  Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4480 Registered: 02-2005 |
This historic warehouse near downtown Newark NJ is currently being demolished. Apparently there were too many factors working against a rehabilitation that would have preserved the beautiful edifice. (Incidentally, during the demo today, debris fell and ruining five parked cars). But, read this blog post: http://newarkusa.blogspot.com/ 2007/10/westinghouse-building- doomed.html That will elucidate the situation better. A major housing development is expected on the site. Why? Because of multiple transit lines being nearby. A rail link to midtown Manhattan and the Newark city streetcars both stop virtually on site. Thus, it is anticipated that this site will spend very little time in limbo. Now let's compare this to Detroit's situation. While we are well beyond the "demolition as a solution" mode of thinking (mostly because most of our old buildings that could be demolished have been), and preservation is a first impulse, let's focus on way that transit is accelerating the redevelopment process in Newark. Surface parking, though certainly in demand in Newark as much as Detroit, does not seem like an option here, and the mayor of Newark envisions a "transit village." But one thing stands in the way, and this also is comparable to many Detroit sites: massive, potentially prohibitive, environmental cleanup costs. This article in the Rutgers Observer describes this potential problem. So, it is interesting to apply the sensibilities that we as Detroiters, having dealt with similar cases, have developed, to this case. But one wildcard-- transit-- makes this site's prospects different. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2001 Registered: 07-2004 |
Yes, but unfortunately it'll never work here because people love cars, it's the motor city, bla bla bla ... | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4481 Registered: 02-2005 |
Yeah...let's try to avoid the larger transit debate (i.e. will it happen in Detroit) and discuss how different sites in Detroit might develop quicker with transit, assuming we get it. Newark, FYI, is very car accessible, and has a car-culture. While some people ride in to that city from other parts of Jersey on trains, many drive. The rail is extremely key, though, if your talking about going to Jersey City/Hoboken, or NYC, from Newark. | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 121 Registered: 11-2007 |
I am positive that having transit near a site will make it easier to redevelop, other things being equal. But Newark is in the middle of an area that hasn't been in a recession for the last 8 years. Newark's population appears to have stabilized. Newark is located across the river in a relatively low-tax area from one of the few cities in the US that isn't in a real estate slump (well maybe it is now, but just in the last couple of months) , and one which has very high real estate values. If Detroit were in a similar situation, I strongly suspect redevelopment would be faster here as well, with or without transit. I like transit. I wish there were more. But it lacks the mystical powers some people seem to think it has. In any case sensible people are not building housing right now, and even people who aren't sensible can't get financing. It is entirely likely that the Newark site will stay in limbo for a while. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 713 Registered: 06-2005 |
I have a friend who used to live in Elizabeth, NJ. Whenever we visited him, the whole group of us would get around town to NYC and beyond by rail. Although, Detroit and Newark shares a lot of economic, crime and blight similarities - the main difference lies in the ability for residents to get around without a car. Fortunately, Detroit's young and ambitious are ready for drastic changes in rapid transit options. Coincidently, Detroit's young and ambitious could care less about the racial barriers because they grew up among Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Middle-Easterns, Asians, and many others. They cherish the diversity here, and believe that this diversity will be the X-factor to the region's success and prosperity. Rapid transit will be coming to Detroit soon. The first leg will take time to get going, but subsequent legs will happen a lot faster, once the public's response prove to be an overwhelming positive force to be reckoned with. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4482 Registered: 02-2005 |
I'd like to share your hopeful outlook, Darwinism. I hope it happens. You can get to most places in that metro area without a car, and quicker than with a car. The expenses are low, all things considered, and to me, approaching it from a Detroit standpoint, that borders on mystical, Mwilbert. I agree that new construction is really inhibited in the current economy. If only that wasn't a toxic site there in Newark, I'm sure that would have been converted to apartments a long time ago. It could have been like a River Place (Jos. Campau) redevelopment. The Globe Trading Co. warehouse on Atwater really sticks out in my mind as an analagous case, although I'm not sure if it is polluted. | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 591 Registered: 08-2006 |
Thanks for the interesting article Mackinaw. I'm just waiting for Livernoisyard to come in here and start calling everyone USA-hating Communists. | ||
Thegryphon Member Username: Thegryphon Post Number: 45 Registered: 11-2007 |
Not to mention Newark, is right next to NYC. IE with such proximity to the largest city in the country, while Detroit is close to what Canada? There is a shortage of housing in the city, not to mention just about everything else. IMO, I agree, transit is key. | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 133 Registered: 12-2004 |
Isn't that development in Whitmore Lake a perfect example of such a thing working here? Who can possibly say it wouldn't work here when it is already happening before the commuter rail line is constructed? | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4483 Registered: 02-2005 |
Can you provide some additional info or links on that? I don't know anything about Whitmore Lake, but I do know about the proposed train light that you are referencing. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 1021 Registered: 01-2007 |
That photo just saddened me. Now it’s gone, along with any possibility of preserving the history of that proud building. Shades of Detroit all across the USA. |
