Major changes are coming to the leadership of the Detroit Planning and Development Department (PDD). Planning Director Maurice Cox and Deputy Director Janet Attarian are both stepping down. Both have had a tremendous impact on moving Detroit forward, but especially with parks, greenways, and biking infrastructure. We’ve really enjoyed working closely with them and learning from them.
One especially memorable moment with Maurice occurred shortly after he came to Detroit. He pulled together many of the long time bicycle advocates with city staff and we met in a Mayor’s office. Here he announced that he wanted to make Detroit the best bicycling city in America. There wasn’t much reaction. We were in shock to hear this coming from the city.
It was also Maurice who early on declared that protected bike lanes would be the design minimum for major Detroit streets. He promoted the 20-minute neighborhood idea, where every Detroiter could walk or bike for their non-work errands in under 20 minutes. He expanded the Joe Louis Greenway vision from a mere trail to neighborhood revitalization tool. He was adamant that the Detroit Riverfront should be developed with world class public spaces for Detroiters.
While he and his team achieved much more, we must mention that he also was a regular bike commuter.
Maurice will step down in September and begin his new role as Planning Director for the City of Chicago.
A Bike Infrastructure Rock Star
Losing Janet is equally tough. She came to Detroit via Chicago where she was their Complete Streets Director. She also led the development of hundreds of other projects, including the McDonald’s Bicycle Station, Bloomingdale Trail framework plan, and more.
We used to hustle to bring bike and trail design rock stars to Detroit for workshops, but with Janet, we had one here full-time. She brought a wealth of experience and a pragmatic approach to making safer streets for everyone. She led the design and development of the protected bike lane designs, such as the ones on Cass and E. Jefferson.
She was also instrumental for the framework planning currently underway with the Joe Louis Greenway. At that time, we weren’t certain that was necessary. Now we now it was the right decision. This greenway planning is bringing a much more diverse community voice into the project that strengthens the greenway’s support.
Janet’s last day with the City is July 26th. She’s being coy about where she is headed, but has said she “will not be going far.”
What’s Next?
It remains to be seen who will be the permanent replacements for these positions. We can easily imagine Mayor Mike Duggan seeking equally qualified candidates. In the meantime, there is still a fully-staffed planning department that supports greenways and Complete Streets. Two former members of PDD are now in DPW and GSD as this work has spread between departments.
In short, we’re not worried.
The city of Detroit has faced many major financial challenges after year after year of downsizing prior to its bankruptcy. Detroit simply could not provide the same level of service that other cities could. Parks were underfunded and many not maintained. Biking was often seen as a dispensable recreational activity, especially when faced with issues of crime, street lighting, blight, a declining population, and more.
Bankruptcy has allowed Detroit to offer greater services. Detroit parks have certainly benefited from this as has the planning department.
Living in Lafayette Park, he uses the nearby Dequindre Cut often. He told the attendees that every Detroit neighborhood deserves a great greenway like this — something that’s very much in line with the Detroit Greenways Coalition vision and Food and Fitness Collaborative goals.