Margaret Dewar Urban and Regional Planning Program

University of Michigan

February 12, 2010

Remaking the City after Abandonment

Three questions:

1. What do abandoned sections of cities become?

2. Why are these the outcomes? What makes a difference in these outcomes?

3. What should the city become?

Residential Properties in DetroitNumber (000) Percent

Vacant structures 30.8 9Vacant lots 91.5 27Total 343.9 100

What do abandoned sections of cities become?

Source: Detroit Residential Parcel Survey, D3, Sept. 2009

What do abandoned sections of cities become?

Created by M. Khanna & S. Bailey; data from Detroit Planning & Development Department, 2006.

What do abandoned sections of cities become?

Figure-ground showing structures in Brightmoor, DetroitSource: Doherty et al., A Land Use Plan for Brightmoor (Urban & Regional Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2008)

What do abandoned sections of cities become?

“Homesteads” in Brightmoor, DetroitSource: Doherty et al., A Land Use Plan for Brightmoor (Urban & Regional Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2008)

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

Public ownership ?

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

Detroit Auctioned Flint Auctioned

49.6%47.5%

0.5%

1.4%

1.1%

33.6%

58.8%

3.4%

4.0%

0.2%

Vacant LandIncorporated with adjacent homeowner’s propertyPart of new developmentIncorporated with adjacent non-residential propertyStructures predating foreclosure

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

37.0% of Auctioned Properties78.0% of Vacant Land

Detroit Flint

46.2% of Auctioned Properties78.6% of Vacant Land

Vacant with no use

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

Vacant LandIncorporated with adjacent homeowner’s propertyPart of new developmentIncorporated with adjacent non-residential propertyStructures predating foreclosure

Detroit Auctioned Detroit Sold From Inventory

49.6%47.5%

1.4%

1.1% 0.5%

35.2%

26.1%

27.1%

10.1%1.5%

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

33.6%

58.8%

3.4%4.0%

0.2%

Vacant LandIncorporated with adjacent homeowner’s propertyPart of new developmentIncorporated with adjacent non-residential propertyStructures predating foreclosure

15.5%

29.3%46.6%

8.6%

Flint Auctioned Genesee Land Bank

Detroit Cleveland

33.2%

32.7%

9.6%

24.6%0.5%

52.0%

23.5%

24.0%

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

2.0% of properties sold

New development – housing

Detroit

45.0% of properties sold

Cleveland

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

Community-based developers’ reuse of city-owned land purchased for development

Detroit Cleveland(1983-May 2006) (1988-May 2005)

Number of city-owned properties purchased for development 2756 3393 Per 10,000 parcels of city property 71.2 208.2 Per 10,000 city residents 29.0 70.9% of these properties remaining unused 29.2 27.3 % of properties purchased before 2004 remaining unused 22.5 4.6

Sources: Calculations derived from data in Detroit City Property Inventory System and Cleveland City Register, State of Michigan Revitalife records, U.S. Bureau of the Census 2000, GIS maps from Detroit Planning & Development Department and Cleveland Planning Commission, aerial photos of both cities.

The Record

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

Why have Cleveland community-based developers been so much more successful than those in Detroit in reusing property?

The community development system:Political support

– The relationship with city council– The mayor’s agenda– City departments

IntermediariesWorking relationships

The Explanation

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

What makes a difference in what cities become after abandonment?

Cleveland’s local intermediaries

• Michigan State University Land Policy Institute

• Ginsberg Center, University of Michigan

• Associate Provost, University of Michigan

• Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, University of Michigan

• Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corporation

• Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Thank you to many people in Flint, Cleveland, and Detroit who helped us with data and taught us about the cities.

Thank you for financial support to:

Thank you to 18 research assistants.

Questions?