THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT?

One of the fascinating things about the situation in Detroit is the consideration of ideas that will help transform the city out of it's current blight. Here is an article on one such attempt by an artist collective. The idea is to install 1000 painted "butterfly's" across the city in an effort to stem rampant graffiti and brighten up abandoned buildings.   http://detnews.com/article/20100522/OPINION03/5220353/1460/OPINION0307/1+000+artist-painted+butterflies+to+help+fight+Detroit+blight

The artist dubs it the "papillion effect" and sees it as a metaphor for Detroit coming out of it's current urban decay and rising up. The interesting question is would this project be produced or even considered in other urban areas? Would there not be community meetings and bureaucratic hurdles to overcome in getting the project OK'd? Additionally what are the social implications of "band-aid" solutions to the visual landscape? How is it perceived by the citizens and how should it be perceived. It's a noble idea and can the energy and critical mass that it hopes to achieve spark additional project based ideas that address deeper issues?

Here is an article from the NY times that takes a more broad stroke approach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/opinion/21herbert.html?_r=1

What is priority 911?

Here's an interesting article that talks about reducing 911 response times in Detroit.
http://detroit.blogs.time.com/2010/04/19/in-detroit-improved-911-response-times/  where "non priority" 911 calls take on almost an hour to be responded too. Comparable stats in other cities is remarkable. Houston averages 5.5 minutes and San Francisco averages around 7-8 minutes. Besides the obvious time difference, what does this mean for a psychological aspect about "emergency" response. Do people not even bother calling in the event of an emergency because they have no faith in the system? What does this mean for the citizens of an urban district when there is little or no confidence in the functioning of the most basic, and essential services? How does this effect people's decisions in critical moments?

This is an excerpt from a Wall St. Journal article about one woman's experience:

"On July 17, 2005, Ms. Barham returned home around 1:30 in the morning to find her front door busted open and what she thought was a robbery in proress. She rushed back to her car to call 911 and waited there for police.
They arrived at 4:41 a.m., according to their report"

Detroit Photos - comparison

This kinda sums up the whole notion of "Urban Prairie". Click on the link and see.

DETROIT THEN AND NOW

If  you run the cursor over the image you'll see the aerial footage from 1949 and then the same aerial in the from 2003. Notice the difference? Where did all of these houses, and more importantly, the people who owned them, go? I know from visiting this neighbourhood that it's changed even more since.

Detroit photos

Here's some initial photos from the "prairie and pavement" project. detroit photos
They are just some early stuff. More to come.

Post #1

Hey all,
I lived part-time in Michigan for over 2 years and spent a bunch of time in the 313 area.  I love Detroit because it's real and visceral and has no pretense of being a "cool" city. It is what it is. This often means that it's a tough place. Physically and emotionally. Detroit broods and when you live there you can't help but be affected by it. It is really unlike anywhere else and offers a starkly revealing picture of all that is wrong with post-industrial America. Through the rubble and the fear, however there is something fascinating that seems to be happening; or is about to happen.

Detroit offers an opportunity to exercise some ideas on urban thinking and social anthropology that would never be possible in another city. The city has "tipped" over to a point where regular urban gentrification is no longer possible. There is simply too much space, too few people, not enough money and jobs and too much decay and abandonment to try and repair things. People are beaten down.

Only radical and inventive measures can change the city. New approaches to impossible circumstances means that Detroit can be the proving grounds for new urban thinking; much the same way it was for the automotive manufacturing that built the city in the first place.

The "Prairie and Pavement" project will consist of a few different photography and documentary projects. Some work on the current urban environment; portraits of 313'rs and some photographs of the people and ideas that are trying to change the city. Come back often!