DCPA in the News
A LessonаIn Revival: Detroit's Gratiot Woods Shows
October 26, 2003аХХа1768 wordsаХХаID: 0310250308
Gratiot Woods is an unassuming nook of east-side Detroit that shows how one tired little neighborhood can revive when enough individuals and groups embark on the same mission. Now, Gratiot Woods is about to rebloom with 90 new houses -- not a subdivision, but one house here, two there -- scattered through the many vacant lots. Built over three years by the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, they will echo the neighborhood's vintage 1910s and 1920s architecture. To view complete article, please visit www.freep.com
Alliance's goal is to improve community: Activist group gets new headquarters
September 15, 2005. Building homes. Aiding seniors. Inspiring community action. Those are just three of the activitiesаof the DetroitаCatholic Pastoral Alliance. The alliance's efforts are aimed at one goal: helping residents make their neighborhood a better place to live.аTo view complete article, please visit www.freep.comа
Building on Tradition
November 2004. Within an old typology, Detroit architects create new spaces that fill contemporary needs. A 27-block enclave in the geographic center of Detroit's east side, Gratiot Woods was - from the 1920s through the 1960s - a prosperous working-class neighborhood that eventually deteriorated as industrial jobs vanished, crime escalated, and all but the poorest decamped for the suburbs. Now, however, Gratiot Woods is making a comeback thanks to the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, a non-profit community-development organization - and to a strategy that preserves the district's traditional aesthetic character while addressing the sometimes nontraditional needs of its residents. To view complete article, please visit www.metropolismag.com
