Two neighborhoods were drawn at Detroit’s southwest border in the late 1910s. One, a speculative grid of detached houses, was built, while the other, a little-known, Garden City inspired project with curving streets and community centers, remained stranded on its designer’s desk. Industrial employers had a hand in the design, and the fate, of each. Examining the housing policies of the Ford Motor Company and other Detroit manufacturers following WWI, this presentation will reframe the ultimate dominance of the commercial grid. More than a foregone conclusion, or the only option available, Detroit’s seemingly-endless rows of workforce housing were a medium through which industrialists navigated conflicting ideals: progressive reform and risk management.

Michael McCulloch is assistant professor, Kendall College of Art and Design, Ferris State University and a former fellow at the Institute for the Humanities.