by Anne Zobel

For the first time in over 40 years, substantial retail development is occurring in Detroit's neighborhoods. Residents, who until recently only wished they could enjoy the conveniences of neighborhood retail, now can shop close to home. Drug stores, video stores, fast food restaurants and the like are popping up in areas where five years ago developers would have laughed at the idea of investing in these often deteriorated, primarily low-income neighborhoods. Now residents can fill a prescription or rent a video without driving to the suburbs. These exciting developments increase the tax base, remove blight, and create retail opportunities; however, they also present a complex challenge to preserving our urban environment.

The tragedy of this retail boom lies in the poor design of these newly constructed retail establishments. The trend among these developments is to build a very 1950s-style design that incorporates all of the features of the suburban strip malls where we have been forced to shop for the last 30 years. They almost unanimously have followed this outdated model, with excessively deep set backs, enormous parking lots and weak design standards.

Some of the shortcomings of the suburban strip-mall model include: that it does not promote community or a sense of place; it discourages pedestrianism by catering to an automobile-dependent consumer base; it ignores the integrity of the built environment; and it sets a design precedent that is ultimately unattractive. The result: a generic development that neglects the city's urban fabric and oftentimes destroys existing buildings.

Now that retailers finally have been convinced that doing business in Detroit is a lucrative operation, the City faces a number of land use and policy issues that have been inconsequential over the last generation. These obstacles to design stem from many directions, from community mindsets to ingrained policy.

We Take What We Can Get
Because so little development has occurred in the city, we have a mindset that we should be grateful that businesses are willing to invest in the city, and that we should welcome them under any circumstances. In this "beggars can't be choosers" scenario, developers are likely to construct a simple low-cost, uncreative structure that they use universally, without taking into account the nature of the surrounding community.

Equating the Suburbs with Success
Because most Detroit residents have spent their entire lives in the city and have watched it decline, it is normal to associate Detroit's characteristics with failure. At the same time, their image of the suburbs has been one of wealth, retail abundance and general success. The suburban model is seen as worthy of replicating.

Outdated Zoning
Originally written in the mid-1940s, the City's Zoning Ordinance encourages suburban-style development through excessive parking and setback requirements for new construction. Businesses opening in existing buildings must adhere to oftentimes inappropriate parking requirements. The Big Box Syndrome
Today's stores are big, much bigger than the spaces left behind from the retail developments of yesteryear. Fifty years ago, independent retailers specialized in certain products, such as vacuum cleaners or hats. This has been replaced with "big-box," chain retailers that focus on providing a variety of items, from motor oil to foot soap.

Though these basic obstacles have steered development into the suburban-style strip design, they should not direct development entirely. The alternative to this is to reuse existing buildings but adapt them to fit our modern needs. There are uncountable advantages inherent to reutilizing existing buildings for new commercial development. And not only do communities reap the rewards. Developers will find financial incentives on the State and Federal levels, in the form of tax credits, which increase the feasibility of any rehabilitation. Developers should be eager to capitalize on Detroit's strengths, not the least of which are its abundant historic resources, built with quality materials and high design that can no longer be replicated.

THE SOLUTION: POLICY
The best way to direct future development in the city is through policy. Fortunately the city recently has embarked on the Neighborhood Commercial Network (NCN), a small but innovative program to implement a neighborhood retail redevelopment policy in the city, modeled after the Mainstreet program. The Mainstreet model is based on a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its aim is to curb the encroachment of big-box retails from squelching traditional retail corridors. Mainstreet is synonymous with preservation, although the program's primary intent is to strengthen existing business activity.

It does so by organizing local merchants and residents, and establishing a system that helps them identify their true needs and appropriate development for their particular community. The NCN may have the potential to change the way community leaders, residents, and eventually retailers and developers view neighborhood commercial development. Ideally, the NCN will result in the advancement of local planning efforts in a way that fosters preservation and high design standards. Preservation, therefore, is a natural byproduct rather than primary objective of this process.

The city also is rewriting its zoning ordinance. While other, more preservation-friendly City planning tools, such as City's Master Plan of 1989 and the Community Reinvestment Strategy Cluster Reports, can influence decision-makers, the zoning ordinance is the only policy tool that dictates development patterns.

The new ordinance reportedly will offer greater flexibility for individual developments, but it still enables a suburban type of development. Hopefully it can be improved to integrate a more comprehensive policy. An ideal zoning ordinance guides commercial development in a sustainable manner, recognizing the city's urban nature, pedestrian potential and wealth of opportunities that lie within the city's wonderful existing architecture.

THERE IS HOPE
The national chain stores now locating in Detroit evolved during the era of rampant suburban development. Therefore they base their designs on a suburban model. Their default practice is to plop down the same store on every new site, regardless of place. If encouraged, many times these retailers will be willing to adapt their generic buildings to something more natural to the site's character. The perfect example is the Rite-Aid Drug Store in first floor of the Garfield Building on Woodward Avenue in the Cultural Center. The retailer recognized this as a lucrative opportunity and did something that they don't normally do: locate in an existing, historic building.

Another success story involves the rehabilitation of a building on Detroit's east side. On Kercheval near Cadillac Blvd. is the John Curtis Building, a three-story building that has been rehabilitated, complete with first-floor commercial space. This development has broken many of the trends in urban retail development. Perhaps its most powerful statement: the building has retained large picture windows on its first floor, windows many would not chance using because of perceived crime and safety issues in many neighborhoods.

Perception changes once successful examples of traditional reuse become well known. The Southwest Detroit Business Association has utilized the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Mainstreet Program to revitalize West Vernor Highway as the area's primary retail corridor. Reuse of existing storefronts is an important solution to this neighborhood; new businesses have done very well in this environment, and overall investment has increased.

NOT A THROWAWAY CITY
It serves no purpose to blame this trend on local governments, developers or retailers. This rather is an appeal to incorporate higher design standards into retail development. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that this is not a throwaway city. Incorporating the strengths of Detroit's past in today's retail development will create strong neighborhoods for future generations.