Better Block Detroit is the result of a perfect storm between previous Better Block projects, the upcoming Detroit Design Festival, and the Emerging Professional Committee’s continuing efforts to engage the community in greening the built environment. The organizers strive to include participants and leaders in the North End small business and artistic community in this project. Volunteers and partners on the Better Block happening are sourced from all over the city in hopes of rethinking the way this block can be activated and revitalized in the future.
Better Block Detroit will take place on September 22 and 23, the last two days of the Detroit Design Festival. The aim is to make the chosen block, located on E. Grand Blvd. between St. Antoine and Oakland Street, a model of what can happen when sustainable design is applied to a neglected urban area. Better Block is not a street fair or block party, it is a rapid turnaround project in the selected neighborhood to simulate a real, busy, thriving block in a major city. The site will feature food and drinks, work for sale by local artists and artisans, and entertainment and exhibits from nearby venues. Better Block is Detroit’s opportunity to demonstrate tactical urbanism live. This means, Better Block Detroit will be a safe place of assembly and interaction, where Detroiters can invent and make their own vision of what everyday business and entertainment can look like.
Better Block Detroit embraces and encourages participants to reflect on five pillars that embody the tenets of this project:
TRANSPORTATION refers to any means taken to move people within a city, such as biking, busing, driving, walking, skating and more. We encourage a healthy mix of them all!
SAFETY is tantamount to the feeling of comfort and protection we experience in everyday situations. Safety must exist first to better your block!
THE ENVIRONMENT we nurture and inhabit provides us with the very resources we need to live day in and out. Our impacts on the environment will last past our own generation.
ENTERTAINMENT reveals our ability to showcase our talents and enjoy other peoples’ gifts. Better Block Detroit provides spectators with a variety of recreation this weekend.
COMMUNITY is achieved when people come together to share their opinions and experiences in a respectful and open way. Our time on the block creates a community we all value and enrich!
Click the “Get Involved” tab above or contact us at betterblockdetroit@gmail.com for more information on how to participate in this project. RSVP for Better Block Detroit at our Facebook event page!
OFFICIAL BETTER BLOCK HOURS:
Saturday September 22, 9:00AM - 8:00PM
(after dark, feel free to join us at the adjacent Tangent Gallery for live entertainment)
Sunday September 23, 9:00AM - 5:00PM
(followed by the Official DDF Closing Party at the Detroit City Airport)