Leading community partners today announced the formation of an organization to coordinate and promote the revitalization efforts in one of Detroit’s strongest residential neighborhoods. The Live6 Alliance will focus on strengthening the Livernois Avenue and McNichols Road (6 Mile Road) commercial corridor in Northwest Detroit.

Funders have committed a total of $700,000 over two years to facilitate the Live6 Alliance’s work.

The Live6 Alliance will build on neighborhood revitalization strategies already being implemented in the Livernois corridor. The organization is anchored by University of Detroit Mercy, with a 74.75-acre McNichols campus, located at the intersection of Livernois and McNichols.

The organization will also receive support from The Kresge Foundation, the Detroit Corridor Initiative, the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., area neighborhood associations and other anchor institutions.

“Success here will provide inspiration and lessons for promoting district stewards to guide revitalization across the city,” says Rip Rapson, president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation. “Enhancing a sense of place, stabilizing the neighborhood, attracting and retaining business, improving safety and security – all of these things can flow from the leadership that we’re seeing from the University of Detroit Mercy.”

Live6 will facilitate new efforts and complement current initiatives in the corridor related to placemaking, business attraction and retention, residential stabilization, safety and security. The alliance will focus on creating and enhancing processes to strengthen private/public partnerships, enabling stronger communications within the community, exploring areas for physical improvement and facilitating action. Community input will be vital in determining community projects.

Live6 will also introduce new activity, uses and visual appeal to the area, while serving as a link between the anchor institutions and surrounding community.

The Live6 Alliance is seeking nonprofit status. The creation of the alliance board is being led by:

• Dr. Antoine M. Garibaldi, president, University of Detroit Mercy
• Benjamin S. Kennedy, deputy director, The Kresge Foundation
• Michael Forsyth, business development manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

“The urban commitment of the university is part of our mission statement and has remained constant since 1877,” Garibaldi said. “It is our priority to continue to improve the area around our McNichols Campus through such efforts as the Livernois Commercial Corridor Working Group and the Livernois Streetscape Enhancement Project. The university can serve as the catalyst for community partners to accomplish shared goals.”

The alliance is also in the process of identifying an interim community advisory committee made up of residents who will provide input on strategy from the surrounding neighborhoods.

Kresge works to expand opportunities in America’s cities. Its Detroit Program, which is supporting the Live6 Alliance, uses a comprehensive strategy to promote long-term economic opportunity in the foundation’s hometown. The strategy includes major efforts to revitalize neighborhoods and build a vibrant Woodward Corridor, along with support for arts and culture, regional transit, early childhood education and the enhancement of civic capacity.

See a video of the Live6 announcement event.