Will Detroit’s East Riverfront Soon Look Like This?

What’s the best use of Detroit’s riverfront?

Laura Weber Davis/WDET

Detroit’s riverfront has come a very long way in the last decade. Even more upgrades to the east riverfront and surrounding neighborhoods will be coming in the near future if a new plan takes effect.

The recent announcement from the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy abandons a vision of condominiums and high-rise apartments for more green space.

John Gallagher, business writer with the Detroit Free Press wrote this about the plan:

 

The vision reverses a long-held presumption that the riverfront running east from the Renaissance Center would fill up with pricey residences and shops to boost the city’s population and tax base. Instead, this new vision boldly accepts that the value of public access to the riverfront outweighs the value of a few more condos and shops.

Gallagher says there will be eight acres of new park land, protected bike lanes, and plenty of green space.

“It really does acknowledge that public access to the river is more important than a few more condos or a few more shops,” says Gallagher.

To hear more from Gallagher on Detroit Today, click on the audio player above.

 

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