Detroit: The birthplace of "nerd"

In an otherwise uninteresting column in The New York Times, David Brooks makes a startling revelation -- the word "nerd" first gained circulation in Detroit! Dr. Seuss is credited with coining the word in 1950 in If I Ran the Circus, but Newsweek first noted its use in everyday speech in our own beloved city.

A better Detroit is possible

Last week I discovered The Motor(less) City, a thought-provoking blog with gorgeous photos of the city's crumbling architecture. The author has left Detroit and is unafraid to say why: "Long commutes, crumbling infrastructure, a lack of cultural resources, no mass transit, an over reliance on a single industry, and barely a plan in place to do anything about any of it."

His complaints are hard to deny, but his portrayal of the region bothered me. What is the value of such dialogue? I recognize that the region is deeply flawed, but I fear that reiterating its flaws without noting its progress only adds to the "black hole of despair and self-pity" that permeates the region. That's why I try to strike a balance on this blog. I hope to herald the region's faltering progress without sounding like Sinclair Lewis's Babbit, the caricature of middle-class America with a groundless faith in "progress." But I also avoid dwelling on the negative; some of the region's flaws are so glaring I feel they nearly speak for themselves.

Yet I sympathize with the blogger's rebuttal that what the region needs most is to coldly confront reality. What disheartens me most about this region and this state is its complacency in the face of failure. The city of Detroit has been declining for fifty years; the auto industry has likewise been shrinking for decades. Yet even today we respond to this crisis with passivity and cynicism. Local leaders like Brooks Patterson continue to reject regional solutions. Our legislature is an embarrassment, incapable of passing a budget, and our governor has shown no vision. No wonder then that college graduates are leaving in droves.

But I believe the status quo can and must end. We deserve better. And that's why I focus not only on the region's flaws but also on the efforts to confront and resolve them. A better Detroit is possible.

An idealist gives up

An op-ed in today's Free Press gives powerful voice to the despair felt by many frustrated idealists living in Detroit.

I commend the author, who is choosing to leave Detroit, for having committed herself so passionately to her neighborhood, and I sympathize with the frustration she feels. But I think part of the problem is her implicit notion that her individual effort would transform the city. Dedicated citizens have been sacrificing themselves for years to the cause of Detroit without getting anywhere. To effect real change, we need realistic expectations and a realistic time horizon -- transforming a city takes time! More importantly, we need community, both to multiply the impact of our efforts and keep each other sane as we struggle to revitalize this "dangerous, dirty, neglected and decaying environment" that we nevertheless love.

Hiatus

I'll be in New York City for the next week so updates will be few and far between. If you want to stay in the loop, do as I do: read the News and the Free Press every day plus Crain's Detroit on Monday, Model D on Tuesday, Metrotimes on Wednesday, and Metromode on Thursday.

"Auburn Hills officials weary of youth in baggy clothes"

The Free Press channels the Onion. Auburn Hills officials want to enforce a city wide dress code to deal with "young men dressed in baggy pants with their underwear showing or teenage girls garbed in low-cut tops."

Who are they kidding?

Paczki Day!

My favorite local holiday has begun. Thanks to Hamtramck, the historically Polish city-within-the-city, Metro Detroiters will eat thousands of paczki -- delicious, high-calorie donuts -- before the traditional fasting of Lent. I don't plan to fast, but I will nevertheless indulge.

It's also Super Tuesday, an unprecedented near national primary when 24 states will hold primaries and caucuses. Far a political junkie like myself, that's far more exciting than Sunday's Super Bowl. I'll be eagerly watching the returns to see whether Obama can ride his rising tide of support to victory against frontrunner Clinton.

All in all, an exciting day.

Reasons to eat less meat

The New York Times explains the many drawbacks of modern meat production. To wit: deforestation, pollution, climate change, health problems, and rising food prices.

You may not object to the eating of meat on principle (I don't), but there are sound reasons to eat more plants and fewer animals.

Introduction

The premise of this blog is to highlight the best of what I read each day, especially with regard to Detroit. The city has a growing web presence, from the major dailies to non-profits to the music scene and onward, but these many threads are usually left unconnected. I plan to draw them together and critically examine the metropolitan region and the city in particular as the daily struggle for its revitalization continues.

And I won't hesitate to comment on anything else that interests me: literature, economics, the world in all of its complexity.