[pketh]

Anecdotally, I live in corktown (a neighborhood right next to downtown), and while it’s overall a nice place to live and somewhat walkable. There are vacant lots everywhere. Some are totally fenced off and some used as free parking.

I’m new to town but everyone else tells me that the area has massively improved in the last 5 years. Those lots are wasted potential.

[gyanreyer]

Yes, downtown Detroit is a wasteland of parking lots. Some incredibly beautiful old buildings have been demolished and turned into vacant lots, it's a real shame. Downtown really needs more development and I think this is a great way to force the issue. When I lived downtown, I had to drive 20 minutes to the suburbs for groceries. And now I have a house in the suburbs instead of Detroit because of that.

[nonethewiser]

What’s currently stopping people from developing them though? Detroit is a huge city and its population has largely vacated to the suburbs. Maybe they havent been developed because the current demand is already being met.

[mactrey]

Sure, that's possible. Or maybe Mr. Parking Lot Owner just likes the look of parking lots. But the key point is that today, improving the land is disincentivized because it would increase the owner's tax burden. So we don't know exactly what people would do with all those empty lots if improving them wasn't disincentivized.