There are many ways that we can improve the walkability of Detroit. The examples here are about the city of Detroit, but there are even more examples in our suburbs.

Local ordinances need to be revised around pedestrian traffic. For instance, the area around much of the Renaissance Center is a pedestrian disaster.  There are several intersections that are natural pedestrian crossing points that have no crossing signs up.  Walking down Jefferson where Randolph ends into the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel has one of these signs.  Someone walking from Cobo Center down Jefferson is actually expected to cross Jefferson twice and also Randolph once in order to walk to get to the RenCen.  They have to go north across Jefferson, then cross Randolph, and walk a block down east to then cross Jefferson again because signs forbid pedestrians from crossing the entrance to the Detroit Windsor-Tunnel and there is signs also forbid pedestrians from crossing Jefferson on the east side of Randolph.  But at point, an extra lane is added on both sides of Jefferson (it is five lanes in each direction), so it takes even longer to walk across Jefferson. To add to the debacle, the light across this pedestrian crossing is extremely short, so pedestrians can only get across one side of the street and wait in the median for the next light. The net result is that pedestrians have to cross at four traffic lights and a total of 22 lanes of traffic in about nine minutes, when if pedestrian crossing was allowed across Randolph, the pedestrian would only need to cross at one light in just over one minute.

What should be done? Allow pedestrians to continue to walk down Jefferson across the entrance to the Tunnel.  Also, set the traffic lights across Jefferson at Brush Street to allow pedestrians to walk all the way across without having to stop for another traffic light. Yet another improvement would be to narrow Jefferson Avenue; it is currently set up more like a freeway than a city street. A final improvement would be to allow pedestrians to cross Jefferson on both sides of Randolph.

There are many parts of downtown that are pedestrian friendly. Where the streets have remained narrow, cars move more slowly and create less of a hazard for pedestrians.

Midtown, with its grid system, smaller blocks and mixed use development is a far more pedestrian friendly area of town. The exception would be that Woodward is so wide at this point that it can be harrowing for pedestrians.

Another nice area for pedestrians has been done by Detroit Riverfont Conservancy. Pedestrians can walk along the river from Joe Louis Arena to Rivard Plaza without  much fear of cars or trucks, and will soon be able to make it almost to Belle Isle without encountering a car.  To make this even better will require more businesses in the area, transit to help people get to the area (parking can be problematic), and more pedestrian connections between the riverfront and the rest of the city.