“
At first, people laughed.
They thought we were
insane,” says Patricia Bosch. A
longtime resident of Detroit’s
northeast side, Bosch recalls
the birth of a grassroots
effort in the early 1990s
“
to improve the quality of
life in this area, and our
economic development.” One of
the first opportunities identified by the
newly formed Norwood Community
Development Corporation was Connor
Creek, an overgrown and disrupted
waterway running from Eight Mile Road
south to the Detroit River.
With the support of
University of Michigan graduate students
and GreenWays Initiative funding, the
Connor Creek Greenway ceased being
such a funny joke and instead became
a tangible asset that is now playing an
important role in revitalizing the
corridor. Today, about six miles
of the nine-mile pathway are
complete.
“
It’s led to this diversity of
activity, but it’s also uniting our
neighborhoods and creating
lateral connections,” Bosch says.
“
By that, I mean it’s not only
provided a connection between
Detroit and its suburbs, but it’s
also linking the neighborhoods
of Detroit, and that’s the beauty
of it. And it’s fun, besides.”
The story of the GreenWays
Initiative is also the story of Tom
Woiwode, former director of the
Michigan chapter of The Nature
Conservancy. In 2001, it was
Woiwode who launched the effort that
would come to have such a profound
impact on the city.
“
Many of these investments are physi-
cally transformative in such a way that it
actually allows people to think differently
about their community, the way they relate
to their community and the way they relate
to each other,” he says. “It was important to
us for people to reacquaint themselves with
the city and actively participate.”
Trails and pathways have given resi-
dents a convenient, healthy, affordable
and active way to explore their city. The
simplicity of the concept belies its power.
“
Historically, this was not available to
them,” Woiwode says. “Once these trans-
formative infrastructure investments start-
ed to take place, once people started to see
what opportunities were available to them
to engage with their city, the appetite for
it has ramped up significantly. Now, it’s
“
If you don’t ride
a bike, I feel like
you’re missing
a major part of
what’s fun in
Detroit right now.”
Mike MacKool,
co-founder of Slow Roll
RTC plays an
important role in Detroit’s biking rejuvenation. Recent initiatives we
have helped make possible through funding or planning support include—
•
Eastside Community Collaborative Earn-A-Bike program
•
Maintenance and improvement of the Southwest Detroit Greenlink
•
Detroit-Cleveland bike/ped planning exchange
For more information, contact Rhonda Romano, RTC’s midwest regional director,
at
rhonda@railstotrails.org.
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