michigan right now, where manufacturing is declining and changing very quickly. But, even with all of the manufacturing plants closing down around here, Chrysler and Lear are building new factories in Michigan, plants more suited to new methods. Ford just closed the Wixom plant, which was ranked the highest quality auto plant in the world last year-- perhaps they had to close it because it didn't meet the demands of modern manufacturing. I see Michigan changing to a creative-based economy at a very rapid pace right now, but that change is almost invisible amid the chaos caused by the massive decline in manufacturing jobs. Las Vegas is also having a terrible time right now as a region, but their losses are coming in the service sector instead of manufacturing. Both regions had lopsided economies. Michigan is making solid adjustments, but I'm not so sure about Nevada. I'm confident that Michigan will use the excellent institutions we built up over the last 100 years and the huge pool of creative talent we have (50,000 engineers in southeast Michigan alone) to make the switch. We need to keep the best of our manufacturing, take advantage of and nurture our creative class (engineering AND art!), develop a stronger service industry, and redevelop and diversify our agriculture to have a balanced economy and excellent quality of life.

A Modest Proposal for bike routes

Wayne County has a really nice system of parks, with the "crown jewel" being Edward Hines Park, a linear park that runs for a good 20 miles along the Middle Rouge River. The park angles across much of the county from Dearborn on the southeast to Northville in the northwest part of the county. Each Saturday during nice weather months, the parkway is closed off to motorized traffic, and bicyclists and skaters take over. You are able to bike the entire length of the parkway with very little interference from cars.



In Dearborn Heights, Hines Park crosses Outer Drive, a wide boulevard that encircles Detroit along the outer neighborhoods. It runs from the river on the east back around to the river in the suburban city of Ecorse. It is only broken near the State Fair Grounds at Woodward. The road is a divided parkway for most of its length, with wide lanes and a generous parking lane that easily accommodates bicycles.



My proposal-- designate a lane in each direction on Outer Drive for bicycles starting at Livernois Avenue in the north, all the way to the Detroit River in the south. Where Outer Drive intersects Hines Park, the bike lanes would join the paths along Hines Drive. Cyclists would then have an unbroken route from Northville to the north side of Detroit, just a mile from the State Fair Grounds, Palmer Park, and Ferndale in Oakland County. The southern part of Outer Drive would give the same access to the areas between Dearborn and Ecorse, starting near the Detroit River.

The yellow highlights on the map show just how much of the county would then be joined by a safe and enjoyable bike path. The bike route exists already in Hines Park-- and a several-mile length of the Outer Drive route would pass through city-owned Rouge Park. Costs would be minimal-- I don't know if any upgrades would be needed along Outer Drive, and I realize that bikes would have to share the road with traffic along that route. But it seems to be an opportunity to link a huge part of the region by a recreational facility.

Note the green highlight. This marks the Lower Rouge park system, also part of Wayne County parks. I don't believe that this chain of parks is entirely contiguous, but there may be development opportunities for another bike route that would add bike paths from Dearborn at Outer Drive all the way to Canton. And, if a similar route could be established on East Outer Drive, the system could reach from the Grosse Pointes and cover virtually the entire northern two-thirds of the county!

Detroit Transit Meeting in Dearborn

[This is an edited and corrected version of some posts I make on the DetroitYES! discussion board last weekend.Here is my take on Saturday's transit study meeting in Dearborn. ]

After the DARTA fiasco, DDOT moved to begin the process of setting up a "new system" under a special federal funding category. This has to be done by an official oversight body (DDOT, in the absence of a true regional oversight body). DDOT's official service area includes Detroit, Dearborn, Highland Park, and Hamtramck. Thus, any plan they come up with will have to stay inside those boundaries.

There are several existing transit plans: Detroit's, SEMCOG's, the state's, and the Regional Transit Coordinating Committee (RTCC). The SEMCOG plan, and to a certain extent the state plan, incorporate Detroit's transit plan almost exactly. According to the project people answering questions today, all of the proposed rapid transit corridors in this project will mesh with the regional plans when the time comes to expand into Oakland, Macomb, and the rest of Wayne Counties.

[NOTE, not entirely from the meeting: RTCC existed before DARTA, and has primarily existed to funnel federal funds to individual transit groups, like DDOT or SMART. Now that DARTA is shot down, RTCC will become the oversight body for regional transit. They have restructured over the last few months, and are now moving toward that goal.] This is the second stage in the design process. The first stage identified several transit corridors for study, and this stage has narrowed it to three from which to select the first line to be built. The three are: Woodward from Downtown to Eight Mile, Michigan Avenue from downtown to West Dearborn plus Woodward up to New Center, and Gratiot Avenue from downtown to Eight Mile plus Woodward up to New Center. So, all three include lower Woodward.

The options for service type: (1) nothing beyond what we have now; (2) an enhanced version of what we have now; (3) Bus Rapid Transit (train-like busses in dedicated lanes or busways, stopping only at stations, priority at intersections); (4) streetcars; (5) light rail. The comment period for this stage of the study ends Aug. 29. A choice for corridor and type of service will come as early as November, then design work will begin. The timeline for construction to begin is 2010.

One of the displays at the meeting compared Detroit to other cities regarding population, density, miles of built transit lines (three miles in D!), miles of expressway, transit ridership, etc. The Detroit region has much higher density, population, and ridership than nearly all of the other cities in the display. It really makes me doubt the density arguments against a transit system for Detroit.

To me, and as much as I'd like to see a line on Grand River, Woodward Avenue should get the first line. Comparing Michigan Avenue and Gratiot Avenue: Michigan Avenue has many more institutions and business areas, including the mostly-undeveloped Clark Street business park, UM-Dearborn/HF Community College, shopping, along with the need to develop the Detroit-Metro-Ann Arbor corridor. Gratiot has Eastern Market area, City Airport, and a community college campus. On that one I'm going by the printed materials. I'm much less familiar with the east side. Frankly, it is too bad that only one can be chosen. We need a full blown system yesterday, and all of the major "spoke" streets should be developed, along with Eight Mile, Telegraph, Southfield, Greenfield, and 12 Mile.

One of the URS representatives said that their presentation graphics should be posted online soon. URS is an international engineering company that has done many streetcar, light rail, and bus rapid transit projects. Here's a link to a list of recent projects, including Boston BRT, Portland streetcar and light rail, London Underground, Minneapolis Hiawatha line. http://www.urscorp.com/URS_Division/projectsListing.php?service=95&section=0602

The citizens who made comments today were very thoughtful and enthusiastic for the project, and all expressed frustration with the current state of transit in the region.

How walkable is your neighborhood?

Well, I came across this link in one of the blogs I read regularly (Buschick in the Seattle P-I site). It is a pretty cool site that calculates the walkability of your neighborhood: Walkscore.com

Our urban neighborhood here in Rosedale Park, Detroit, gets a 54 out of 100, which I guess means it is decently walkable. It uses Google to garner info on how far it is from your address to different types of locations, such as grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and so on. A list for each category pops up showing distances. That can cause a problem with your score if, for instance, a close location is missing. In our case, the closest coffee shop is listed as a mile and a half away-- a Dunkin' Donuts-- but there is a donut shop only five blocks from our house, easily walkable in just a few minutes. But, the site is still fun, and gives a sense of how walkable your community really is.