Detroit Michigan

The median design
has been a source of
frustration for some
stakeholders.
The median was designed to help pedestrian safety
but has frustrated stakeholders by making vehicular
access more difficult. Poor pedestrian spaces exist
where the sidewalk is quite narrow and uncomfortably
close to automobiles.
Although some have shelters, the bus stops along
Livernois Avenue do not have an inviting urban
design. Some beautification efforts have been made
though murals, but not on the scale seen along the
Vernor corridor in Mexicantown, where murals also
connote the corridor’s identity and help brand it.
Parking
As observed along Nine Mile Road in Ferndale, the
presence of common parking is critical for the capacity
of main street businesses. The panel clearly saw
that the on-street parking on Livernois Avenue is
insufficient to meet current and projected needs.
Common parking is preferable to business-specific
parking because the latter increases business dependency
and discourages multiple-destination trips
among shoppers, who would rather park once to visit
nearby shops. Common parking is also more efficient
than business-specific, which requires each use to
provide for its own peak parking demand.
Some key considerations for common parking include
limiting or avoiding parking lots that break the street-
front. These can discourage pedestrian traffic because
of the inconvenience of looking over one’s shoulder at
busy curb cuts. Edge locations at the end of a row of
shops are optimal, because they feed multiple stores
and businesses. Payment systems are also critical: one
should not inadvertently discourage patronage with
complicated systems that create nuisance and inconvenience
shoppers.
The “missing teeth,” where buildings have been torn
down, while representing breaks in the urban fabric
are potentially usable as off-street parking, especially
as an interim use. Although businesses and churches
showed some interest in sharing parking (an ideal
partnership based on their different peaks demand
periods), concerns about property liability have prevented
those ideas from being implemented to date.
Economic Activity
Some clusters of businesses are successful, and the
recent trend of new entrepreneurship has brought
some new vitality and energy to the avenue. But
some of the few remaining old standbys along Livernois
Avenue are at risk, as recently demonstrated
by Baker’s Keyboard Lounge. The numerous vacant
buildings and lots raise questions about the value and
security of real estate along the corridor, discouraging
additional investment.
18 A ULI Daniel Rose Fellowship Program City Study Visit Report