Remember the project called Community Push? They did an incredible thing by restoring the Wigle Recreation Center area into a skate park called “The Wig” for local kids. With a little bit of money, they made a big difference in the neighborhood. However, the land was sold by the city to a developer which is a bummer for the local community, because the skate park must go … at the very least, they will have to start over somewhere else.
The Detroit Future City initiative is a plan that was created during the Bing administration as a comprehensive plan for redevelopment, which includes re-appropriating land so that it is useful to the citizens. This video gives a good background on the plan, and brings into focus the situation with the Community Push Skate Park. It raises questions about what revitalization should look like in the city, what should be done with public spaces, and what kinds of things Detroit’s neighborhoods need to truly be livable communities for current and future residents alike.