Port Authority Terminal

[hudkina]

It's all reletive. When you freezing your ass off in the winter of course you're going to want it to be 90 degrees out, but on the flipside, when it's 90 degrees and humid beyond belief, you may wish it was a "cool" 40 degrees. And climate isn't the biggest factor why people move. They move because of jobs. When someone can't find a job in Detroit they do look to the south because they believe the notion that the weather is better, but I'm sure if they had to choose between an average job in Dallas and a better job in Minneapolis, they'd take the job in Minneapolis.

[RustTown]

All good points.

But, one can't talk about the difference and/or similarity in weather and not mention snow. Many people can stand/respect cold weather if their are things to outweigh that slight human inconvenience. You introduce driving, shoveling, ect...snow, and it changes things, entirely for many people, and I can't blame them for not liking that aspect of the weather. That's because we're so car-based, though. Add in mass transit, and morning commutes on mass transit, and commutes become significantly more bareable.

[hudkina]

I actually prefer shoveling snow over mowing my lawn. My walkway is a lot smaller than my lawn.

[dtown]

Yeah, same here. Thats the only thing i dont like about summer, yardwork.

A lot of people move to the sunbelt, even if they dont have a job lined up. They head to Cali to hang in LA and they end up finding a job. Thats not very likely to happen, right now anyway, in Detroit.

[Jasoncw]

So many great cities around the world have the same climate as Detroit. I think that people from Michigan complain about it more, and we've spread the "Michigan weather sucks" attitude across the country ourselves. Everyone complains about bad weather from where they're from, but it seems like Michiganders link it to the state of Michigan/Detroit, and that if it wasn't "Michigan" or "Detroit" it wouldn't be so bad.

I like Michigan's weather except for the Summer, when it gets too hot. I also believe that snow is an important cultural thing, that I would miss if it wasn't there.

[detwaa84]

Seeing the devastation that regions like Florida and New Orleans experience every summer, we should NEVER complain and be blessed to have the weather we have here in Michigan. At least we don't loose and migrate away from our homes everytime we build them again.

[Jasoncw]

yeah, I know, I don't get it. People talk about the great weather down there like there isn't annual mass devastation. If you move there, and spend your life there, I'm pretty sure that it's statistically mega likely that you'll experience super scary weather more than once.

[ericsprague]

Here's an update from John Kerr on the continued progress in preparing for construction of the Detroit Port Authority Passenger Terminal:

Good to hear from you. I appreciate you checking in with me on this project, as this is the most important thing I do on a daily basis. Glad to see you have continued interest!

Red tape is getting cut. We are past the before-mentioned issues with MDOT. We should have the complete construction blue-prints done by Thanksgiving. Hamilton-Anderson, our architects, were a bit tied up with the MGM Grand while we were working out our issues with MDOT/FHWA. The weather will dictate how we go from there. This is a very challenging project considering the subsurface issues we are facing, plus the constrained budget to capital costs that go along with building on a site that never has had underground utilities, sits b/t two combined sewer outfalls, etc. But, as I've expressed to you in the past ... it will get done! Toledo is just finishing their Public Dock & Terminal, and they started a year before us! Sometimes this FHWA money is not so much a blessing, but in the end, I'm convinced we'll have a new asset in Detroit we can collectively market and promote as a new front porch to Detroit. We spend so much time planning and investing in highways and road infrastructure that we forget other options (i.e. mass transit, marine transportation, etc.). It's our hope at the Port Authority that this project will begin discussions on cross-border ferry service, or even service b/t Michigan ports like Port Huron or Wyandotte.

I'm participating in the first-ever Port Cities conference this week, which is looking at ways to better coordinate projects and initiatives like this between coastal communities. I'm just looking forward to the day when we have an asset like the Public Dock to market, not just a vision.

As always, we continue working toward getting this project moving forward. Check back with me around the New Year!

Take care,

John

[dtown]

I hope they get started soon! This will be such an awesome project. I like his vision of some ferry service on the river.

[hudkina]

I wonder how long it would take to ride a ferry from Wyandotte to Downtown and whether it would be feasible as a means for public transportation.

[ericsprague]

Here's an encouraging update from John Kerr of the Port Authority on the Passenger Terminal to be constructed along the Riverwalk between the RenCen and Hart Plaza, and information on an opportunity in May to find out more about development activities and opportunities:

...

Well, I'm getting very excited as I think we are very close to some visual progress on the site. As of late, we've been getting our 100% drawings approved by the Federal Highway Administration and MDOT. Both have been great partners, as of late. They both had very minimal comments, which has allowed us to pursue subcontractors for the project. We are fielding bids in order to formulate the price of the project, which has to be guaranteed due to the specificity of funds we have. We are in that process right now. We are talking weeks, not months to do this.

Since we are hosting the EPA's National Brownfield Conference in May, I'm determined to have much underway by then. I would like to say that by the beginning of April, we should be visually underway. I can't tell you a reason right now why that would not be possible, but with all of these variables out there, something can always come up. You've been as informed as anyone on this project amongst the public, so you can appreciate the "delay" possibilities.

Please pass along to your network that the City of Detroit will be hosting the EPA National Brownfields Conference. The Port Authority is part of the Host Committee and we are encouraging everyone locally to attend ... the conference is free! It's May 5-7 and there should be some interesting sessions, especially for groups who are attune to brownfield redevelopment here in Detroit, like yourself and your network. Just Google "Detroit 2008 EPA Brownfield Conference."

E-Mail me back the first of March to find out where we are ... I should have a much better read.

...

John

[Michi]

Blah, blah, blah...And we're going to get a hunderd inches of snow tonight!

Thanks for the update, eric. Take no offense to my pessimism, but this is one of those projects that I will believe when I see.

[wolverine]

I'm glad to see updates, but yeah.... I really want to see construction start now.

[RustTown]

I'm not exactly sure what this will mean for actual construction as we've been given promises before, but MDOT awarded the port project the funding it needs this month:

http://metromodemedia.com/devnews/trailgrants0059.aspx

[wolverine]

Well, it's another step. Happy to hear it.