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Originally Posted by iheartthed
I lived in Southfield and I can't recall anything there that would qualify as "urban." It's quintessential postwar suburban. It's all malls, strip malls and subdivisions. The Civic Center was the original suburban office park.
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I'm referring to the townhouses and residential tower at Civic Center Dr. and Evergreen. I said "relatively urban", not urban.
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No one, save people fleeing the violence of Detroit neighborhoods, sees Southfield as the ideal suburb.
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Guess what, 26 year old white males aren't the only demographic worth courting. There are plenty of middle-class (black) families in Southfield. Even if some areas are becoming less desirable, there are plenty of middle-class areas that will remain so for long term.
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How the hell is Southfield supposed to basically rebuild an auto oriented area about the size of the Detroit CBD, if not larger, into a faux urban mixed use development?
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The area of focus will be the land north of Civic Center Dr. between Evergreen and the Lodge. Is it really that difficult to imagine someone building a few multi-story buildings along Civic Center drive with retail on the first floor, and offices or residential above? They're not trying to create the next Birmingham. They're just trying to bring a struggling, but still viable area into modern times.