Abandoned - Unfinished Bloomfield Park 

The answer to "why is it abandoned?" is always 2008. Always.

Episode 90! I can't believe we're only 10 episodes away from the century mark of 100. You have done an outstanding job with Abandoned and all your other series throughout the years Jake! 📽

As someone who lives in Metro Detroit, this is such a hilarious failure of the area given how many of these are around here now. (My grandparents still refer to any new development as "Bloomfield Park 2") But I have no doubt if this existed today it would be thriving

As someone who lives in metro Detroit, any time there's a new project or proposition, the locals always say it will disrupt the character of the city. Even if it means bulldozing decrepit health hazards or drug houses, locals will always find a way to complain about it.

Please do an episode on the Michigan Central Station in Detroit! It was abandoned since the 80s but Ford renovated & now it’s open to the public again. Detroit has come a long way in the last couple years!

Great video. As a small business owner of 20 years, the 2007-2008 crisis was something we’ve never quite recovered from. I can only imagine the large scale losses these projects had. It was a devastating time economically.

It's crazy how time flies over the last 90 episodes, I started watching this series when I was still in elementary school in 2014, and now im going into my final year of college in September.

Anything negative is always blamed on Detroit, because the title should really be “Bloomfield Hill’s unfinished Bloomfield Park!”

I worked right next to this place at a hockey store, and it’s now a small retail area with a doctors office and hotel. Not what it was supposed to be but I’m glad a lot of it has been redeveloped.

How is this Detroit’s problem? This place is 30 miles from the city and had nothing to do with Detroit.

The same thing happened in Alpharetta, GA in 2008. A project that was supposed to be an urban live, work, play complex stopped building. Eventually they had to rip everything down and start over as a live, play project. Lots of retail with apartments above the retail, homes on one side, and a hotel / convention center on the other side. It is now a thriving community.

Hard to believe there’s now 90 episodes of Abandoned, can’t wait to see what the 100th episode of Abandoned will be

I live in Bloomfield Township, and remember the buildings just sitting. I was VERY young at the time and I would ask my parents back then what they were for, and they told me that the buildings were being torn down. My parents personally never thought the land would be used again. But it is. I regularly go to the Planet Fitness there, and my dad goes to the Menards there a good bit for whatever reasons he needs to go there. The parking lots always have a lot of cars and it’s always pretty busy. Great work Jake, can’t wait to see more!

I used to drive past this place every day as a kid and ask my parents what in the world it was. I never really got an answer, so this video is really cool to see. I actually worked at the Aldi now on the property a few times, and still had no idea. It sounds like a project that was way ahead of its time, but who knows if it would work out even today. It a shame that these massive parking projects "work better" than projects that project a happier lifestyle. Now I wonder what my community would have looked like if this project made it to completion

i got jumpscared at the realization youre almost at 100 episodes of abandoned. this series kept me sane during quarentine and brought about my major interest in abandoned and bankrupt companies. you have put out a great series and it just keeps getting better in quality. heres to 100!!

I’ve lived in metro Detroit my whole life and never knew about this. I love your work!

I mean this in the best way, Jake: the even, calm tone and cadence to your voice makes these Abandoned episodes really great for falling asleep to after first viewing. They're very soothing!

I remember moving to Pontiac in 2010 and seeing these structures. I left Michigan around 2016. I still come back and just a few months ago I got to stay at the hotel built on site. Its very nice and has good staff. The wingstop in the rebuilt center...ehh. They need a nice restaurant within walking distance

90! Been watching since the beginning, I feel like a proud mama! You’ve come so far and I still love your passion for these spaces. Kudos!

Wow this is over 30 minutes away from Detroit. This is not located in Detroit.

I grew up about a mile away from these buildings. I moved about a decade ago, but just yesterday I was randomly in the area talking to my friend about how these abandon buildings just stood there after the 2008 recession. I was driving past the site trying to seek them out, when I saw the Henry Ford sign and immediately knew that was one of the old structures. I remember being excited of what the buildings could become when it quickly became apparent that they weren’t going to become anything at all. I never knew the original concept, but S/O to Bright Sun for shedding light on Pontiac MI and well documenting its history. Also, still shocked this was posted probably around the exact same time I was driving by and talking about these buildings. Good job Jake with documenting these hidden gems and these random places.

I love when they leave little things abandoned on site like the board walks they left. So cool to me.

Incredibly informative and well put together video. I am so grateful to have visited it during the brief period it was accessible, it was a huge item checked off the bucket list for my crew and I during our time venturing around this place. Absolutely fascinating history, what a shame it never came to fruition. Appreciate highlighting some of our shots from inside that place, wish I could do it all over again with the equipment I have now. It's not every day you come across a rotting modern cityscape. Banger content as per usual, cheers from Detroit, man :)

What a metaphor for the New Urbanism movement as a whole... Both Edmonton and Calgary tried to build N.U. suburbs at McKenzie Towne @ Calgary and Tewilligar Towne @ Edmonton but gave up the concept after like 2 years of pokey sales... Now the rest of both projects are finished off in bland vinyl-wrapped 2-car garage in front developments with only a couple of blocks of Victorian-esque architecture to trick you.. What a shame!

Hey Jake! Long time subscriber here, and I’ve loved your videos for so long! I’m in the island of Hawaii right now, and noticed a completely abandoned structure that was once Punalu’u village resort and restaurant. There isn’t too much information about it, and thought that this would be a perfect idea for an abandoned episode since you do places like this justice. Hope you see this!

This reminds me of the WaterWalk development here in Wichita. It was going to be "the" catalyst for downtown with shopping, hotels, offices, apartments, condos, restaurants and entertainment. It's since become a long-term hotel/apartment dwelling (by the same name), a condo structure, short term hotel, an office building, and a small fountain deck with...more downtown parking lots that we don't need.

Such a fascinating video. New urbanism has a lot of flaws that have been adapted in Urbanism as it is today. Still though, this is a great example of why a good idea isn’t always a good end project. Sometimes realities like interest rates, funding structures, material costs, etc need to be at the forefront of design. Brilliant video as always ❤

I swear there’s a lot of abandoned places in Detroit you can do an entire series over the city.

Great episode. Never seen anyone take on this debacle of a project. As a resident of Bloomfield Township, there is a minor nit; it is not a city. It is a charter township which is a legally independent entity from the county which has shared services (police, fire, animal control, etc). However, a charter township can be carved up into cities if the residents of a particular parcel collectively decide to do so, which is how Pontiac was able to annex the land; the rest of the township had no say in the matter. There weren't very many residents in that particular parcel, so the developers made sure the half of them voted the right way (*cough* promises of a big check in exchange for the future destruction of their home *cough*) Somewhat ironically the rest of Bloomfield Township is one of the richest areas in Michigan and has one of the best school districts. The new "24 at Bloomfield" apartment complex (whats left of the residential plan) are very nice and get to put a Bloomfield Twp zip code (48302), but the residents do not get to send their kids to Bloomfield Hills Schools and they gets Pontiac services.

Bloomfield Park is not near Detroit. This is a 40 minute drive from Detroit near probably one of the most rich areas of Michigan.

Can’t wait to see episode 100! Love this series.

I understand wanting a sensational title, but Detroit is NOT Pontiac. Bloomfield Park is Bloomfield Township and Pontiac's development failure.

Yessss I live in metro Detroit! Thank you for doing a video on this! Excited to watch :-)

Another planned community bites the dust.

Lived in the new apartments built on the site for the past 2 years and can confirm that the parking garage was nearly always empty. The small parking lot in front of the medical center never even filled up, so always wondered why they built the garage 😅

Been watching since 2017. I go to Oakland University, hearing you cover my backyard is cool lmao.

No better way to start the weekend than a lil bsf ☀️

You know it's a good day when your favorite commentator makes a new video

This video put me to sleep like a real bedtime story. Not because it was boring but due to your soooothing voice and pristine storytelling. I woke up and finished it. You’re amazing! #LongTimeSubscriber ❤️❤️❤️

Not in Detroit mind you. People love to attach Detroit to any negative headline, but when there’s a positive headline *crickets*

I dont know about anyone else but living in a shoebox apt in a high rise building in a concrete jungle with no natural land sounds awful. Pontiac is like Detroit and Flint. Auto jobs leave and it destroys the local economy. A huge complex like that wouldnt fill to capacity in such a low income area. Its was doomed from the start. 2008 made sure of that. Here we go again.

I love how there was seemingly plenty of money to turn it into a suburban wasteland but not enough to keep with the original design of high density. It's been proven that high density pays a higher share of taxes than suburbia, so the argument around tax income seems like a copout. 2008 financial crisis aside, this seems like a total failure from everyone involved, especially the developers who bought the property afterwards. Why can't we have nice things:(

I grew up in the area, and as a kid we drove past it almost every day. From what I heard it was an absolute nightmare to get in, not to mention people did not want to buy houses in Pontiac. It’s a sad story that could have really turned Pontiac around. Funny enough I’m driving past it later today

i was literally born and raised in the state of michigan. and lived in the bloomfield district for 19 years. despite everything, i'm still holding out hope for detroit to change for the better

This is wild. I clicked on this not knowing what area you would be talking about. I worked on the existing parking garage back in 2018 when they were trying to fix it up for the new development. Knew the garage was over 10 years old but didnt know why it was the only parking garage next to an Aldi and Menards which both already had parking lots. Didnt know the size of the original planned development. I now live in Pontiac and this wouldve been such a better area than what it turned into. Great video!

It's ironic that the only thing left standing of a "Walking" community is a huge parking tower

Been one of my favorite channels for years man, thanks for the great content!

I grew up relatively close to that and i always remember seeing my dad shake his head everytime we drove past because of how much money was wasted on the project. Its also crazy to me that the most striking building to me, the parking garage, is the only thing that survives to this day.

My DetroitYES forum has a fourteen year discussion of this site under the title of Bloomfield Park - What Were They Thinking? I visited and photographed the site with its ironic likeness to the great factory ruins of Detroit. Your video is an outstanding presentation, particularly of the history and ambition, which as you say is admirable if poorly timed.

Fantastic video on this project. This is right in my backyard and I saw it go from an abandoned eyesore to its current state. Nice to know the history on this failure.

wow i used to live in an apartment complex across the street and small jog south of here, had no idea of the whole history of it and thought it was weird there was a big parking garage there. I went to Aldi in that complex a few times

I would love to see an Abandoned episode for the Ontario Science Centre, especially after it got shut down last month

Haha, we live in the area. Anybody even casually following the municipal battles from the start between the developer and Pontiac and Bloomfield Township, knew it would very definitely fail. The developer foolishly aligned with the City of Pontiac since Bloomfield Township was resistant. The quiet part nobody says out loud - Nobody with the kind of money to afford living in the original development would choose to live in a (dysfunctional, bankrupt) City of Pontiac property. “2008” was simply a nail in the already half buried coffin that was “Bloomfield Park” in Pontiac. Blame it all on the original developer, a scourge on the taxpayers of the area.

90 episodes omg! I love this series so much the way you present the information is so engaging, I actually started watching one of your videos once and turned around and saw both of my parents captured by it instead of doing whatever they were supposed to be doing and my dad went down a rabbit hole because he remembered driving by the place you were talking about! Anyway long way of saying i hope this series continues!!

Another banger video!!! Only 10 videos away the BIG 100!!!!! Keep up the amazing work!!!

Congrats on 90 episodes. I have been here since day 1 and its awesome. I lived about 15 minutes away from here. I totally forgot how much of a mess this was.

New Urbanism is a great theory on paper, but in practice it often fails to live up to its promises. This is because the urban fabric which New Urbanists attempt to emulate developed organically over the course of centuries, growing, changing, and adapting over time. Modern New Urbanist developers, on the other hand, think they can master plan large developments with all of the best features of these historic communities, but more often than not they can't.

I deeply resent these people using the City of Detroit in this project. Anything that fails they refer to it as A Detroit Suburb. Detroit is doing well for not being associated with this failed plan. 😤

All the money probably went to "due diligence" & "client lunches" in Vegas.

July 2024, This video was the top recommendation after I watched your 300th !!!;You've come a long way man, Keep up the great work!!

What a waste of money and those Contractors who lost out !

Jake, thank you for your video. It was certainly informative and also quite sad, considering the wasted potential of the project. But architects, Dionysian speculators and bean counters have been at each other's throats since BC and probably will not change soon. Great presentation.

Hey Jake, love your channel. I attended Dowling College, located in Oakdale, NY. Dowling College College is the site of William K. Vanderbilt's mansion Idle Hour. Dowling also included a campus in Shirley, which contained the college's aviation program and athletic complexes, and small campuses in Melville and Manhattan. Unfortunately, Dowling College officially closed its doors August 2016 and it is now abandoned. The mansion and grounds have faced extreme vandalism since its closure. I lot of residents around the campus is sad and upset that no one is taking action to keep the campus intact. Would love your insight on this!

Nice video, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Detroit. Detroit has done a great job of managing it's own affairs since bankruptcy, but can not speak for other cities or municipalities. Detroit (and it's name) is also good at attracting looks.

20 miles from Detroit

It is very fun exploring new places with you. Thanks Jake!

I wish we could build walkable cities in the US

Wow, I always wondered the story with this place. Worked less than a mile from there and was strange when it just stopped (I mean 2008 happened but still)

Pontiac can’t seem to catch a break.

I live by this … it had the potential to completely change the face of the area. Comparable to Crocker Park in Cleveland, which was key to bringing upscale suburbs back to the area. Instead that part of telegraph is covered in massive warehouses we happen to shop in. Admittedly, it’s also home to my favorite Costco.

I like how you recoil in shock over the idea that local residents weren't in favor of this (as though anyone who doesn't want to live in or near "master planned sustainable communities" is some kind of idiot) and then act surprised about the outcome.

I do get why that big park would drastically change the character of the area. Nice to see a well researched doc on this insane waste of resources. There's a Five Guys there now in case anyone was wondering

Something else thats interesting to add is that the city of Bloomfield hates anything to do with Pontiac in general. Bloomfield Hills is one of the richest cities in Michigan and Pontiac is one of the poorest . It’s amazing to see the extreme differences in these two cities just by driving two minutes. Bloomfield residents also hate anything to do with public transportation. They opted out of using the only form of “public transportation” we have here for a short amount of time. They also voted against a regional transit system for metro Detroit. I love being from Michigan but it really does suck when so many people are stuck in that cars = freedom mindset.

I've worked about a mile from here since 2012 but never knew the whole story of this development. Thanks for filling in the gaps.

I don't exactly see "new urbanism" and a healthy car free environment when one of the largest structures in the original plan was a massive multi level car park.

Love the content man keep up the great work

At the time they developed this Detroit was already struggling half the downtown was empty. Auto industry was in chaos and they were tearing down neighborhoods to build casinos that were never going to happen. Did these developers not even go to Detroit? This was doomed to fail before they even sketched out ideasdevelopers made the money and the Detroit citizens paid the price

As someone who lives in Bloomfield This was a really really cool watch! Thanks for making this!

Bloomberg Park *located in Pontiac*

Coming from the Midwest, I traveled to Detroit when I was a kid and loved it. Now living on the west coast and visit family near Detroit, and it's been hard seeing how such a great city fell. The people there are amazing, so I'm sure there's a great future there one day.

This is not Detroit. This is Pontiac in Oakland County.

1:44 great video, the Aristotelous Square (Thessaloniki,Greece🇬🇷) random reference caught me off guard ngl, didn't expect to see my city here🤣

"character of the area" is used by every group opposed to new construction. The NIMBY rallying cry. Affordable housing, apartments, walkable places to live or work, public transportation infrastructure, green spaces. It's all a threat to them.

I surveyed that garage as part of my job, and it was indeed extremely weird! It wasn’t a mystery I ever expected to have an answer for, but now i do - thank you!

Why is it that everything negative in MI must be associated with Detroit. I don’t live in the city of Detroit but neither was this project. I honestly don’t think it is fair to the city of Detroit. If it happened in Bloomfield or Pontiac then you should say that. Detroit has enough of its own negativity and ruins. They don’t need anyone else’s. Thank you

This is NOT Detroit at ALL!! This is almost an hour away.

Thank you for sharing. I always enjoy these videos!

Love the video. Has nothing to do with “Detroit” tho

Very cool. I drive past that place every time I go to my mother in law's house, and I remember back when it still wasn't finished, but the most I ever knew about the place was just that Pontiac annexed the land and then it never got finished. Cool to learn the whole history and see how it turned out.

I remember when this entire mess started. The recession didn’t do this project in. The first developer did. The guy had no idea what he was pushing and where he was pushing it. Knew several companies that went under themselves because of this project. This entire area should have just been returned to green space.

Thank you for another great video. I agree that the architecture and the entire plan was beautiful. What a bummer that it ultimately failed.

That place would have been EPIC for playing paintball...

I drove by this stalled development numerous times when I lived in metro Detroit. It was an eyesore. One of many stalled projects Detroit area because of the banking crisis of '07-'08

What happened to all the people who bought condos in these buildings? Did they all just lose their money😮

I’m an hour north and had no idea what this was 😂 thanks for clarifying

I live in Swartz Creek Michigan...... Thanks BSF

Amazing work!

always gotta be early these are the best videos to watch while eating lol 😃

im so glad i have these vids to keep me company during my lonely graveyard shift, great video yet again jake!!

But it’s NOT Detroit!!