About the Site

This website was created by LOVELAND Technologies to help you understand, discuss, and activate vacant properties in Detroit (houses, buildings, and lots of lots). You can also find a mobile version with GPS at wdwot.com (it's pretty sweet). If you're looking for the archive of the recent county tax-foreclosure auction, look no further.

Our goal is to continue putting cities online in new and exciting ways that just might blow your mind and change the proverbial game. Detroit is a great city with outrageous challenges and opportunities, and we aim to amplify the opportunities by working at the intersection of information, interaction, and investment in the real world.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but whatchu want next? We can do anything.

How to use the site:

1. Click a zipcode on the Detroit map
2. Discover tens of thousands of city-, county-, and state-owned vacant properties
3. Explore parcel maps, Street View imagery, and additional property information
4. Say something, ask questions, express interest, and see what others are saying
5. If you want to take the red pill, fill out an official application form to buy or use these properties

Why to use the site:

1. Knowledge is power
2. Neighbors and neighborhood groups now have an easy way to find and apply for site control of local properties
3. Potential home-, land-, and business-owners have an expanded list of options outside the commercial market
4. Volunteers, donors, and investors can match themselves to the projects people propose on these properties
5. Bigger picture thinkers can discuss what it means to have this much vacant land and suggest solutions
6. The city has a clearer channel for input regarding the future of these properties

A little background:

With its population dropping from 2 million to 700,000 over the last 60 years, Detroit has an overwhelming amount of vacant property. Currently 70,000 buildings and about one third of the city's land sit vacant. Over time, unsupported properties transition from personal ownership to government ownership where they further burden a cash-strapped city. The Detroit Works Project recently shared the news that Detroit has at least 42,301 government-owned vacant properties.

We think it's important to show exactly where and what these properties are so we can all stop hand-waving and dig in, if and when we want to.

Previously on WDWOT:

The 2011 Wayne County Tax Foreclosure Auction

At the recent Wayne County Tax Foreclosure Auction more than 13,000 Detroit properties were auctioned at an opening bid of $500. We mapped it all out, created a conversation channel, and tracked all the bidding and winners. Nearly 6,000 properties were purchased by more than 1,000 people for a total of more than $20,000,000, which still left around 5,000 $500 properties out in the cold.

See an archive of our auction mapping and tracking here.