Warren rethinks community dev in wake of real-estate crisis

metromode, 2/19/2009

Where does real-estate go from here? The call of the Chicken Little crowd is down, down, down. But some people in Macomb County are trying to figure out how to take the current crisis out of, well, crisis mode.

People from a handful of large institutions, locally and abroad, are putting their heads together to figure out pragmatic approaches to turning the crisis of foreclosures and the credit crunch into sustainable projects. And they're doing this weekend in Warren at a presntation by ARCHIS, entitled, After The Crisis.

ARCHIS is an experimental think tank devoted to the process of real-time spatial and cultural reflexivity and action. The Netherlands Architecture Institute has one of the world's most important collections of archives of architecture and urban planning. Also among the organizations participating in the event are Abitare, Netherlands Architecture Institute and the College of Architecture and Design at Lawrence Technological University.

Those attending the event will use Warren's neighborhoods --with the highest rate of foreclosure-- as real-life examples of what can be done. They will come up with ways to not only stabilize these places but creating a long-term vision for them.

The idea is to help create a plan for future suburban development. It will also produce ways to infuse new energy into places desperate for change.

Abitare is a magazine that focuses on contemporary architecture, design and the visual arts. Lawrence Tech's College of Architecture and Design, is one the 30 oldest schools of architecture in the U.S.

For information, send an email to Macomb County Commissioner Toni Moceri at tonimoceri@gmail.com.

Source: Toni Moceri, commissioner for Macomb County
Writer: Jon Zemke