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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1992-09-22
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THE WEEK, Page 22NATIONAn Experiment in Urban Homesteading
Detroit finds a way to bring new hope to a devastated downtown
For most Detroit residents, the inferno that swept through a
run-down boardinghouse, killing 10 mostly elderly and disabled
residents, was one more reminder of how decrepit the city's
housing stock has become. Detroit has averaged one new housing
start annually for the past 17 years, among the lowest building
rates in the nation. But last week, in a counterpoint to the
sorrow of the deadliest fire in nearly 50 years, the city also
offered a sign of hope. As the choir of gospel singers sang and
the mayor beamed, Detroit opened its first new inner-city
housing development in 30 years.
In the bleeding heart of downtown, near a city power works
and a Chrysler assembly plant, Victoria Park offers serene,
curving streets and handsome colonial- and Cape Cod-style homes.
The incongruous setting did not deter builders from snapping up
city-owned lots for a dollar apiece, then designing gracious
homes with porch decks, two-car garages and cathedral ceilings.
Buyers, unfazed by the city's mean reputation, grabbed 70 of the
86 available houses, for prices that were typically 25% less
than comparable homes in the suburbs. Among the first new
owners: a Desert Storm nurse, a church minister and an IRS
agent. Cheered Detroit's crusty mayor Coleman Young: "We are
building a new town in town, one neighborhood at a time."