Governor working on plan to tear down abandoned buildings, improve safety in Detroit

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Schools in the neighborhoods of Detroit where there is high crime will become the anchor for the new project Governor Rick Snyder is expected to start sometime in August.

The first neighborhood to be identified is on the city’s east side called MorningSide.  The homes targeted for demolition are around the John E. Clark Preparatory School.

“Kids are scared to go around it or walk around it because you never know what will jump out.  Bushes are as tall as our kids,” said Lukawan Campbell.  He and his 4-year-old son Amerreon Crawford live one block from the school and live nearby dozens of abandoned homes. 

He said they are afraid of the danger these dwellings can hold.

“You just don’t know what’s going on in the world with different people’s mentalities if they’ll snatch a kid, now that’s sickening, but at the same time, it happens,” said Campbell.

Governor Rick Snyder is taking notice of his neighborhood which is called MorningSide.  Snyder’s people will come in over the next month and start demolishing dozens of the abandoned buildings.

“Finally, the state is coming around, and understanding what needs to be done in Detroit,” said Mayor Dave Bing.

So far the mayor’s administration has bulldozed 4,500 homes in the city, but he says they are running out of federal money.  Help from the governor’s office is definitely needed.

“We’re tearing down homes that we can’t renovate. They’re beyond repair and very dangerous in the neighborhoods where they are and most, most dangerous to our children as they go to school and come home from school,” said Mayor Bing.  “We don’t have enough money for every home, but we are working on taking care of the homes in areas of high crime,” he said.

The other target neighborhoods are near schools in southwest Detroit at Livernois and West Vernor and then by two schools in northwest Detroit around W. 7 Mile and Wyoming.

So far the governor’s office said there is no definite number of the amount of homes they will help tear down.

This plan comes from one of the ventures set forth in the consent agreement for the state to help address areas of blight in the city. 

The Detroit Fire Department is helping with the plan by working with the army corps of engineers to create a database of buildings that will be torn down.