BRIDGING HIGH & LOW DENSITY WITH GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE
This project proposes opportunities for non-residential property owners to work together to implement shared green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) projects that control runoff, reduce drainage charges, and contribute to neighborhood beautification and stabilization. These shared solutions provide GSI opportunities for property owners with limited options and for whom the drainage charge is a hardship. Design concepts respond to Detroit’s unique landscape and emphasize improved quality of life through green space, beautification of commercial corridors, and stabilization of vacant land. Importantly, this project links commercial corridors to surrounding neighborhoods of varying vacancy.
An interdisciplinary team led by the Detroit Collaborative Design Center has developed GSI strategies that tie neighborhood landscape opportunities to drainage policy and offer citywide lessons. Through an initial analysis of existing GSI resources and initiatives, we identified a gap in GSI strategies for non-residential properties that meet neighborhood urban design goals and support Detroit property owners. This work focuses on strategies for Grandmont Rosedale and Brightmoor neighborhood commercial corridors that have lessons for commercial corridors and adjacent neighborhoods citywide. The report included in the drop down menu to the left documents an investigation of the design, engineering, legal, financial, implementation and maintenance implications of shared GSI strategies that manage runoff from multiple non-residential properties in community green spaces. The slide deck below provides an overview of the collective work.
Detroit Collaborative Design Center, 2018
Role: Project Manager & Designer
This report is an independent planning study led by the Detroit Collaborative Design Center and funded by the Ford Foundation. It considers possible GSI solutions for Detroit property owners that may earn drainage credits and contribute to Detroit neighborhoods, including recommendations for future consideration. This work does not represent DWSD nor was it completed on behalf of DWSD.