In order to clean up the city, support the tear down of blighted buildings and make neighborhoods look more inviting, Detroit has teamed up with a nonprofit company. Mayor Dave Bing recently announced the city's new partnership with a private nonprofit company, the Detroit Blight Authority.
Recycling 80 percent of the material removed, working with utility companies to negotiate wide spread and applying free market principles are just a few of the concepts behind the Detroit Blight Authority.
After his grandfather told him not to touch the massive, taunting project with a 10-foot-pole, Bill Pulte became even more excited about cleaning up Detroit. "I said to my granddad 'is there a way we could tear down in a mass way these homes for lower cost, and higher impact,' and so after much convincing, I got him to come up with a plan and he presented it to the mayor and the mayor was very supportive," said Bill Pulte. "We knocked out 10 blocks in 10 days in one area, for the lowest cost ever on record."
The mission of the Detroit Blight Authority is to fight blight by tearing down hundreds of abandoned homes, cleaning up the city, and recycling, instead of creating costs by piling onto land fills. The project to clean up Detroit is about the Pulte family being charitable and is not an affiliate of Pulte Homes. The Detroit Blight Authority completes projects in high volume, so that Detroit benefits from a low cost, higher impact ratio. The company placed a lot of equipment in Detroit and had someone who understood management of a large system, like this. The approach is different because the company is not contracting at one house here and there. The cost was lower to complete the project in 10 days.
"The idea would be to take this model and scale it across the rest of the city. We'd be able to do it for half the cost of what it would be proposed to remove blight from the entire city and we'd also be able to do it in five years," said Pulte. At a rate of about 13,000 homes in a year, the Detroit Blight Authority can knock it out in less than five years. Over 30,000 vacant structures currently exist in Detroit and when combining commercial and other structures, the rate increases to 70,000. When asked why he is excited about the project, Pulte said "I'm putting so much energy into this because I think we can make a really big impact."
Friday, May 24 2013 1:52 PM EDT2013-05-24 17:52:39 GMT
Alan Lee asks Wallace if the subject of Viagara will 'come up' in Wallace's scheduled interview with former Senator Bob Dole. Wallace responds, "Comes up, really that's what you're going to say?"
Alan Lee asks Wallace if the subject of Viagara will 'come up' in Wallace's scheduled interview with former Senator Bob Dole. Wallace responds, "Comes up, really that's what you're going to say?"
Friday, May 24 2013 10:54 AM EDT2013-05-24 14:54:29 GMT
Gearin' Up is a non-profit organization that collects gently used clean camp gear, board games, art supplies and raises money to donate to special need camps: Camp Kesem and St. Francis on the Lake.
Gearin' Up is a non-profit organization that collects gently used clean camp gear, board games, art supplies and raises money to donate to special need camps: Camp Kesem and St. Francis on the Lake.
Friday, May 24 2013 9:35 AM EDT2013-05-24 13:35:12 GMT
A Midwest mom and Petoskey, Mich. native, Amy Hanten, is "The Cooking Mom." Her brand new cookbook, The Cooking Mom Cooks Up Memories is filled with more than 170 recipes.
A Midwest mom and Petoskey, Mich. native, Amy Hanten, is "The Cooking Mom." Her brand new cookbook, The Cooking Mom Cooks Up Memories is filled with more than 170 recipes.
Friday, May 24 2013 9:01 AM EDT2013-05-24 13:01:13 GMT
Just because it's not going to feel hot outside this Memorial Day weekend, doesn't mean you can skip the sunscreen. Find out which one is best for you.
Just because it's not going to feel hot outside this Memorial Day weekend, doesn't mean you can skip the sunscreen. Find out which one is best for you.
Friday, May 24 2013 8:53 AM EDT2013-05-24 12:53:20 GMT
Get ready for the sound of lawn tractors all around the city of Detroit this weekend. That's because the Detroit Mower Gang is heading out to cut the grass at the city's parks and playgrounds for 24 straight hours.
Get ready for the sound of lawn tractors all around the city of Detroit this weekend. That's because the Detroit Mower Gang is heading out to cut the grass at the city's parks and playgrounds for 24 straight hours.
Friday, May 24 2013 7:54 AM EDT2013-05-24 11:54:54 GMT
From Polish food and carnival rides to electronic music along the riverfront, there's plenty to do this Memorial Day weekend. Go inside the story for a complete list of events, parades and much more.
From Polish food and carnival rides to electronic music along the riverfront, there's plenty to do this Memorial Day weekend. Go inside the story for a complete list of events, parades and much more.
