Bob's Update - January 24, 2006
“Aerotropolis” You might want to try saying it out loud - I believe it’s on its way into our conversations in Washtenaw County. And in Wayne County and, I’m hopeful, in conversations throughout Michigan over the next decade. 
The concept of an aerotropolis, as it applies to us, concerns the opportunities for development of the I-94 corridor between Detroit Metro and Willow Run Airports. Most of that large area of land, approximately 25,000 acres, is under-developed or undeveloped. The aerotropolis would be, in essence, a new carefully planned multi-use urban center that would help leverage the economies of both Wayne and Washtenaw Counties, and as a press release asserts, it will provide “a new economic engine for Southeast Michigan.”
Today, around the world, airports function not only as facilities for air transportation, they are becoming major employment, shopping, meeting and entertainment destinations in their own right. If you add “multi-modal” surface transportation links – like light rail, commuter trains and buses – into and out of this proposed aerotropolis, you’d have mass transport available from the Ann-Ypsilanti area up into Canada. Only a handful of places around the globe possess the combination of a Detroit Metro, one of the worlds’ largest hub airports and nearby Willow Run, a leading international air cargo and general aviation facility.
Think about it. Why was Detroit propelled into prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries? It was a ready-made, accessible port. Today’s airports are yesterday’s seaports. They bring the opportunity for commercial enterprise. Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano likes to refer to this as "rivers of commerce." And this idea for an aerotropolis spans more than miles. From Wayne State University to the University of Michigan, it spans the region’s solid commitment to research and the transfer of knowledge – perhaps our area’s most important new commerce.
Bob's Update" is a weekly message to Washtenaw County employees from County Administrator Bob Guenzel. eWashtenaw publishes these columns when they are deemed timely and useful to the wider community. Please contact Administrator Guenzel with your comments.
Monday evening I attended the 2006 Aerotropolis Charrette. “Charrette” is another word that’s gaining some currency, brought back from the late nineteenth century. A charrette today is a workshop in which a number of designers – architects, land use planners, environmentalists and others – take on a project with intense focus for a short period of time. The Detroit Metro Airport, Willow Run Airport and the surrounding 20+ square miles of land were the focus of this year’s “University of Michigan Taubman College Urban Design Charette”. From Friday January 20th through Monday the 23rd, four internationally known architects, supported by more than 40 graduate students and their professors, worked on four presentations for this “Charrette”.
All of last night’s presentations were impressive and each of them had features that made you think that the future is right here, right now – and it’s exciting. I guess that’s part of what these initiatives do for us – remind us that the future is happening now and we can either plan great things, or plan just to survive. The Taubman College Urban Design Charrette helped to refocus forward for a little while. If you’re interested in more information on the charrette, the aerotropolis concept or regional plans for the future, contact me or contact the County's director of Planning & Environment, Tony VanDerworp. Slow and steady works but, most assuredly, you have to have the “vision thing.”
Have a great week.
