Finney High School
DAPCEP Project

The purpose of this project was to provide a current snapshot of housing and environmental conditions in neighborhoods near Detroit's Finney High School. The study area encompasses 5,000 property parcels and the East Warren commercial strip. A mobile mapping training project was implemented with students from the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) at Finney High School. DAPCEP was established to increase the number of Detroit-area minority students who are encouraged and academically prepared to pursue careers in the science, engineering, and technical fields. Fifteen Finney High School students received mobile mapping training.

Their research will support the affordable housing development efforts of Habitat for Humanity and U-SNAP-BAC, and community development efforts of the East Warren Business Association and Friends of the Alger Theater. The focus of the data collection, mapping and analysis work was to identify “place-specific,” public safety problems that detract from residents’ quality of life. These include: dangerous properties, abandoned vehicles, and illegal dumping locations, among others.

Several organizations have initiated efforts to strengthen retail and service activity on East Warren Avenue between Alter and Mack in Detroit. The nonprofit Friends of Alger Theater are working to restore a historic 1935 theater and to present entertainment options for the community. East Warren Businesses United is an association of business owners along the avenue who sense the potential benefits of working more closely together. Christ United Methodist Church has created a community development corporation to work, among other goals, on retail development in residents’ interest. Recently, the Knight Foundation has designated this community one of its six target areas for assistance. The foundation’s two Detroit priorities are community economic development and support for the arts. The foundation’s interest offers an opportunity for the community-based organizations to apply for significant funding to support their redevelopment efforts. However, to see results from their work, the organizations need a comprehensive, three-to-five-year plan for strengthening the commercial district while building on and enhancing the asset of the Alger Theater.