After WWII and into the 1960’s, Detroit fell into the urban planning trap that Jane Jacobs warned us about. The city was compartmentalized, with an arts district in one area, medical facilites clustered together in another, and businesses separated from residential. Combined with the loss of the Detroit Street Railway in 1956, this has created a city that causes people to drive everywhere, rather than being able to walk from home to work or to the store or to a cafe or restaurant. To overcome this, we need to build housing in business districts, stores near residential areas, and create more street diversity.

To create stronger neighborhoods, we need more grocery stores and fewer liquor stores, which can be aided by creating tax incentives for grocery stores.  In the central city (Downtown, Midtown, the New Center and much of the Riverfront), the obstacles are a little different.  We have many vacant stores. Some of that is the economy, but there were empty storefronts when the economy was good.

Vital neighborhoods need retail and foot traffic on the streets. Some of the asking prices for storefronts downtown are higher per square foot than in malls or in other cities. So, the zoning can help. Taxing an empty store at a higher rate than a store in use will give building owners incentives to fill their stores, rather than just taking a tax write-off for losing money on their buildings. Tax policy is not the only possible solution, but as a city we need to start having the discussion about filling storefronts and creating vital urban centers.