M.U.P. students launch commercial revitalization study of portion of Six-Mile Corridor

Students in the Master of Urban Planning (MUP) program at Wayne State launched a project to develop recommendations for the commercial revitalization of the Six Mile and Schaefer Highway corridors surrounding the Sinai-Grace Hospital. The study area extends along Six Mile Road between the Lodge and Hubbell, and along Schaefer Highway between Outer Drive and Grove. It also includes the neighborhood gateway located at the Lodge Freeway and Six Mile Road.

The project is being done on behalf of the Sinai-Grace Guild Community Development Corporation.

MUP capstones provide students-as they approach the end of their studies-with an opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they acquired in the program to address the needs of a real-world client.

The project intends to:

Identify strategies to retain and expand existing businesses, and attract new well-established businesses to the neighborhood, by:

Conducting an inventory and suitability analysis of commercial assets and needs within and adjacent to the study area.

Establishing points of focus for a future market study.

Provide recommendations towards the development of an entrepreneurial pipeline, by:

Identifying partnership opportunities with existing entrepreneurial programs and developing strategies for connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners to these programs.

Evaluating the suitability of existing vacant properties for an entrepreneurial incubator.

Developing recommendations for structuring a commercial community land trust or cooperative.

Develop strategies towards implementing corridor improvement projects, by:

Examining the feasibility of a zoning overlay district and preparing a draft of an overlay zone for the zoning ordinance that can encourage the revitalization of the study area

Identifying historic and cultural assets in the study area that may eligible for preservation programs.

Providing recommendations for the potential streetscape, community gateway, and open space improvements that can be used to support increased economic vitality

Offering strategies that can increase connectivity between the Sinai-Grace Hospital campus and the Six Mile commercial corridor

Identifying several catalyst corridor improvement projects that can be implemented within the short, middle, and long-term time horizons in the study area

The instructor for the course, Professor Rayman Mohamed, stated that these are just recommendations or "thought pieces" to help an area that already has lots of strengths to nurture these strengths in ways that promote local ownership and local business entrepreneurship.