Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager, has expressed his belief that the city can clear its backlog of 78,000 blighted buildings within the next 18-36 months.
"Orr told the Free Press on Tuesday that Detroit’s 2-month-old blight task force, co-chaired by Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert, will soon have a plan to deal with all of the estimate 78,000 blighted structures 'in basically a year-and-a-half to three years, to remediate the city of all blight, in some fashion,'” reports Tom Walsh.
As we noted recently, the task force is leading an effort to document the city's crumbling and vacant properties - the first step in tackling the scourge. Walsh notes that the database could be completed early next year.
New Orleans' experience in clearing properties damaged and abandoned following Hurricane Katrina may provide a model for the shrinking city.
Read the full story: Tom Walsh: Orr dreams of a blight-free Detroit within 3 years
Detroit Blight Fight Begins in Earnest Monday
75 teams of surveyors will fan out across Detroit on Monday to begin cataloging the city's vacant buildings block-by-block. One of the leaders of the effort is estimating that eliminating blight could cost $1 billion.
Getting to Know Decaying Detroit, Parcel-by-Parcel
An "unprecedented" effort being led by Detroit’s new Blight Task Force will document the city's crumbling and vacant properties. It's part of a multi-pronged effort to combat Detroit's widespread blight.
Detroit Mayor Proposes Vacant Lot Tax
A new tax plan would reform the city’s famously low vacancy tax rates in an effort to stimulate more housing development and limit speculation.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
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