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.

Also in the news

The News describes Kwame's rise and fall in depth and reports on Wayne State's new community-based research program in the School of Social Work, which will work with local agencies to determine best practices for confronting the major social problems in our area.

Crain covers an event urging cooperation with Canada, new tax incentives for urban brownfield development, and the many upgrades being made to hotels in Detroit. Also in Crain's this week: 20 in their 20s, profiles of young leaders in Metro Detroit that prove that not all promising college grads are fleeing, just most.

Detroit homes sold in bulk

Prices are so low that out-of-state investors are buying Detroit homes in bulk. The Free Press reports that as many as 100 foreclosed homes are sold together to local brokers for "pennies on the dollar." These homes are then resold to out-of-state investors who hope to sell them for significant gain in five to ten years when the market rebounds. In the meantime, they're marketing them as rentals.

The city needs to monitor this. Huge swaths of Detroit will soon be managed by out-of-state landlords with no knowledge of the city. That could be disastrous. But who knows, they may prove better landlords than the despicable local slumlords who flip owner-occupied homes to rentals and then let them crumble because they assume the property will be worthless in the future. Out-of-staters don't share the same biases that locals harbor against the city; they may actually care about the longterm value of the homes they buy.

Cory Booker interview

This past week Bill Moyers interviewed Cory Booker, Newark's remarkable young mayor. He is both fiercely idealistic and committed to pragmatic change, a combination I would welcome in any Detroit leader.

I discussed Booker before after reading an excellent New Yorker article that examines the mayor in the context of racial politics in America.

Event: Regional transit meetings

For the past year and a half, John Hertel, the "transit czar" hired by the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council, has been meeting with area leaders to build consensus on a regional transit plan. Now he's taking public input at three open houses:

• Tuesday, April 8, from 3-7 pm, at the SEMCOG offices in the Buhl Building (535 Griswold) in downtown Detroit

• Wednesday, April 9, from 3-7 pm, at the Oakland County Commission offices (1200 North Telegraph Rd) in Pontiac

• Thursday, April 10, from 3-7 pm, at the Macomb County Commission office (1 S. Main Street - 9th Floor) in Mt. Clemens

The future of this region depends on mass transit. That's why the Detroit News published an editorial today in favor of a strong regional transit authority that can move this plan forward.

"Creative class" interview

Metromode has an interview of Richard Florida, the academic behind the "creative class" theory that says the survival of post-industrial cities depends on attracting creative types and highly-educated professionals. I didn't think much of the interview (he speaks in slogans like an advertising executive), but his influence is undeniable. The governor's Cool Cities initiative, for example, cites his work.

Update: As a counterpoint, here's a City Journal article that argues that only low taxes and basic services lead to job growth. An unimaginative and reductive argument, but it surely has some truth as well. Detroit may build a bohemian center amidst present-day decay, but the city cannot attract a flourishing middle class without efficient, effective governance. If taxes are going to be high (as they are in most major cities), they need to be put to very good use.

Redevelopment presentations

Many of the most interesting presentations given at the Michigan Suburbs Alliance's March 7 Regional Redevelopment Summit are now available online. The summit was geared toward preparing area leaders in government, development, real estate, and the non-profit community for the Brownfields2008 Conference, which will bring developers from across the country to Detroit from May 5-7 for a historic opportunity to make deals to redevelop vacant or abandoned property in Detroit.

Hat tip: Transportation Riders United.

Detroit fashion

The News reports on the fourth annual Detroit Fashion Week, which began Sunday and runs through Saturday at Asian Village (521 Atwater). The goal is "to bring designers, models, beauty professionals and businesspeople together to create a more cohesive and prosperous atmosphere for Metro Detroit's fashion industry." The official website isn't pretty but it has more information.

Focus: HOPE at 40

The News notes the 40th anniversary of Focus: HOPE, a great non-profit on the West Side with the perfect misson statement: "To use intelligent and practical action to fight racism, poverty and injustice."

Unfortunately, the organization is struggling to sustain itself. Its budget has fallen 75% since 2000, in tandem with the auto industry's decline. But co-founder Eleanor Josaitis is leading a new $100 million fundraising drive as Focus: HOPE seeks new partners and new initiatives to continue connecting residents to high-paying jobs.

Event: Meeting on Riverfront projects

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy will hold a public meeting on the Dequindre Cut, Tricentennial Park, and the next phase of the Detroit RiverWalk at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources (200 Walker Street) at 5:30 pm on Thursday, March 27. RVSP by March 26 to rsvp@detroitriverfront.org.

Hat tip: Model D.

Talking points

The next time you discuss Detroit, ignore Kwame and cut the nostalgia for Hudson's. Recite this list instead. Model D has listed the sixteen coolest initiatives in the city. This is the future.

Also in this week's issue, eight ways the city is getting greener. Normally I wouldn't promote such pure boosterism, but frankly, in the current political and economic climate (read: bad bad bad), we need it.

"Good government in action" - in Detroit!

Lost amidst the mayoral scandal was a Free Press story on the notable success of the City-County Building downtown, which has reduced operating expenses from $15 million annually to $9 million.

Also to be filed under good news: assaults in Detroit Public Schools are on the decline.

City seeks "creative class"

Crain's Detroit discuses a group working to bring more creative types to Detroit. Design Detroit, a group of universities, creative organizations, and economic-development groups, has a $200,000 planning grant from the Knight Foundation to develop strategies to bring 1,000 creative professionals to the city. Enticements may include "instructor positions at area design schools, real opportunities to see their designs come to life and financial stipends of $5,000 to $10,000 in exchange for commitments to live in the city for a set amount of time." The group will hold a public forum on April 8 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center. Stay posted.

Kwame, Beatty charged

The Free Press lists the charges: perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. I hope the mayor has the dignity and humility to resign. The city deserves it.

Securing our cities

The Free Press has another powerful editorial in favor of a renewed urban agenda at the national level. This time the focus is on five key steps the federal government can take to reduce crime and violence in major cities:

• The next president must increase support for local law enforcement programs that work, especially to those cities that have a plan for collaborative, community-wide crime prevention programs. Such assistance should include innovative new programs, such as a national campaign to ensure all city streets are well lit.

• Second, the president ought to strengthen the federal government's commitment to prisoner re-entry programs that help hundreds of thousands of offenders adjust to their communities. In Michigan and other states, such efforts are reducing crime and recidivism. The Second Chance Act passed by the U.S. Senate earlier this month is a good start.

• Third, the next administration must make gun control legislation a priority, as virtually all big-city mayors and police chiefs have urged. At least, the president and Congress ought to renew the assault weapons ban, establish a national data base for guns and gun owners, and require background checks for gun show purchases.

• Fourth, Washington should encourage local rules that require police officers to live in the cities they serve. It could do so by making only cities with such residency rules eligible for certain grants.

• Finally, the federal government must do more to prevent crime. The good news is that, over the last 15 years, the U.S. Justice Department has started to focus on street violence, as well as white-collar and organized, crime. The best federal programs have partnered with local law enforcement agencies and community-based groups.

Detroit & Berlin

Real Detroit has an ongoing series of dispatches from Berlin, a revived city that can serve as model for Detroit's redevelopment. The first says we need hipsters and density. The second talks about cool uses for empty storefronts.

I don't know much about Berlin, but I agree with the premise of the series: Detroit can learn a lot from other cities. Planners and activists in Detroit should be mining other cities for ideas. What's working in Boston? What about Berlin? Detroit may be unique in the magnitude of its decline, but it is by no means alone. We should be experimenting with any successful model we can find as we work to create our own formula for revitalization.

Hat tip: Detroit Yes! forums.

Another new restaurant in Midtown

According to Crain's Detroit, Slows Bar BQ will open a second location next summer at the northwest corner of Cass Avenue and Alexandrine Street (map).

Public transit under attack

The Washington Post has a must-read article this week on the Bush administration's approach to transit policy. This is something we should all be aware of and worried about.

Bush appointees at the Department of Transportation are working to reduce traffic congestion by converting roads into privately-operated, for-profit toll roads. At the same time, the agency is reducing funding for mass transit, denying funds to new light rail projects, like the one proposed for Woodward in Detroit. Most fundamentally, the agency itself is being starved of funds. The gas tax has not been raised since 1993; assuming annual inflation of 3%, the tax rate today is therefore effectively 64% of what it was in 1993. The administration supports the continued reduction of the agency's budget because it will force the further privatization of transportation.