Green Spaces

Detroit has been experienced heartache when it comes to greenery. Once known as the City of the Elms, Dutch Elm Disease pretty much wiped out the elm trees. Then came the Gypsy moth, and then the Emerald Ash Bore.  Add to it a general ambivalence about nature and it is a wonder that we have any green space at all. But we are fortunate that we do. Organizations like the Greening of Detroit are making a difference to restore what has been lost.

Belle Isle is treasure of the city.  It is an amazingly large green space on the city’s southeast side, but it needs to be cared for better. Miles of park space have been created by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, much of it already completed. There are many other parks in the city that we as residents can enjoy. There are many neighborhoods with fine old trees. A benefit of living in Michigan is that trees grow so well here. But there are many other opportunities to add to re-green Detroit.

Going Green

To capitalize on our ability to be a green city, there is much we can do in Detroit. A citywide recycling program would help, but we can impact the environment with action in other areas. Building a great rapid transit system would remove tons of petroleum pollutants from the air. Narrowing certain streets and filling in neighborhoods with mixed-use development would allow people to shop and do business in their own neighborhoods without having to drive to another neighborhood or out to the suburbs. Restoring older buildings saves the environmental cost of building new and of putting demolished buildings into landfills.

Brownfields (abandoned industrial sites) are a great challenge for Detroit.  State and federal money that was received by a previous mayor for cleaning up brownfields was misspent tearing down a historic skyscraper. A concentrated effort to clean up brownfields in needed and to ensure that the money is spent on the right projects. This will take state and federal money.