NW Goldberg Cares, a community development corporation, transformed 6134 15th Street into a Holland Maze Lot Design through Detroit Future City. NW Goldberg Cares ALSO implemented a program called Reading in the Holland Maze to boost literacy in Detroit.
Photo provided by NW Goldberg Cares’ Facebook page
The city of Detroit’s over 670,000 residents live in about 139-square-miles with over 24 of those square miles vacant.
Detroit Future City (DFC), a non-profit think tank organization that uses policy advocacy and data to help create a better future for Detroiters, envisions turning those empty spaces into revitalized areas where community members can create and gather. And with the help of residents, and through partnerships [like the Detroit Land Bank Authority] that reality is happening block by block.
During a Dec. 2 virtual lunch and learn presentation, DCF, and DLBA representatives spoke about what building and developing looks like in the city from a resident’s perspective.
Megan McGreal, manager, Land Reuse at DLBA, spoke during the event.
“[It] is delightful to have partnered with Detroit Future Cities [as they] talk about some great programs and resources they have for land beautification and activation,” McGreal said.
Pier Davis, Land Use & Sustainability Program manager with DFC, said that one of the programs DFC developed is addressing how best to use the city’s vacant land.
“We aim to make it easier for Detroiters to transform or beautify their vacant lots in their communities,” McGreal said. “And we also address stormwater issues that come along with increased rainfall and flooding we have seen as a result of climate change.”
Davis said that the vacant land is a blank canvas where residents can think of ideas on what they might want to do with it.
The DFC’s “The Field Guide to Working With Lots”, [a detailed guide that shows 38 lot designs] has answers to multiple questions about what might come next in the lot acquiring process.
Presently, there are over 120,000 vacant lots — inside of those 24 square miles— throughout Detroit. According to DFC statistics, 72% of the city’s vacant lots are located in areas of concentrated poverty, with a poverty rate greater than 40%. Detroit also has an aging water system that is often overwhelmed by increasingly frequent and intense severe weather events, leading to flooding in parts of the city, according to https://dfc-lots.com/.
Davis said that DFC, formed in 2010, released in 2012 a long-term vision after receiving over 100,000 responses from Detroiters about what they want to see in the city.
“We continue to work toward implementing strategies and programs that advance the recommendations created in that vision,” Davis said. “We work on community and economic development and focus on sustainability. … It’s the foundation of the working with lots program that offers Detroiters step-by-step instruction to transforming lots.”
She added that when transforming lots many factors goes into it such as thinking about what to create in that lot; the budget; supplies needed; and what team members would be involved.
For five years the DFC offered a working with lots program, a grant program to beautify and transform vacant lots. 50 grantees have participated and over $380,000 has been awarded; 24 unique designs were installed throughout the city and nine acres of land were transformed.
From overgrown shrubs and neglected lots to transformed spaces filled with colorful flowers, benches, intricate walkways, and maintained open space, the lots are “pretty manageable and easy to implement” Davis said, adding that other benefits of fixing up lots include getting to know neighbors, improved safety, and connectivity to nature.
“The working with lots program was instrumental in us developing our pocket park initiative across our neighborhood,” said Daniel A. Washington, founder and president of NW Goldberg Cares, a community development corporation. “The staff insight and ability to help us understand how to maximize land was needed as we converted blighted property to vibrant, usable space.”
The group transformed 6134 15th Street into a Holland Maze Lot Design, and have implemented a program called Reading in the Holland Maze to champion child literacy in Detroit.
Review the city of Detroit’s new plot plan, site design, and maintenance guide: https://detroitmi.gov/land.
For more information on DFC and lots go to https://dfc-lots.com/.
For more information on DLBA or for property-specific questions visit inquire@detroitlandbank.org or call 313-974-6869 or go to buildingdetroit.org.
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