Why Don't We Blog This?

Posted by Jerry with some writing by Alex:

At LOVELAND and WDWOT our usual style is to just keep working and let things be as interesting as they want to be — AKA we don’t normally reach out to press, we just let our works float through the webs and words of mouth at their own speed — but with the Wayne County Tax Foreclosure Auction starting this Friday and being so damn significant but so under-discussed, it’s probably time to beat the drum a bit.

Alex wrote up this short press release which I tweaked the knobs on just a bit. If you know anyone in the media who might want to do a story, please see and pass along the text below, or say “Check this out: http://whydontweownthis.com. It’s like a social network for $500 auction properties in Detroit or something.”

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Subject: Why Don’t We Own This? Maps 20K $500 Detroit Auction Properties, Helps Plan Future

This Friday, the Wayne County Tax Foreclosure Auction will open with nearly 20,000 Detroit properties on sale for minimum opening bids of $500. The parcels for sale amount to roughly 5% of all parcels in the City of Detroit and, if history is any indication, likely half will go unsold. This is the largest auction of its kind in the country, and the largest in Detroit’s history.

I am writing to you from Loveland Technologies in Detroit, where we have developed a website called Why Don’t We Own This? that maps the land available in the auction. We offer a platform where people can discuss Detroit land use and collaborate on projects and solutions that address Detroit’s considerable challenges including disinvestment, depopulation, blight, and vacant land. 

We work to present critical data to Detroit and the world in a coherent and readable form, filling a gap that the City of Detroit - despite its $115 million IT budget - has yet to address. We also aim to make the auction process transparent, and both better support and hold accountable those who purchase land in the auction, when the city is most vulnerable to speculation and absentee ownership.

We would be grateful if you took the time to look into the auction and Why Don’t We Own This?, and considered informing your readers of what’s happening in Detroit.

Many thanks.

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313-649-LAND

LOVELAND Technologies: http://makeloveland.com

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Twitter: http://twitter.com/makeloveland