Organize Corktown Planning Blog

Corktown Town Hall

2011-11-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Corktown Town Hall earlier this week was well attended and I think we made good progress. Meeting notes will be posted here as they trickle in.

Starting off is the group that discussed the notion of development agencies and the prospect of restarting a GCDC type organization.

Fiscal Agency, Development Breakout Session.
o Full-time position almost a necessity.
o 33 individual lots, sold to neighbors. Rest are held up in back taxes. Would fetch no more than $250-500 in quick claim taxes.
o Needs to be more transparency to avoid a situation like the GCDC again, and the way the liquidation of the assets happened.
o What was the GCDC purpose? Larger neighborhood-based programs exist, the GCDC was a conduit for those larger projects. Controlled locally, but has fiscal capacity to take on large grants.
o Allows communication about economic development. Won’t just happen without the conversation.
o Corktown hasn’t asked for or received money. How do we get to a place where the mechanisms and protections are in place to even do that?
o Has to be investment. People have to be willing to take the burden of building.
o Internet for Koller in the community, give access to everyone here at affordable prices. Foundational thing for communication.
§ Detroit Digital Justice Coalition.
§ Bandwidth in Detroit is 10x more expensive than any other city.
§ Entrepreneurs will not want to come here if we don’t fix the problem.
o More public discussions for a new development agency. More transparency. More communication with the community.
o Board was previously appointed by previous board members. How to make sure that’s not the case? Maybe have an elected board. But elected boards are not protected against tampering.
§ Blend, some appointed, some elected, different term lengths or time people can serve? Number of terms people can serve?
o Grandmont-Rosedale is a good model.
o How to get all the people in the community to share their voices? In Arkansas, used park cleanup and programming for kids to get more people out there to share their voices, and from there go and build together.
o Murphy’s playlot for Halloween. Did everyone hear about it? 60 kids showed up.
o Community Center. Our current gathering places are bars.
o Get everyone at the meetings to commit two hours of their time to refurbishing a building for future meetings like this. Someone can move in.
o Representing the neighborhood. And not just a good steward of money, but advancing the interests of everyone in the neighborhood.
o Doesn’t just have to be some small eight-member board. Could be a huge board with lots of committees with different members.
o Good next step is to isolate essential values--transparency, responsibility to all residents both much discussed at this meeting--to recruit additional members
o Want to show people something to get them involved.
o From Jen Wallisch: North Corktown vs South Corktown is an important issue that needs specific attention.
o How to handle conversation between Citizen District Council and Community Development Corporations.
o Use big sheet of paper to write down everyone’s comments in the future.
o Presentation Summary:
o Lot of discussion, avoid the mistakes of the GCDC. Those mistakes being a lack of transparency with the community about what was going on, communication and feedback from the community.
o Grandmont-Rosedale mentioned as a good model for transparency and openness to the community.
o Significant time spent on how to get people from the community involved and to share their voice in the development process. Gregg mentioned that a program in Arkansas used a park cleanup and programs for youths to bring community together, and from there use that to get them involved and committed to a project.
o Another point was that any organization can’t just be a good steward of money, but that its actions have to advance the interests of EVERYONE in the neighborhood.
o Roundabout, but it started with Corktown has not asked for nor received money in a long time and we need to have the mechanism to do that, and do it in an inclusive way that represents the community and communicates with the community.

Townhouse for rent

2011-05-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

1915 Spaulding Court, available as long as the craigslist post is active:

http://detroit.en.craigslist.org/wyn/apa/2392875982.html

Big incentives for folks without a car.

Draft Community Sketch

2010-06-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hot of the presses, here is the first draft of a community "sketch" that will form the basis for future changes in the neighborhood. Comments are encouraged.

May Update

2010-05-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Our May meeting will be May 17th at 6pm.

Location: Casey's

On the agenda are upcoming vacant lot activities and other neighborhood happenings.

April Update

2010-04-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

We'll be meeting on April 19th, 6pm at 1951 Temple St. Agenda to follow.

Demo List - 4/1/10

2010-04-02T07:30:00.001-07:00

Mayor Bing just released the first demo list, here is a map so you can visualize it. Click to zoom and pan. Note that 3028 14th St in Corktown will be torn down.

March Meeting

2010-03-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

We had a productive meeting last Monday, minutes will follow. We are organizing a meeting to discuss Tiger Stadium earmark issues specifically. Also of note, the 2010 Adopt-a-Lot program form has been released. If you'd like to formally adopt a lot in your neighborhood, please see the link under "Useful Documents.

Also, feel free to sign up for our email list.

March Update

2010-03-02T13:23:00.001-08:00

Here's a quick March update for all the Corktown fans out there. Our February meeting was a big success. We have a bunch of things coming online this month. Check out our google map of proposed Planning Committee Districts. We hope to have at least two residents from each district to act as liaisons between the Planning Committee and area residents in regards to planning and land use issues.

We're also developing a calendar of public meetings that may be of some interest to Corktowners, we're missing a bunch of stuff, so send an email to CorktownPlanning@gmail.com if you've got a public meeting that folks may be interested in.

Our next meeting is set for March 15, 2010 at 1951 Temple St, 6:30 pm.

February Meeting Minutes

2010-03-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

February 15 2010

Meeting began at 6:46pm.

The Committee began the meeting by discussing the Committee's purpose and structure: what is the mission of the Planning Committee, who does it serve, and how does it function within this service. The Committee agreed that rather than taking an active role in development, luring or dissuading developers and rallying community opinion, the Committee would function best at this stage as a liaison amongst community members and between the community and area businesses/institutions. The Committee aims to serve as a source of information about development activities and an avenue for communication within the community, and as a facilitator of developing projects.

A part of the Committee's strategy is to make connections with the various institutions, businesses and associations that affect Corktown by attending their ongoing monthly, bi-monthly, etc. meetings. By being present, and announcing that the Planning Committee exists not to dictate, but to bring information back to the community, it is the Committee's hope that the various organizations will view the Committee as a neutral party and an asset to have on their side. The Committee aims to build strong relationships with these organizations by opening communication with them and existing as an avenue for ideas and information to be passed from the players who are affecting the community to the residents.

Representation from all of Corktown is important to the Committee, and the Committee agreed that at the next Corktown Residents' Council Meeting, the Committee would ask for individuals from specific areas in Corktown to become new Planning Committee members. The Committee decided to create a map of Corktown denoting areas where more representation was requested, and it was tentatively agreed that Corktown would be divided into six districts (strictly for Planning Committee purposes) and the Committee would seek out two individuals from each district to sit on the Committee.

The Committee believes that representation from all of Corktown will make for a stronger, more informed Committee. Each Committee member's so-called "district" will provide neighbors with a point person for information on planning activities within their area: a way to give and receive information.

The Committee agreed to use Google Docs to create lists of the organizations whose meetings the Committee will attend, calendars of when meetings are held, reports from the meetings, and other pieces of information that would need to be passed around amongst Committee members.

Next meeting was set for March 15, 2010 at 1951 Temple St.

Meeting ended at 7:50pm.

Pending approval.

January Update

2010-01-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

The CRC Planning Committee will be meeting at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, January 19th to discuss a plan to generate community objectives and other local issues. The meeting will be held at 1248 Labrosse. We will have a presentation by Rosalinda Ybarra on the upcoming Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink.

An agenda will follow shortly.

Additionally, we are collecting existing planning documents that cover our neighborhood to add to our online planning resources section (on the right side of the screen). If you have any electronic resources that you think should be included, please send them to corktownplanning@gmail.com.

Freep Pump Track Love

2009-11-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

Check out this nice video from Eric Seals on the Free Press website on the brand new Corktown Pump Track.

November Meeting Minutes

2009-11-18T08:49:00.001-08:00

November Agenda

2009-11-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Corktown Residents Council Planning Committee
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
6:30 pm
Day House - 2640 Trumbull St, Detroit MI, 48216

Pump Track Update

2009-11-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

The pump track build was an incredible success! Right now the track is still drying but it will be ready to ride in a couple days or so. The Resident's Council and Planning Committee would like to show their gratitude for all the people that made this project happen so quickly and successfully. In particular, Phil Cooley from Slows Bar B Que, Joe Mifsud from Michigan Forklifts, the entire Tau Beta Pi Honor Society at Wayne State University, GCDC and Representative Fred Durhal for making this project a success. We sill have plenty of work left to do on the site so if you're interested in getting involved, leave a comment here or at the Pump Track Facebook page.

Special thanks to the Michigan Mountain Biking Association and to Matt in particular, who put together this awesome video of the first build day.

Corktown Pump Track

2009-11-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

Corktown will be expanding its recreational capacity this weekend by building a pump track at the corner of Sycamore and Cochrane. Come help!

Details:
We need help physically digging the path and moving dirt to create the shape of the track. If you could give us a little manual labor, that would be great. This event will be rain or shine, so come prepared for the elements!

If you have metal rakes, shovels, or a wheelbarrow, those would be helpful too. Just make sure your name is on it for safe return. Restrooms and a warming station, complete with food and beverage, is being provided by 3345 Cochrane. If you would like to donate any prepared food, paper products, silverware, soft drinks, etc. we would love it! If you just want to come by and watch or snap some photos, that's no problem either. All are welcome.

Questions or further details contact Kym at (313) 806-2318.

Planning Committee Meeting

2009-11-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

This month's Corktown Planning Committee meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Tuesday November 17th at the Day House of the Catholic Worker at 2640 Trumbull Ave. Agenda to follow shortly. See draft mission statement below:

Corktown Residents Council Planning Committee Mission Statement

The mission of the Corktown Residents Council Planning Committee is to promote community growth by:

1) Supporting community initiatives to utilize and enhance existing shared assets
2) Gauging community support for development projects and communicating areas of dissatisfaction to all interested parties in order to reach a more satisfactory outcome for residents
3) Maintaining a set of strategic objectives that aim to enhance the vibrancy and quality of life in Corktown
4) Proposing innovative solutions in planning, development, policy and institutions to move towards meeting those objectives over the long term