In Detroit’s distressed areas, the neighbors left, and now services disappear [Detroit Free Press]

May 20--In the Davison Freeway and East McNichols area on Detroit's east side, Rosetta Newby knows the cost of living in a neighborhood marked by abandonment.

Her homeowners insurance is escalating, and no other company will insure her at an affordable rate, she said. Her bank turned her down for a loan for new windows and other improvements to her home of 44 years on Charest.

There's no grocery store near her, and few streetlights work. All that's left is a sprinkle of residents, shells of houses and vacant lots framed by crumbling sidewalks.

Living on Social Security, and at 75, Newby has few options.

"If I had the money, I'd move," Newby said.

That's exactly what the city is banking on.

Amid dwindling population and revenue, the city is trying to encourage -- or push -- people out of rundown neighborhoods that are largely vacant, yet drain the city of its resources. That means many of the services that once were available to residents such as Newby are no longer an option in her neighborhood and others.

One of the biggest changes involves the citywide drawing for the Senior Emergency Home Repair program funded by Community Development Block Grants.

Previously, an average of 5,000 people would stand in line for hours at Cobo Center hoping to be one of the 500 or so seniors chosen in a lottery to receive home repair grants of up to $12,000. Now, those living in neighborhoods deemed distressed, like Newby, are not eligible to receive the grants.

Also, under the city's Minor Home Repair program, a resident at 80% of the average median income could receive up to $25,000 in a grant to address health and safety issues at their home. Now, that program, too, disqualifies residents living in distressed areas.

"The value of your home may be worth $15,000," said Karla Henderson, group executive for Planning and Facilities for the city. "Why should we put $25,000 into the home?"

However, in stable neighborhoods such as Sherwood Forest, a person who meets the eligibility requirements of 80% of the average median income may now receive up to $75,000 to fix up their homes.

"It's not politically friendly for some people, but it's necessary for the long-term future of the city," Henderson said. "That's a significant shift for us. It's going to affect hundreds of people."

A denser Detroit

Mayor Dave Bing announced in July that the city would not force people out of their homes under his ambitious Detroit Works Project, but would instead realign services based on data and market research. He also announced that the entire city would benefit from a refocused Works Project. But that has since changed.

"There are some areas where we are not going to invest. It makes little sense to invest in those areas," Bing told the Free Press in March.

"We don't want to entice people and lie to them," Bing said about people living in certain areas holding out hope for a revival. "We're going to be very specific where we want to invest or have a developer invest."

The project focuses on creating denser and more stable neighborhoods by shifting city services away from distressed areas in a bid to more efficiently utilize resources. The minimum of services would be offered to neighborhoods that are decaying and sparsely populated.

Those living in areas the city deems distressed will not see any improvements. Those in areas deemed stable will see new streetlights, tree trimming, demolition of abandoned homes and the development of businesses and new housing.

City officials and planners have visited neighborhoods and spoken to block clubs and other groups about the changes. Still, many Detroiters said they were unaware that city services were going to be administered based on the area.

The urgent times call for the policy shift, city officials say.

As Detroit's population -- at 713,000 in 2010 and likely under 700,000 now -- and revenue continue to drop, the city is struggling to provide basic services. The reality is currently playing out in City Hall as the mayor and City Council debate the 2012-13 budget that will likely slash more than $100 million in spending.

The city is now under a consent agreement with the state and must make the cuts or face having an emergency manager appointed to run the city.

Refocusing dollars

On the wall in the Planning and Development Department's office, a map shows the areas of the city broken down into steady, transitional, distressed and varied markets.

Only a fraction of the city is steady -- neighborhoods such as Palmer Woods. Most of the city is varied. Other neighborhoods, such as Grandmont-Rosedale, are transitional.

Steady neighborhoods have little blight and a high number of owner-occupied homes; transitional neighborhoods are considered either on the upswing or a downward spiral; varied neighborhoods have some streets that are stable and others that are deteriorating, and distressed areas have a high amount of blight, few amenities such as stores and restaurants, and few block clubs.

Henderson said the administration is focusing its effort and resources in areas where the investments make sense.

Although homeowners in distressed neighborhoods are not eligible for fix-up funds, Henderson said the city might give minimum help.

"We may come in and do an emergency repair," such as repairing a furnace so a family can get through the winter.

Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State University'sCenter for Urban Studies, said the city's targeting approach "is a really good thing."

"You really need to focus those dollars if you want to have any impact at all," Thompson said. "There's not enough to do everything for every neighborhood."

In distressed neighborhoods, it's more difficult to make a big impact with the federal dollars that are available, he said.

Thompson said neighborhoods that have been stabilized have a positive impact on the surrounding areas. For instance, there has been a 38% decline in crime in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood in the past three years. But also, the half-mile area around Midtown has seen a drop in crime, Thompson said.

No help for developers

The Rev. Kenneth Hogan, pastor of Living Bread Ministries International in Redford Township, learned what the changes mean for developers.

In 2008, his church's Manna Development Corp. completed a 20-unit development of two- and three-bedroom apartments in the Warren and McKinley area on Detroit's west side and now has a waiting list of tenants. Hogan said he wants to build 50 additional units, but the city won't give him a letter to receive tax credits as part of his application to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. He needs the credits to finance the project.

"We're doing what we think the city would want to happen in the community," Hogan said.

Although the proposed project is near Manna's first development, the difference is that now, the area is considered distressed.

"The market dynamics don't support what they were trying to do," said Marja Winters, Planning and Development Department deputy director. "I think the city has the responsibility to make responsible investments."

Many developers rely on MSHDA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for grants and tax credits to make their projects happen. City officials say they don't want to discourage people from building in Detroit, just not in areas designated as distressed.

State and federal officials won't fund projects without the city's approval.

The city planning strategy also has the cooperation of DTE Energy and Detroit Public Schools. DPS, in part, is basing school closings and new construction on each neighborhood's designation, Henderson said. And for those thinking about buying land from the city in a distressed area -- think again.

The city will not sell city-owned lots to developers in those areas, Henderson said. Developers are being told that if they build in a distressed area, the city will not provide sewer lines, sidewalks, lighting or any other amenities.

"We try to be very clear about the expectations," Henderson said. "What we try to do is steer developers in line with where our resources are going."

She said developers can skip city help and build in a distressed area using only private dollars if the zoning allows. But that could change as the city considers rezoning some distressed areas, perhaps as parkland, to prevent any kind of construction.

However, there are rare exceptions to the policy for developers, Henderson said. For example, the area on the south end of Palmer Park -- mostly apartments -- is distressed, but because of its proximity to the park and the affluent Palmer Woods neighborhood, developers had the city's full cooperation when applying for grants from state and federal agencies to renovate apartments there.

If the city succeeds in clearing distressed areas, they could be rezoned for urban agriculture, parkland or as industrial, Henderson said.

In order to evaluate the impact of its policy change, the city has defined three demonstration areas that have all four markets represented. The areas are being monitored for a year and a report will be ready by August, Henderson said.

Some programs may be unique to a demonstration area but could be expanded to others.

In southwest Detroit, for example, residents complained that purchasing lots adjacent to their properties was a challenge. So, the Bing administration decided to offer to sell 300 city-owned lots in that area to the adjacent property owners.

The property owner would mail in $200 for the one lot, and the deed would be mailed to them along with a gift card to buy a fence for the property -- all without a trip to city hall.

Henderson said 100 property owners have responded to the offer. Jose DeJesus Centeno is one of them.

"It makes me feel good," said Centeno, 43, who is purchasing two lots. "I don't have to go to the city or nothing. They just mail it."

Centeno, a construction worker, has lived in the 8800 block of Fulton for about 13 years. He said there are only seven houses left on his entire block. He wants to see his neighborhood come back, and to that end, he has bought three houses.

He lives in one house and two siblings live in the others. A third sibling also has moved to the block.

When the city mailed Centeno the offer to sell him lots, he said he was elated. He saw it as a chance to take possession of lots that people were using as garbage dumps.

"I like to make it cleaner and better," Centeno said of his block.

Since southwest Detroit has a large population of residents whose first language is Spanish, including Centeno, the city had Spanish-speaking employees available to help him over the phone to complete the forms. In two to three weeks, Centeno expects to receive the deeds to two lots.

The response has been so strong that the department has asked the City Council to extend the Adjacent Vacant Lot Program. It is set to expire on June 30, but the department is asking the city for a five-year extension.

'It's going to get worse'

At Moran and Victoria, a sign on a vacant lot reads "Creating a Caring Community Starting with You and Me."

Down the street in the 13800 block of Moran, William Moseley Jr., 22, looks at five abandoned houses across the street from a house he shares with his grandmother. One of the houses is burned.

On his side of the street, there are more abandoned houses both north and south of him. Few of the intact houses are owner-occupied, but are rentals, he said.

"They're trying to get people out of the city," Moseley said of the city's policy. "They don't want us to come back here."

His cousin and his cousin's wife used to live in one of the now-abandoned houses across the street. "It was a real nice house," Moseley said.

Two days after his cousin moved out, the scrappers moved in. They stole aluminum from the exterior, windows, appliances, the furnace, cabinets and fixtures, Moseley said.

"It was so fast, you would have thought it was a NASCAR pit crew," Moseley said. "Even the front door is not there anymore."

He scanned the houses.

"It's hard for people in this neighborhood to have all these abandoned houses. The city doesn't care," he said.

When told that the city would be cutting the grass just at the borders of vacant lots in the neighborhood and that crumbling streets would not be resurfaced, Moseley said, "It's going to get worse, if nobody is getting the help they need. It's going to spread. This area is going to be like a war zone."

He says he has plans to move soon, possibly to Southfield.

He's lived in the neighborhood since he was an infant, and life has grown harder. He said he pays $235 a month for car insurance for his 1999 Chevy Malibu.

"Where you're from and what your ZIP code is matters," he said.

In the future, the city will ask residents to move from distressed areas, but they won't be forced to move.

"We do not want to force anybody to leave," Henderson said.

Instead, the city will offer incentives, she said.

"Before we can approach residents, we have to have alternatives for them," Henderson said. "We have to be able to provide residents options."

Homeowners in distressed areas may be able to sign over their homes to the city in exchange for a house in a more stable area.

"We don't have an official program in place yet, but that's something we're looking at," Henderson said.

No one will be offered money for their property; that's not an option, she said.

"We have to be up front with folks. That's the vision. That's the direction we're headed," she said.

Services cut, not taxes

On Newbern near Victoria, the Rev. Bernard Cannon, pastor of Perfecting the Saints of God Church, talks about plans to acquire a lot next to the church to perhaps build a fellowship hall. He also wants to buy a large county-owned parcel behind the church to use as a parking lot.

Cannon said he was unfamiliar with the city's new policies on planning and city services for the mostly rundown neighborhood.

"How do they inform people when they're changing policy?" Cannon said. "This is the first time I've heard of it.

"It may be a good policy for the city to save money, but it's not good for the taxpayer down the line," Cannon said. "The taxpayers are getting ripped off."

Cannon, 64, said the policy was going to cause more harm than good.

"When people start to leave these properties, what's going to happen is that the tax base is going to dwindle," he said.

That is something that Barbara Ford knows firsthand.

Ford, 67, lived in the distressed east-side neighborhood for 40 years before moving in December to Sterling Heights.

"I wasn't going to move, but I was robbed three times from September into October, and I knew I wasn't safe," she said. In the second robbery, she came home and found the burglars in the house.

"Some people are ready to go," she said. "I personally was not ready to go. It was a forced move."

Ford, who praised police response time when the thieves were in her home, said it is not fair that city services are being cut, yet residents are still required to pay taxes.

"I think it's a horrible idea," she said. "They're still paying taxes. If you don't want to move -- that's your choice."

She understands the city's actions are meant to save money during a financial crisis.

"That may be fine and good," she said. "But is it right?"

Contact Cecil Angel: 313-223-4531 or [email protected]. Staff writer Kristi Tanner contributed to this report.

More Details: Find out more

-- The Detroit Planning Commission will host an event Wednesday for developers and investors regarding ways to reuse and develop vacant school buildings and sites. The event will be at 8:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, 2701 Chicago.

-- Detroit Planning and Development Department: 313-224-6380 or www.detroitmi.gov /DepartmentsandAgencies /PlanningDevelopment Department.aspx .

-- The Detroit Works Project is hosting community meetings to discuss long-range plans for the city. Go to http://detroitworks project.com for details and schedules.

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