Duggan unveils $100M plan so Detroiters will stay (and shop) in the city
DETROIT (WJBK) - Downtown Detroit is booming, but you already knew that, but Detroiters want to know what about their neighborhoods? Mayor Mike Duggan unveiled a plan Thursday that invests millions of dollars into their homes and areas.
San Juan and 6 Mile today is full of boarded windows and rundown buildings. But in the future, if Mayor Duggan has his way, it will be unrecognizable and it starts with the roads.
"We are resurfacing 100 miles of road in the city of Detroit," Duggan said.
But it doesn't stop there. A new multi-million dollar bond initiative to revitalize neighborhoods, that could make areas like 6 Mile and San Juan, plus other areas, walkable.
"Beautifully landscaped streets, wider sidewalks, plenty of places for people to walk, " Duggan said.
The hope is that by fixing neighborhood roads, it will help turn vacant storefronts into occupied store fronts. Al Bartell owns Times Square Custom Clothing and says this is what neighborhoods need.
"They need places where they can shop where they don't have to drive so far, they need restaurants, they need clothing, they need spas," Bartell said.
The mayor plans to ask city Council to approve $125 million in bonds to fund improvements for the city's commercial corridors in the neighborhoods. Duggan said that a study done by Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and JP Morgan found that Detroiters spend $2.6 billion in other cities.
The mayor says in the area of Livernois and McNichols, Detroiters from the area spend between $300 and $400 million a year outside of the city. He says this plan will help 23 other neighborhoods around the city, including Southwest Detroit, to get Detroiters to stay and shop in the city.
"Latino families, Hispanic families that invest back into the neighborhood, have small businesses there. They need the support of how to grow those businesses.")
Assuming Council approves the bond initiative, construction should start sometime in 2019.