Profiling Jon Hantz (Founder)
- grew up in small-town Romeo
- low-key in demeanor, with a folksy manner and slight Midwestern twang
- dyslexic
- community involved
- bought/rennovated homes all over detroit
- directly impacted by blight in detroit through daily commute
- "part of the movement" to help detroit rise from the ashes
- "he's an implementer"
- "when the guy says he'll do something, he does."
- ambitious
- unconventional
- pushes the frontier
- visionary pioneer in the mold of the industrialists and innovators
- willing to plunk down up to $30 million of his own fortune to make the urban desert bloom
- charisma and leadership
- thinks outside the box
- unique ways of looking at things
- "invested my life, my emotions and my money in Detroit, and it's clear to me that the problems of the city are not going to go away by themselves"
Profiling Matt Allen (President)
- "driving past urban blight wears on a man after a while"
- "something needs to do something about it"
- "we believe in all things that can't be done"
- formerly a government appointed Press Secretary for the City of Detroit as well as a former broadcast journalist.
The Gardens/Farms/Plots/Land Layout Details
- checkerboard pattern of vacant land
- looking at area of over 600 acres
- irregularly formed farm clusters
- sustainable city of the future
- farming pods will be used as vehicles to create anchors for future growth around us
- creating new neighborhoods in and around these farm clusters
- willing to go around a church community to create irregular shaped pods
- work around already established communities or houses
- grid of blocks to the city is very beneficial to how it will be structured
- paved roads are convenient for sectioning off
- water mains and sewers will not be disrupted
- alleys and sidewalks will be removed
- streets and curbs are staying
- 10% of total area is paved by roads - use as base for greenhouses
- total sustainability - wind and solar alternatives
- hoop structures - 11 months of sustained harvesting
- no heated structures
- staggard growth
- protected from extreme cold elements
- can still harvest in cold months
- recycled building materials
- vacated streets can be veiled with solar technology that will be laced into farms
- goal to reach 5000 acres in 5 years
What Will Be Produced
- food, trees and energy products
- fruits and veggies
- christmas tree farms
- high-density orchards, 300 apple trees per acre
- juvenile pine forest paved with trails
- parks/recreation
- pumpkin patches
- hydroponic lettuce
- biofuels and wind power
- do not wish to tap into Michigan's already established potato and cherry market
General Location
- lower east side of detroit, south of 94 east of 75
- from river all the way up
- areas that are most depleted and least populated
- eastern market (possible retail location)
The City
- 139 sq miles, meant to hold 2 million people
- checkerboard vacant land
- whole large areas of depleted population
- 0-9 people per acre in one of largest cities in the US
- the post-industrial detroit will be created, the new city
The People
- sense of urban pride
- need density
- 22% of detroiters who are underemployed or unemployed, cant afford to pay them 25 bucks an hour with benefits, but will provide jobs for those people
- no intention of moving people out of homes
- 86% of detroiters are for the idea
Benefits
- restoring financial value - bring in profit to detroit
- hantz brings financial heft and business experience
- republicans like entrepreneurial aspect
- environmentalists like eco-friendly aspect
- food experts appreciate the idea of a commercial farm employing and feeding people
- growing trend at the moment, many people on board with the change
- michigan = very rainy
- opportunity for lots of research and documentation about urban farming
- could embody what can be done for sustainable cities in the future
- access to creating more healthy choices
- would help recreate the future of our city
- major educational benefits
- goal to be largest research site for agriculture in the country
- 86% of detroiters are for the idea
- more specifics here
Disadvantages/Challenges
- to some, Hantz Farms is simply a corporate entity designed (intentionally or not) to dis-empower Detroit’s black community
- food safety is often brought up as a challenge, but hantz is very committed to a deliberate course of action to do this safely
Money
The last thing Detroit needs is another non-profit. "Those are important," he says, "but the city has plenty of those." What it lacks is commercial enterprise that beautifies and improves the city, and that, he says, is his goal.
- hantz says he will pay the taxes on the used land
- wants the city to tax the property as agricultural land, not residential or commercial property
- hantz farms will be private, but working in conjunction with public entities
- "needs to be put into private hands to generate cash revenue"
- will cost 4500-7500 dollars for demolition on most plots of land
- up to 62% of the land is already in government bank hands and ready to be turned over for nominal fees
- looking more at wholesale markets, not little markets
- self invested
- no outside financial help, not taking investors - taking partners (kellogs)
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