Detroit appeared again today in the New York Times with a story about the importance of land re-structuring and organization as we move the city forward. The article teetered between uncertainty and shots of casual optimism, but it expounds on the fact repeatedly that so many organizations and groups within the city of Detroit are behind the city. The Detroit Declaration got mention as did CDAD’s Revitalization Framework as being one of many initiatives that are behind that progression. It urges the importance of a plan, something that Bing’s office has claimed to be churning up. So get up, clap your hands, cheer on Team USA in the World Cup and start pushing for some action out of Bing’s office. Gotta keep this train a movin’!

CDAD (Community Development Advocates of Detroit) have put together a neighborhood revitalization strategic framework laying out some revolutionary steps to envision a new Detroit. It is a seriously refreshing document, evidence that the greater plan is at least being attempted. It’s evidence that future change and development is coming. The press release outlines the group’s desire to acknowledge the current state of Detroit and take a bold new stance to create a plan for the entire city. The plan and framework, a 19-page document, essentially outlines eleven different neighborhood classifications– everything from rural living to shopping hubs to industrial zones– to re-invent Detroit. The idea with the different zones is to work with the current characteristics of land in Detroit and offer a unique array of choices in residential living. It could very well be a revolutionary plan; what other metropolitcan city in the country offers residents the ability to live in a rural, country-like setting or in a modern lofted metro neighborhood all in the same city limits? What CDAD has laid out is specifically noted as not being the “master plan” so to speak, it is a framework plan that sets out to create a vision for every type of area in the city. And really, this is astronomically important work, practically the first “plan” of its kind in quite some time. Its a seriously refreshing document and helps to understand how Bing and his cohorts are contemplating a serious, constructive change for the city of Detroit.

See the full 19 page strategic framework here.