EEV Mapping Project

I grew up in East English Village and I have many place-based experiences. These are experiences based on where they happened. For example, I remember waking up to the abandoned house across the street burning from arson. I remember the snow day that my family sat on the porch and pushed out all the cars that got stuck at our corner because the roads were not plowed. I remember the In and Out on the corner that is now the Wing Snob. These are a few examples of place-based experiences and these are usually passed on to our neighbors, family, and friends by word of mouth. But what if we mapped these experiences? What kinds of stories could we tell about our neighborhood? What stories would emerge about the ways that our neighborhood is changing as new people move in? What about stories of the resilience of our communities and the ways we survived?

1. Design and Collaboration: The first step would be to create drafts of the form that people would fill out in order to put their experiences on a map. It will be important to have the input of many residents of East English Village to be sure that many experiences can be counted.

2. Outreach and Planning: The next step would be to find the places that people gather in the community to ask them to take this survey. We would gather volunteers to give out the survey and discuss logistics.

3. Gather Stories: Next, myself and a team of other Detroiters would ask people to share their stories and put them on our map. We would work to be sure that we gather stories from people and places that are representative of our whole community.

4. Create the Map: We would work to compile all of these stories into a map. People would be able to click on points and read about the stories of these locations.

5. Share the Map and Gather Feedback: Finally, we would need to share this map back with the community and hear about what was expected, what was surprising, and what is missing. This is where the conversations about our neighborhood’s past, present, and future will be most impactful.

I grew up in East English Village, on the corner of Yorkshire and Waveney. I went to grade school at St. Clare of Montefalco in our neighborhood, and I went to high school in the surburbs. I went to Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo and then I moved back home to East English Village, near Warren on Grayton. The experience of place has been an important factor in who I am and how I think. I mentioned some of those experiences before and the list could go on and on about place-based experiences that have changed me. My hope is that the conversations created by this project will help us better understand our neighborhood and community.