In the meantime, here’s a link to Plan Detroit’s website for more info on the master plan update process: www.https://www.plandetroit.com/#Top

Today’s event is an interactive workshop for community members to help develop policies that address housing and neighborhood needs in Detroit. If you can’t make it today, the next workshop is Monday, Apr 14 at 5pm. Here’s the registration link:

People are starting to get settled in and we should start in a few minutes. One of the facilitators said that 100 people are expected to be here today.

Starting off with a presentation introducing Plan Detroit’s mission: last Master Plan was completed in 2009 and hasn’t been updated since. A lot has changed in Detroit, so it’s time for a refresh. Plan Detroit has been engaging the community since early 2024 to draft a new master plan.

Today’s discussion is the first of five workshops about key issues in Detroit’s neighborhoods.

Plan Detroit City Voices tour asked almost 4000 Detroiters about their vision for the future of the city. They also conducted a survey to understand Detroiters priorities. Quality/affordable housing and neighborhoods was by far the highest priority for respondents.

Urban designer from Smith Group named Bethany is now giving an overview of all data collected to date. Over 80% of homes in the city are over 60 years old. This means they are harder and more expensive to maintain.

Other data shared:

-23% of Detroit homes are currently sitting vacant.
-13,000 seniors living alone in Detroit

Today’s goal: Co-create a land use policy to determine how we can make Detroit neighborhoods more affordable and livable.

Moving onto discussion portion. There are about 18 round tables with 5-8 people at each table. Each table has a facilitator from Plan Detroit to guide participants through the various feedback activities.

Participants had about an hour to discuss and prioritize six key ideas:

Tables are now sharing out on the ideas they discussed.
-Education: educating renters and home owners on their rights and navigating property finances.
-Universal design: design for folks with mobility challenges, seniors, etc.
-aging in place: transitional homes for seniors

One woman expressed concerns about government transparency and emphasized the importance of always consulting communities before making changes to zoning, regulations, etc that affect them

And that’s a wrap! The first of five Plan Detroit interactive workshops has concluded. People are eager to see what Plan Detroit will do with all the valuable ideas shared by community members. Will this master plan make meaningful change or sit collecting dust?

This concludes my live coverage of the Detroit Planning and Development Dept. Plan Detroit Policy Workshop- Neighborhoods and Housing. For more information check out the link below⬇️

If you believe anything in this live coverage is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.