Detroit neighborhood group opposes veterans center so it can preserve dog path

About a mile from the
proposed vet center

The Michigan Veterans Foundation sold its headquarters in Detroit's Cass Corridor to make way for the new Red Wings arena and the Wayne State University Business School. The group purchased space in Detroit's Woodbridge District, which, like many Detroit neighborhoods, is dominated by vacant lots and abandoned buildings.

From the Detroit News:

The veterans group wants to relocate and build on an empty triangular lot where Grand River Avenue, West Forest Avenue and 14th Street intersect. Several empty buildings are nearby and one of the closest businesses to the location is a party [liquor] store. The vets group bought the property from Detroit Public Schools last year.

But some residents of the Woodbridge District, a neighborhood west of Wayne State University where property values are steadily rising, are balking.

"This development would further curtail what many Woodbridge residents use as a dog-walking path and ski trail," members of the Woodbridge Citizen Districts Council wrote to the Detroit's City Planning Commission, objecting to the relocation of the Veterans Foundation. "We would like to have development projects that appropriately complement our neighborhood and the amenities our residents would need."

While the neighborhood organization states it's "supportive of the mission" of the veterans foundation, the proposed center doesn't belong in the community, the group argues.

What the community, which is really a wasteland, needs is more people in it. Here's another view, which includes that party store. I can only conclude that the neighborhood group just doesn't want the vets there. After all, there is plenty of other open space so a new dirt dog path can develop.

From my post at Da Tech Guy:

I walked its streets--the tragedy of Detroit.