Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert has an urbanist streak. And only people with his kind of money can singlehandedly buy out big chunks of downtown Detroit. But will his approach to neighborhood-making actually benefit the city as a whole?
In recent years, billionaire Dan Gilbert has been busy buying much of downtown Detroit south of Adams Street. Unlike urban speculators before him, Gilbert doesn’t raze and rebuild or sit on parking lots. He intends to revitalize the neighborhood as it stands, fixing up classic old derelicts and re-purposing them to befit a tech-savvy modern economy.
For that, “people in Detroit talk about Gilbert like he’s the Wizard of Oz, and that might be the closest analogy. He may be a land-hungry billionaire — but he’s the most civic-minded land-hungry billionaire the city has seen in a long time.”
But the picture isn’t all rosy. The article explains how Zappos founder Tony Hsieh attempted to create a walkable business haven in downtown Las Vegas, with disappointing results. An actual visit to Gilbert’s new district is underwhelming. There’s a lack of diversity, and few actual customers to patronize the hip retailers Gilbert attracts. The district seems disconnected from the rest of Detroit.
The article questions whether it is wise to rely on the resources and whims of the super-rich to turn urban cores around. Developers like Dan Gilbert may come armed with dollars and a vision, and even good intentions, but their methods for urban "placemaking" are always dictated from the top down.
FULL STORY: Behind every crumbling downtown is a billionaire who wants to save it
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Orlando Pledges to Improve Walkability
A city report highlights successes and failures in building safer transportation infrastructure and reducing VMT in 2023.
New York Transit Agency Launches Performance Dashboard
The tool increases transparency about the agency’s performance on a variety of metrics.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.