Biking east from the Ren Cen & Splash Pad, we arrive at Cullen Plaza, then a loop around the Milliken State Park nature preserve. Detroit's River Walk has been named the best in the nation!
I was noticing all the cameras this time. There's one one every emergency call box, hanging off streetlights, and I even saw one up in a fake tree. If you do anything bad on the River Walk they are going to have you on video.
I absolutely love how Detroit has improved since I lived there in the late 80's/ early 90's! Those but can you explain what has spurred this renaissance besides Dan Gilbert? I'd really like to understand it better. Huge fan of Detroit and your channel!
I think it started with Gilbert deciding he had purchased a lot of real estate for cheap that could turn a profit if done right. He started his business life in real estate. HIs parents were also in real estate, so he learned the ins and outs early on. More importantly, he learned the mortgage business, and Quicken Loans has been the chief contributor to his wealth and ability to put together loans for the types of distressed properties he has purchased in Detroit. The big change came in 2010 when he decided Detroit was the right place for Quicken Loans headquarters. That brought 17,000 employees and their families to Detroit, many wanting to live in the downtown core. This was at a time when there were very few upscale apartments and condos in downtown, and that provided the critical mass that set off the residential building boom. Companies doing business with Rock Enterprises, the umbrella company for all of Gilbert's companies, also wanted to be located in downtown, and that set off the commercial boom. That critical mass is now what's carrying the Detroit revival. As long as Rock continues to do well and stays in Detroit and we can finally put the covid hysteria behind us, there should be nothing but blue skies ahead for downtown and the surrounding areas. The neighborhoods have still not benefited much from all this added value though, and that will be the big challenge for the next decade. All those employers have many employees that are living in the suburbs because they want single family homes and big lots. Many of them would like to live closer to work. If the developers can come up with a plan to take all the urban prairie and turn it into a safe version of the burbs five miles from downtown, the property value explosion and infrastructure improvements may finally translate out into the neighborhoods.
