DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroiters are reacting to plans to change the city's skyline with a bold transformation for the Renaissance Center.
It's a plan for redevelopment along the riverfront.
Mayor Mike Duggan laid out the concept in his final State of the City last night.
The renderings show the demolition of two of the towers and the building of a 6-acre riverfront park.
I went to the riverfront to ask Detroiters how realistic the plan was to them.
“It would be great. It would be a good way to attract more tourists here and especially for the residents as well,” says Gulain Reif, who was visiting Detroit.
“Who is the public that is being envisioned and how do we expand the vision of who the public is?” as Reelaviolette Botts-Ward, whose family is from Detroit.
But, of course, I wanted to go to the source, Mayor Mike Duggan, to get his take on the vision, as well as some reflection on his time in office and what comes next.
What follows is our Q & A.
What is the vision for everything around us right now?
“Well, Matt Cullen and the Riverfront Conservancy have done an amazing job of building the River Walk. And what Dan Gilbert wants to do is build an entire riverfront now. I mean, to take this huge parking lot that’s been here for the Renaissance Center and turn it into the equivalent of what Chicago has with Navy Pier.”
Something that a lot of people reference is the amount of blight that has been removed in your tenure. Is that remarkable to you?
“You know I drive the neighborhood every weekend, just trying to go to maybe the most neglected neighborhoods to see the progress we’re making. So I’ve been watching it every day for 11 plus years. And, you know, sometimes I go down these streets and I just shake my head. I go to that Merrygrove neighborhood where you couldn’t have sold a house for 10,000 dollars, and now they’re going for 150,000 dollars. And you think about the wealth we built up for the people who stayed. It’s very rewarding."
And in a lot of cities, progress has meant a lot of people get pushed out. But last night you emphasized neighborhoods investing in their own communities, trying to give land to neighbors, what has been your intention through that process?
“The people who stayed. I got elected by the people who stayed, not the people who moved out. And everything I’ve done has been through the eyes of people who stayed. And so to take 25,000 vacant lots, not sell them to out of towners but to sell them to the neighbor next door, who’s probably cutting the lot anyway, to enlarge their property has been a great thing."
And what do you hope to take from all of this in your bid to run the state?
“The people of the state of Michigan will decide whether they’re happy with the politics we’ve had or not. But today in Michigan, as far as I can tell, the only principle the Democrats have is that they hate the Republicans. And the only principle the Republicans have is they hate the Democrats. And it reminds me so much of Detroit in 2011 and 2012. Where people fought with each other and didn’t put the interests of Detroiters first. And so I think I’ve shown what can happen, what’s possible when people work together. And we’ll see whether the people of the state of Michigan would like to see the same kind of politics brought to Lansing.”
