Detroit Future City has released a guidebook for the process of redeveloping, renovating, and remediating neighborhoods full of vacant and blighted properties.
Jennifer Chambers reports on a new tool to help Detroit residents "transform vacant land from neighborhood liabilities to landscaped assets." The "Field Guide to Working With Lots," released by Detroit Future City (DFC), is available in print and online, with step-by-step instructions for how to transform vacant lots.
The guide offers 34 lot designs, according to Chambers, "developed specifically for Detroit’s land conditions and with input from Detroiters, DFC officials said. They range from a clay soil meadow to dumping preventer to basement rain garden. Each design makes recommendations for the level of experience, upkeep and stormwater needed, as well as the cost."
"The field guide website includes a 'Discover Your Lot' quiz, a glossary of terms and the lot designs that can be downloaded. The website will also have images and updates on examples of other organizations, groups and residents working with land in Detroit, including examples of where designs from the field guide are being built," adds Chambers.
The article includes more detail on how the guide was developed.
FULL STORY: Online tool to help Detroiters transform vacant lots
Detroit Residents Find it Hard to Access Land Bank Properties
Longtime residents say the city is not fulfilling its goal of keeping vacant parcels in the hands of locals as property values rise steeply.
Detroit's Vacant Properties Strategy Explained
The Detroit Free Press offers clear analysis of the multiple ongoing efforts in Detroit to improve vacant and blighted properties and return them to the benefit of the city's neighborhoods and residents.
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.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
Congestion Pricing Drops Holland Tunnel Delays by 65 Percent
New York City’s contentious tolling program has yielded improved traffic and roughly $100 million in revenue for the MTA.
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
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.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service