A lot treatment that promotes responsible residential parking
$5,500+
Professional
Better
Grantee
2016
Sun
360 Detroit broke ground in 2016 to install the first Rear Parking Partner Lot Design. They were looking for a design that would establish a safe alternative to on street parking while also complimenting a small garden existing on their lot. The Rear Parking Partner provides a paved parking pad while allowing water to infiltrate the ground, instead of running quickly off into the street and into Detroit’s sewerage system.
George Adams
Professional
Contactors
Rear Parking Partner
Unknown
Single Lot
1151 West Euclid Detroit, MI 48202
I chose the Rear Parking Partner because I felt it would be the best use of the vacant lot. The lot has a small garden on it tended by my neighbor. Therefore, I wanted to do something that would complement the garden, while also providing a safer parking alternative for both of us. The Rear Parking Partner design seemed like a good fit. It is low maintenance, and I increased the size of the design to have a greater impact on the environment, thus diverting more water from the sewage system.
The lot design mostly involved my neighbor and me. I managed the project and asked my neighbor for input regarding the design layout.
Yes, the lot design was customized so that it would be more functional. We installed the parking pad along the rear of our lot, which created three parking spaces on our lot. We also moved the trees and Knockout Roses to the front of the lot to replace the trees that died or were dying. We also decided to substitute the Amur Maple Trees for two Kwanzan Cherry Trees.
Yes
Beautification
We acquired the property from the Detroit Land Bank prior to installing the lot design. There are no lessons learned however.
After exploring options for installing this lot design, we learned that this lot design requires more resources than is outlined in the Lot Design packet. We explored a few contractors to install this design, but found it to be difficult to stay within the budget we had. I would suggest that you interview at least 3 contractors and evaluate their bids based on quality and experience. Dont go with the lowest qoute, choose the contractor that seems to be most thorough in their estimate.
The lot design mostly involved my neighbor and me. I managed the project and asked my neighbor for input regarding the design layout.
We were able to secure funding from the DFC Working with Lots program which was extremely helpful. I would recommend that anyone looking to install this lot design explore several fundraising alternatives. i would also suggest obtaining a quote as early as possible, even if funding is not yet secure.
N/A
Finding a contractor that could do the project within the budget set by the grant was a challenge. We explored a few contractors whose quotes were rather expensive. Having knowledge of what to ask a contractor was difficult as well.
The Field Guide was very helpful and detailed related to maintenance so I will be referring back to that and researching how to best care for the knockout roses