Gary, Indiana is joining Detroit and other fading U.S. industrial centers in an effort to turn abandoned neighborhoods and factory sites into gardens, parks, and forests. In addition to the environmental benefits, these greening initiatives may help catalyze an economic recovery.
There certainly isn’t a dearth of classic early twentieth century architecture around Gary, Indiana. Another fine example is that of the Ambassador Apartments at 574 Monroe Street. Finished in 1928, the luxurious building featured views and amenities no other place in town could match. Initially it would cater to Gary’s high society, but decades of economic decline and neglected maintenance would take its toll on the building.
In 1990, residents noticed a drive-thru drug business operating from the building. Buyers would place orders and pay in front, then circle down the alley to pick up their purchase.
The Ambassador Apartments would serve Gary for nearly six decades before it succumbed to economic and structural failures. Today it still stands, abandoned for over 25 years and crumbling beyond repair.
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Detroit, which has at least 20 square miles of abandoned land, has been a leader in envisioning alternative uses for sites that once would have been targeted for conventional redevelopment. The city has 1,400 or more urban farms and community gardens, a tree-planting plan so ambitious the local press says it “could serve as a model for postindustrial cities worldwide,” and $8.9 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement green infrastructure projects and install solar panels on other vacant lots.
But while demolition itself has added an estimated $209 million to the equity of remaining homes in Detroit, Danielle Lewinski, vice president and director of Michigan Initiatives for the Flint-based Center for Community Progress, said hard data on the value of greening projects is more difficult to come by.
It’s easy to be cynical, because Gary has been planned to death, and people have had their hearts broken before,” she said. “The people who have decided to stay are ready for a positive reincarnation.”
DYI Comments: I've followed these northern cities for over 30 years. I grew up east of Cleveland Ohio in a small town of Willoughby far from the inner city. Even during the late 1960's the few times as a kid our family ventured into downtown Cleveland there where areas that looked like WWII B-17 bombers had drop their munitions. I have more than a passing interest. My take is far more simple than the article with all of its urban planning projects. What is not mentioned is the remaining law abiding citizens who live there have to see these eye sores year after year and many times decade after decade. They are breeding grounds for crime. For these cities their #1 goal above all else is removing these buildings. This will simplify from police to fire to urban planning. As these crime ridden eye sores are removed this will provide the remaining residence with an emotion impossible to put a dollar figure on: HOPE!
DYI
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