[LMich]

Southfield is finally and seriously planning for a legit downtown around its long-time town center. Here's the concept:

Southfield wants after-work downtown vibe and nightlife

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

August 3, 2013

With its Northland shopping mall and its many suburban office parks on acres of asphalt, Southfield typifies the sprawling low-density suburbs of Detroit. It’s the sort of landscape that met the needs of businesses and residents leaving Detroit for suburbia a generation or two ago.

But that car-dependent mode of development is increasingly falling out of favor as downtown-style walkable urbanism grows more popular. And Southfield, perhaps metro Detroit’s most prototypical suburb, is trying to reinvent itself.

The focus is the City Centre, a varied district that stretches from the Southfield municipal offices and public library east of Evergreen between 10 Mile and 11 Mile roads west through a cluster of office parks and across Northwestern Highway to the Lawrence Technological University campus.

A series of projects, public and private, are under way or in early planning that will make this Civic Centre denser and more pedestrian-friendly. The goal is to attract and retain some of thousands of daytime office workers who typically flee each evening to trendier living spots such as Ferndale and Birmingham.

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For starters, the City of Southfield has approved a $12.1-million reconstruction of the Evergreen corridor between 10 Mile and 11 Mile roads. Among the new features to come: Traffic-calming devices including two traffic circles or roundabouts, one at the entrance to municipal offices and the other at the entrance to the Southfield Public Library. Enhanced pedestrian crosswalks, bicycle paths, a landscaped median and other “walkable” amenities are on tap.

Nearby, an older office building has been remade as Arbor Lofts, a residential project partially leased for students by Lawrence Tech. If demand warrants, more residential housing will be added where parking lots now exist.

The city has also introduced sleek new bus stops, pedestrian benches, and even a new line of trash receptacles.

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Renderings & Maps:

Another arch rendering of the hoped for Southfield projects, this one showing the idea for a pedestrian plaza/deck over Northwestern Highway looking east through the remade retail district toward the municipal offices in the distance.


The street in the foreground is Evergreen; note the two traffic circles that will be created next year in 2014. Also note that many existing parking lots have been filled up with new retail and residential development.


A rendering of what part of a remade Civic Centre in Southfield might look like if plans work out. It is Central Park at Flex Street.


Frances Mahoney of Roseville waits on her bus at one of the renovated bus stops on Central Park Drive in Southfield.

Quite frankly, people don't even consider it due simply to its proximity to Detroit and its age - and let's be frank, its "demographics." But in my mind, it's particularly well located as a redevelopment node, and one that should have had more attention given to its years ago. Plus, you already have the road infrastructure, there, to shoot you right downtown and east and west down 8 Mile, so why the hell not? Sure, the multiple department stores in the concept are total pipe dreams, but the real thing here is the remaking of the roads and sidewalks.