Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision

     Productive Safe Routes to School (SRTS) activities are happening at Bennett Elementary.  The 2008 Walk to School Day parade was the kick-off of many safety initiatives.  With the assistance of the parents, SDEV conducted a walking audit of the infrastructure surrounding the school area.  We noted cracked and unleveled sidewalks, pot-holes, lack of corner curb cut-outs (handicap ramps on the corners) and lack of traffic signage.  This Summer SDEV performed a Walkability Audit with pedestrian expert Dan Burden.  The principal, parents and students of the school as well as representatives from the city�fs council president�fs office, Michigan Fitness Foundation, MSHDA and local community stake holders participated.  Mr. Burden assessed how pedestrian friendly our community is, and made recommendations such as extended sidewalks and/or berms to hinder inappropriate street corner parking.  His suggestions will be submitted in the grant application for the school�fs action plan. 

    At the beginning of the 2009 school year, SDEV assisted in the formation of a parent-volunteer safety crossing guard team.  With support from the Detroit Police Department (DPD), parent volunteers have been crossing children from street corner to street corner every day during the drop-off and pick-up times of the students.  By blocking off certain parts of the street(s) in conjunction with parent volunteers controlling and directing traffic, traffic congestion and aggressive driving has lessened around the school�fs area.  SRTS is all about promoting healthy physical life style changes such as walking more and driving less.  Driving less contributes to better air quality in terms of having fewer vehicles emit less toxic fumes into the air.  Walking more increases awareness of community safety issues which is the first step in creating a safer neighborhood.  We will soon be submitting the main grant application for implementation of infrastructure improvements that are needed around the school.

Community Chooses Top Four Environmental Priorities 

        Over 150 residents and many community stakeholders with SDEV recently completed the first phase of an EPA-CARE grant (Community Action for a Renewed Environment). The funding supported forming the Southwest Detroit-South Dearborn Environmental Collaborative, a partnership of Southwest Detroit and South Dearborn residents, non-profit organizations, business leaders, universities, and city and state agencies.

Over the past two years, community members and other collaborative partners identified 100 issues of concern and formed working groups to identify and focus on key issues, including: air quality, lead poisoning, asthma, illegal dumping, abandoned buildings, land contamination, lack of green space, and solid waste. We looked at how many people are affected by each issue, health risks, availability of resources, current actions being taken on the issue, and the feasibility of implementing proposed solutions. The information gathered was put into a series of environmental issue reports, which were distributed and discussed at the collaborative meetings.

After providing data to the community that was gathered about each issue, we held a community meeting on August 12th to compare the relative risks posed in order to choose four priority issues to focus on in the community. The Collaborative members present at the meeting chose the following priority issues for Southwest Detroit and South Dearborn:

Air Quality Mobile Source pollution from trucks, and other diesel engine equipment

Air Quality Stationary source pollution from large and small industries

Incompatible Land Use lack of green space, and land contamination

Lead Poisoning / Healthy homes

After the four priority issues were chosen, we formed work groups for each issue and began evaluating potential projects to reduce environmental impacts. There is an opportunity to receive a level II CARE grant, which would provide funding to implement projects and sustain our collaborative. We will also seek funding from other sources and coordinate efforts with local groups and organizations to continue this work.

Click here to download the CARE Publication