Today, Detroit the City enjoys two significant bellwethers; the announcement that Whole Foods will be opening a store at Woodward and Mack, and the opening of Somerset's Bell Loft on Woodward downtown. Other bellwethers include the announcement by five Detroit companies that they will pledge around $4 million as incentives to lure their workers to live downtown. Wow, this is overwhelming after watching years of exodus from the city by its own wealth.
An influx of new retail business and resident consumers into the downtown area is a significant move toward a Detroit renaissance, but in the interim it may not be enough to keep those shops and entertainment venues alive. What will be needed is a temporary daily influx of money from the entire metro area. Granted, the ball parks and the Fox theater have been a great boon. But its the day-to-day shoppers from the outskirts that will help revive the life of the central city, at least until the residential population has been restored to some semblance of the past. Unfortunately, there's one major stumbling block to that end...parking.
The last few times I've been downtown, parking has cost $10. The last time I was at Somerset in Troy, the parking was free. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the disincentive/incentive relationship in that situation. And it doesn't appear to be about to change. The parking interests seem to have a vice-grip on the city.
Regrettably, that stance may be somewhat self-defeating. They continue to bleed the life out of Detroit's heart.
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