Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

File today's Streetsblog Network post under "where fantasy meets reality."

First, via The Dirt, the blog of the American Society of Landscape Architects, we have a post about the winners of the Reburbia contest, "a design competition dedicated to re-envisioning the suburbs." Sponsored by Dwell magazine and Inhabitat, the contest garnered some pretty interesting entries, including the winner, "Frog's Dream" by Calvin Chiu:

It proposes to transform...vacant McMansions, at the periphery of cities, into eco-water treatment machines, commercially known as Living Machines, in which a micro-ecosystem of plants, algae, bacteria, fish and clams are present to purify the water. A micro-wetland ecosystem will be formed around these mansions to sustain larger wetland animals and plants. The project also involves transforming the highway system into a multi-functional infrastructure that transports cars, trains and bikes, as well as forming a network to facilitate water transport between a city and its surrounding suburban wetlands.

35_374742138358d45c18d8.jpgA feral house in Detroit. Photo copyright James D. Griffoien.

Hard to imagine this actually coming to pass, isn't it? Except that when you look at James D. Griffoien's fabulous pictures of "feral houses," you can see that in a way it already has -- although without the water-filtering clams.

Anne Trubek has a nice post at Good on the phenomenon. Poke around Griffoien's site for more great pictures, and be sure to visit his excellent blog on life in a changing Detroit, Sweet Juniper.

Runners-up in the Reburbia contest include a proposal to rezone residential areas to make them more friendly to small businesses, and a plan to convert big-box stores and their parking lots to farms and greenhouses.

Perhaps the most realistic was the "Urban Sprawl Repair Kit" from Galina Tahchieva, which won the People's Choice award. It takes familiar suburban prototypes, such as the drive-through restaurant, and makes good use of their excessive parking and setbacks -- creating more walkable and pleasant public spaces.

Speaking of repurposing: The Detroit Free Press reports that Ford Motor Company may be selling one of its defunct auto plants to manufacturers of solar panels and grid storage batteries. If the deal goes through, it would create a "renewable energy park" and some 4,300 jobs:

It's perhaps fitting that the Ford Wixom plant -- which built gasguzzlers such as the Lincoln Town Car for 50 years and once employed5,000 -- stands to become a centerpiece of Michigan's effort to creategreen jobs in solar, wind, electric propulsion and othernon-fossil-fuel energy sectors.

More from the network: an action alert on bike-safety legislation from Austin on Two Wheels, Boston Biker has a cyclist's guide to dealing with pedestrians, and How We Drive posts on a study making the rounds about who really causes most bike-car crashes.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Monday’s Headlines Pick Up Where They Left Off

Auto designers will have to rethink their approach to pickup trucks in the electric age, according to the BBC.

October 7, 2024

Is Amtrak’s Big Dig Harming West Baltimore’s Black Neighborhoods?

Amtrak's single biggest infrastructure project got hit with a civil rights complaint. How should sustainable transportation advocates get involved in the conversation?

October 7, 2024

Friday Video: Why Are America’s Roads and Bridges ‘Crumbling’?

Americas dangerous, crumbling roads are bridges didn't happen by accident — and it's not too late to fix them, the latest Streetcraft video says.

October 4, 2024

Friday’s Headlines Are For Local Control

It's playing out all over the country: A city wants to make a street safer for everyone, only for the state DOT to step in and say no. Learn more about the trend + more stories in today's headlines.

October 4, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: Transit Themed Rock Music

Meet a band that writes exclusively about the car-free life on public transit. And it rocks!

October 3, 2024
See all posts