Interview with Dan Gilbert on Downtown, Light Rail, and others (Detroit: renters, loft)

[Tyveker]

Downtown Detroit's Big Booster - Jobs & Economy - The Atlantic Cities

Nothing particularly new but I'm happy to see that he wasn't bitter about what when on with the light rail - leave that to the citizens, its good for an official in this context to maintain some composure. But of course the light rail's prospects are looking far more optimistic than a month ago.

This is one hundred percent true:

"People in their 20s and 30s, the best and brightest coming out of our universities, the vast majority of them want to be in a cool urban core in a hip city. Period. So, if we’re going to retain and maintain talent in our companies and have innovative creative people, we’ve got to make sure that we’re in the right locations that are going to generate the interest of those people. All of our businesses are Internet-related, technology-related, entertainment-related businesses. So thinking we’re going to do that in a suburban setting where people have to walk a couple hundred yards across asphalt in the middle of winter, it’s probably not going cut it for the kind of folks that we’re trying to attract. Kids don’t leave suburban Detroit to go to suburban Chicago or suburban New York or suburban L.A. They’re going to the downtowns. Most of the activity and the kinds of areas and the companies that are attractive to people who are the best and brightest in our view want to be in the urban core."

This is just the plain, bare fact of the matter - I testify as a member of this demographic group!

[ForStarters]

This is common sense. If you're a 26-year-old post graduate, with no plans for children until your mid 30s, the things you place a premium on will be: youthful social settings, entertainment, creative institutions, fast accessibility to things, a large choice of dining options, sports and concerts venues, bars and nightlife.

Outside of work, people want things to do and they want to be physically near those things so as to streamline access to them. Urban areas can usually offer those opportunities. What people don't want is sedentary lifestyles that encompass a significant amount of alone time and isolation. They do not want to be locked into the slow, mundane schedule of work, home, sleep, work, home, sleep, work, etc.

Young people, especially, would prefer to be able to change the scenery every night by going to different restaurants, bars, venues, events, etc. They naturally crave stimulation and want to see and meet different people, make friends, network, and perhaps find a mate. These things are not facilitated by suburban living, which is basically centered around the home and the people inside of it. If you are young and live alone, you will be left with only yourself every day/night if you choose the suburban option.

This is also true for older, empty-nesters, who are finding that a suburban home is a lonely and boring place to be once their kids have moved on. You can only sit in a chair and watch the tube so long before you start to feel like a puddle on the floor. Urban areas concentrate lots of things to do and offer a variety of experiences. They encourage some physical exercise, which is good for both young and old.

I suspect that a suburban home is great for raising a family because your interests at that point go from looking outward to inward responsibility. A house serves as a home base for a family and offers a certain amount of comfort that an urban loft does not. But, this idea that we should all live in the suburbs is ridiculous and it is why few people are interested in living here, be they young or old. On top of that, even people with families would like to have a vibrant city to go to on weekends, even if they live out in the quiet suburbs.

If you do not fix the urban core, there will be little demand for the suburban areas in the future. A city is a magnet for young people, who eventually may want a suburban home to raise a family. If you do not attract them in the first place, the suburban housing market will continue its decline. The whole cycle is pretty simple, really.

Edit: In regard to light rail- it is an essential piece of infrastructure for urban environments. Period. If you cannot traverse the urban area without a car, the urban area makes no sense.

[Indentured Servant]

The nuclear family has been on the decline for decades. The fertilty rate of American women has been in decline. Hence, the future trend will be urban renters who value density and mobility. They really have no need for the suburban model and mode of living.

The change will be slower, initially, for Detroit, due to the pharisees and scribes, but detroit will grow again.

[animatedmartian]

Perfect example is the first half of this video.


Meet Some of the Villages - West Village, Gold Coast, Indian Village and the Tashmoo Biergarten - YouTube


In an ideal situation, I could see light rail connecting this area to Midtown. It could very easily be like the Gold Coast of Chicago...well, maybe not in numbers, but certainly in principle.