• Cyburbia is a friendly big tent, where we share our experiences and thoughts about urban planning practice, the built environment, planning adjacent topics, and anything else that comes to mind. No ads, no spam, and it's free. It's easy to join!

Cyburbans 🧐 NPC26 Detroit

SlaveToTheGrind

SlaveToTheGrind

Cyburbian
Messages
4,845
Points
53
I may potentially be attending. Have had preliminary discussion. Tigers are away, Red Wings only if in playoffs, Pistons I don't care to see, and the Lions will be likely relishing in their first SB win. As a Vikings fan, that hurts to say.

Detroit has never been on my bucket list. For those in the know, what does Detroit have to offer? Born and raised in South Detroit (Canada) girls? Not looking for one, however.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I usually am uninterested in the APA national conferences, but I really want to go to this one. I haven't been to the D since 2014, and have people there I've been neglecting to visit.

Ill see if I can get the job to sponsor me, I would stay with a friend in Corktown and so they wouldn't need to pay for lodging.
 
JNA said:
Not going - no longer a member of APA, AICP.
Click to expand...
You gave it up?

I contemplate giving mine up and going full IEDC and getting a CEcD, but the sunk costs with getting the credential and all of the $ and effort spent on CM over the years just feels too high.
 
I don't get downtown in Detroit nearly as much as I used to but during the day MF downtown and Midtown are pretty lively and, depending on what events are going on, can be pretty busy in the evenings too.

  • The Riverwalk passes right by the Huntington Place convention center and stretches quite a way to the north/east and a bit towards the south/west. When the weather is nice, there are a lot of pedestrians on the Riverwalk basically all day and well into the evening and there are a few nice (but small) parks along the Riverwalk - we especially like the William Milliken State Park a few blocks north of the RenCen complex.
  • If you are around during a weekend, Detroit's Eastern Market is a great place. It's more a wholesale market than a farmer's market but it's huge and has some good people-watching opportunities if you don't really need to buy a pallet of apples or 5 pounds of cheese. There are also some pretty good restaurants right near the market.
  • John K. King Used and Rare Books is a few blocks west of downtown and has got to be one of the largest used book stores in the country. I think it's 4 or 5 floors of stuff to look through... just don't expect things to be well organized other than by broad topic.
  • Lafayette Towers and Lafayette Park are just south of the Eastern Market and while there isn't a museum or anything, the area has some very noteworthy MCM architecture, anchored by the Lafayette Towers Apartments designed by Mies van der Rohe.
  • About 2 miles north of downtown in Midtown, the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) is a fantastic venue and definitely worth a visit. I try to visit whatever the major art museum is in every large city I go to and I may be biased but the DIA really is one of the best for a city Detroit's size.
  • Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is a few blocks south of the DIA and is a pretty good modern art museum. They change out their exhibits quite frequently and also host live music (they are currently closed for some major renovations but I believe they're supposed to reopen later this fall)
  • Across Woodward from the DIA is the campus of Wayne State University. The university stuff isn't particularly noteworthy but there has been a ton of commercial and retail development along most of the streets right around the campus (Cass Ave, 2nd Ave, 3rd Ave) over the past decade so there are a ton of restaurants and bars in that area, most of which didn't exist when I was a student there nearly 20 years ago.
  • The main branch of the Detroit Public Library is directly across the street from the DIA and that can be worth a stop if you have time.
  • The Motown Museum is about another mile north of WSU and I haven't been there in years but IIRC, they just had some major renovations/expansion within the past few years and it always gets pretty great reviews from visitors.
  • By the time the conference rolls around, the new Grodie Gate Bridge should be open and I'm 98% certain it's supposed to have a bicycle/pedestrian crossing to Canada. There isn't really much right around the bridge on either side of border, but if you've got a passport or an enhanced Driver's License, it might be cool to be able to say you walked to Canada!
  • It's months and months out so who knows what will be on the bill but there are a bunch of good live entertainment venues in and around downtown:
If one makes it out to the suburbs, I can rattle off a bunch of restaurants and places to see and things to do, especially around the Woodward Corridor from Ferndale up through Bloomfield Hills, but I will call out a couple suburban destinations here that might be worth the trip if you've got the time:
  • The campus of the "Cranbrook Educational Community" is in Bloomfield Hills (about 16 miles north of downtown) and contains the Cranbrook House and Gardens, the Cranbrook Art Museum, the Cranbrook Science Center, and Saarinen House along with the campus of the Cranbrook Kingswood Schools. The art museum is small but usually has a pretty good special exhibit and Eli Saarinen's residence at the campus (Saarinen House) is a gorgeous example of art deco architecture and can be toured (though they have wacky hours). The 30,000 square foot Cranbrook House, built by noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn in 1908 can also be toured but they too have wacky hours. The entire ~200 acre campus is open to the public and has a lot of gorgeous art deco architecture and the gardens are always nice to explore, no matter the time of year. The architecture school at Cranbrook also maintains the FLW Smith House, about a mile west of the campus. The Smith House is one of FLW's smallest houses but is a gorgeous example of the Usonian style and is open for tours usually starting sometime in the spring. I live a couple miles from The Smith House and run past all the time. When we first moved here the house was empty and poorly maintained by an absentee family in California. I would run past and dream that one day there'd be a "For Sale" sign out front and I could buy it and restore it to all its glory. (Unfortunately?) Cranbrook obtained the house a few years back and restored it 1000x better than I ever could (with my zero carpentry skills). The Affleck House is another Usonian FLW house just north of Cranbrook which is maintained by Lawrence Technological University and is also open for tours and other special events. We live just south of Cranbrook and it's honestly one of my favorite places in the region.
  • The other suburban place worth stopping by is The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. IIRC it's the most-visited tourist destination in the state and is one of the largest museums in the country. They have some great exhibits about automobiles and manufacturing but also architecture and "innovation" and "the American experience". I know those are broad, generic terms but they fit. FWIW, my favorite exhibit is always the giant trains... I like trains! The Henry Ford (which, in addition to the museum also includes Greenfield Village and the Rouge Factory Tour), is easily the "premiere" museum in Michigan. The Henry Ford is usually at the top of any list for out-of-towners visiting the Detroit area, and for good reason.
 
YES.



















OK, I will expand on that. In addition to the regular reasons to attend a conference, I am going because of the following:
1 - I have watched the resurgence of Detroit and it will be great to see some of the latest updates
2 - I still have a ton of planner friends up there and it would be great to catch up with them.
3 - Because of this place: https://detroitfoundationhotel.com/ (Detroit Hotels | Stay at Detroit Foundation Hotel)
My Grandfather was stationed here as a lieutenant for many years. His helmet sits on the book shelf in my office.
 
I was hoping to go, but I've got regular meetings on the last two days and ton of personal stuff coming up in early May. I wish they would move them back to March or early April.
 
I've confirmed with management that I'll be there. I am not, however, going to Houston in 2027. I still have PTSD from traffic from my last several visits. :-O

JIm
 
Planit said:
Need to decide between NPC & CNU
Click to expand...
Its like choosing between two antiquated and unreliable cars. APA is going to be your '63 Buick Special with a 4 speed and Fireball V6 - Archaic but straightforward to work on/always possible to fix when it breaks. The CNU is also antiquated and unreliable but is more like a British Rover 800 sedan with electrical issues and bad compression - was a star in its original era (the 90s), but is more effort than its worth to restore/run as a classic today.
 
I'm planning on it, budget willing. I skipped this year to go to CNU instead and it was OK, I had to miss the local gov. day at the beginning for a graduation I needed to be at but I did get to see Andres Duany and his dog.

I've never been to Detroit other than the airport (which I always loved connecting through).
 
I plan on going and have alot of experience with SE MI...and MI in general.

For instance, my MUP group capstone project in Spring 2002 was a market analysis of the entire eastside of Detroit.

Retail category retention, leakage and redevelopment opportunities.

Plus, it is a writ-large case study of market and urban failure. It's a fascinating city and Metro.

The massive juxtaposition of extreme industrial wealth generation for an entire century effectively with staggering poverty and social strife.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
what does Detroit have to offer?
Click to expand...

After you realize the city's endemic Sprawly McSprawl has deadened your spirit, you scream in despair at how utterly necessary a city of this size needs - nay, requires - an actual subway system, and by shear force of will, you actually do not let the cognitive dissonance nest and flourish in that one part of your brain, and, alas, you have indeed arrived to your most inspired mental liminal space and determined, that, yes, it is okay to hang out at Trapper's Alley, eat some Greek cuisine, chug some beers, and hopefully find a loose-knit friend-group of ill-tempered suburbanites meandering aimlessly through that dimly-lit row of new-ish penny slots, and, at this point, you are just glad to see actual people in the casino, ready to be delighted by that fateful magic tap of the button on the face of Super Sevens with that sweet pot of Wheel of Fortune progressive gold ready to put out for once.

Or you could just say that I'm full of it and do what WSU MUP Student suggests, but heed my warning, you will need a car.

But just in case you don't think I am entirely full of crap, just know that one time 25 years ago I did take my family to Detroit, and we ended up driving to the Heidelberg Project and were deeply inspired by it. And I'm not funning around. I'm serious, it's like a neighborhood-sized art piece. Truly unique. You should go!

Also: When I first started dating my wife, we took a trip to downtown Detroit and saw a performance at the Gem Theater. Such a wonderful little play house. Just a stone's throw from the baseball statdium where the Detroit Tigers play. But that was 20+ years ago when the Gem Theater actually hosted performances. I am not so sure they do that anymore, it's been a while. But a beautiful cute small building adding character to a busy, fast-paced part of downtown.

You need to be ready to be challenged by Detroit. It is not an easy city. I will say it has come a long way in the past 25 years. It deserves to be the host of the NPC right now. And I mean that, my cheerleader's skirt is nowhere near me right now. This is me being sincere.

One last thing. Detroit is a sports city. Earlier this year I took my teenage son and his friends to the NFL draft event. What a memorable time, perfectly executed, pure sports perfection! The city done that event up real good, a full and honest and hard-earned One Hundred Percent!
 
Back
Top