Dewar Featured in Model D Article About the Revitalization of a Rosedale Park Neighborhood in Detroit

Professor Emerita Margaret Dewar was referenced by Model D, a Detroit based online magazine, in a recent article about the revitalization of Stahelin Avenue, in the Rosedale Park neighborhood of Detroit. The article describes a rebirth which is the result of hundreds of community residents, with the help of the nonprofit Grandmont Rosendale Development Corporation (GRDC), volunteering their time to clean up their community ravaged by the blight of vacancy and abandoned property. Neighborhood volunteers helped fix abandoned properties throughout their community, fixing up homes and selling them, manicuring lawns, and enforcing codes in order to beautify the area they call home. Through actively renovating abandoned properties Stahelin residents have been able to resist the typical foreclosure, abandonment, and vacancy issues that plague the typical Detroit community.

The effort of the community and GRDC have led to higher property values in the neighborhood and a drop in foreclosures. Other ways that Stahelin Avenue residents continue to ensure a stability in their area include community workshops on how to avoid foreclosure, inform residents of assistance programs, and working with the city on rental registries and requirements on maintaining quality standards. “You have to love where you live, you really do, and want to get involved in order to make a change,” one resident says. “I think that’s the backbone of all of us, is we love where we live and we wanted to be involved.” Research from the University of Michigan found that the Grandmont Rosedale communities stood out when looking at housing price changes in neighborhoods that had strong housing demand before 2007. “Their housing values were considerably higher than those in other neighborhoods, controlling for all other characteristics, after the Vacant Property Task Force and other efforts started,” professor Dewar stated. “This is a remarkable achievement.”