Army of Detroit

In recent months, I have considered how to most effectively combat Detroit's crime troubles. For forty years, the situation has deteriorated as everyone knows. Blight has crept after poverty upon neighborhood after neighborhood, with crime and violence following suit. The police department has proven grossly inadequate, with most serious crimes going unsolved. Crime prevention is a novelty, and citizens have no faith in the system. Some burglars target the same home multiple times, and as police have no impact, we have situations like the Tigh Croff case, where Mr. Croff had his house burglarized numerous times in a short span, so he tracked down and killed the criminal. Of course, vigilantism and extra-judicial executions are not an ideal solution either. More effective deterrence would be ideal in the short run (while over the long run, addressing the many underlying causes of criminal behavior).

I thought perhaps an "Army of Detroit" would be an interesting solution to Detroit's crime troubles. Much like the "surge" strategy employed by the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, I would like to see a strategic increase in civic activity, engagement, and even citizen watch patrols in targeted areas, gradually covering the whole city. On Angel's Night, Detroit sees tens of thousands of volunteers protect the streets and deter violence. Of course, it would be a massive challenge to secure so many volunteers year round, but by cleaning up one neighborhood after another with a smaller volunteer base, until the criminals are pushed out fo the city, I think it could work. The Army of Detroit would not just be citizen watch patrols (of which there are several throughout the city), but a concentrated dose of volunteerism, including tutoring, greening, and other engagement. By publicizing and promoting the effort, hopefully criminals will get the message and leave without too much resistance or conflict. At the end of a surge in a target neighborhood, ideally, the local citizens could take ownership of their own protection and well being.

As I mentioned, neighborhood watches are already in place in parts of the city. To some extent, they are successful. In a recent example, one neighborhood mobilized and formed an ad hoc coalition to successfully track down some brazen criminals. The people have power in their hands, if they chose to use it. I see two weaknesses in the current approach to neighborhood/citizen watches that the Army of Detroit could try to avoid. One is coordination – the watches are haphazard and I don't know that criminals are even aware they exist. A second issue is deterrence – for the most part, these watches are reactive and simply report crimes. The watchmen typically are not armed. However, I think that if all ~140 square miles of Detroit had two armed watchmen patrolling every hour of the day and night, criminals would have no place to go. There are risks, but doing nothing is a risk that has paid off poorly for Detroit…

To get something like this kickstarted, I had an idea to acquire a small apartment complex and offer free lodging to some residents in exchange for periodic neighborhood patrols. If I had other properties in the neighborhood, the rental and inherent value of these investments would rise, enabling me to fund further patrols.

This would take a lot of work, but I think the "Army of Detroit" could be quite fruitful.

What do you think?

(As an aside, the "army" imagery has also been adopted recently by a volunteer PR group looking to promote the city; they are less focused on security and more focused on image with their new group, but if their volunteer army expands beyond media into service, perhaps there is room for cooperation - http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/08/do_you_believe_in_detroit_adve.html)

Why stay in Detroit?

Laura Berman of the News had a good post with three good reasons why someone should move to Detroit. Basically, you can make a difference, you don't have to deal with some problems that other big cities face (e.g., traffic), and the cost of living here is ridiculously low. Now, I share these thoughts regularly with those I try to "sell" on Detroit or provide the same answers when someone asks me why Detroit is a great place to be (especially the first and third arguments...the second is a bit of a double edged sword; I guess the third one is too). What is a negative to others is a really a positive. Ms. Berman has summed up the points nicely, so here they are:

"You're smart, you're talented, you've got new ideas.
In New York, you're a sparrow. In Detroit, you're a prized canary. This is Mecca for you, Mr. or Ms. Would-be Transplant, if you've got the brains and hustle to outwork and out-think the demoralized survivors of decades of renaissances that haven't taken root.
No other major metropolitan area will out-welcome Detroit's welcome. Give us your newcomers with moxie and talent. We'll mentor you, invest in you and invite you to parties.
The flip side of a shrinking Big Metro Area is that some problems shrink, too.
Like big city culture. Cultural attractions that require advance commitments and plans in other cities are a snap here. Whether you want to snag seats for an opera, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a visiting ballet company or an NFL football game, you can almost always see it here without using bonus dollars or extra sweat.
You can see a Tigers game this weekend. Tell that to your brother in Boston. And the traffic? You can commute downtown in 20 minutes from 20 miles away -- choose the direction. My brother in Los Angeles can't imagine that.
Detroit's affordable. Really, really affordable.
Here, a young couple can become landed gentry -- house, backyard, good schools -- for a fraction of the cost in a similar community anywhere else. In these shrinking-city days, a shrewd would-be homeowner can pick up a tidy, three-bedroom suburban house for what one used to cost here 15 years ago.
Or, if you're young and adventurous, you can move into Detroit and try out the social consciousness and pioneer spirit progressive young adults mouth so easily from Portland, Ore., to Burlington, Vt. -- places that entertain them but no longer need them."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100824/OPINION03/8240359/In-Detroit-area--young--talented-have-better-shot-at-being-heard#ixzz0xYzw5xjf

Businesses taking up a challenge

One of the reasons I am motivated to stay and try and help Detroit is the challenge and the opportunity: in Chicago, New York, Dallas, or basically any other major city in America, an average person really cannot have the impact that he or she would in Detroit.

According to this Detroit News article, apparently some companies are thinking along similar lines: http://detnews.com/article/20100722/OPINION03/7220393/1409/Third-World-aura-draws-businesses-to-Detroit

Some highlights:

"If urban turnaround hasn't always been at the top of corporate agendas, it could be moving up the scale, as the mystique of doing business thousands of miles away wears thin and high national unemployment rates create new empathy for Michigan's jobless.
In this climate, few cities offer more visibility or potential reward for such commitment than Detroit.
"Our clients are interested," says Bryan, whose privately held company specializes in health care data base management. "They're trying to contribute to the revitalization of Detroit." "

"Detroit, though, offers some of the low-cost benefits of doing business in the Third World. The rent at 1001 Woodward Ave. -- between $14 and $17 per square foot -- is rock-bottom for a major city.
Detroit's labor costs have dropped so far, even for technology workers, that Bryan tells his Fortune 500 clients they'll pay only 5 percent more to work through Detroit than to send their business to Brazil."

""It's an opportunity to turn around an American city," says Bill Emerson, the CEO of Quicken."

Disaster - Asian Carp

Yesterday, a fisherman caught a live Asian carp fish beyond the last barrier in Chicago before Lake Michigan. As anyone could have predicted, the failure to separate the Mississippi system from the Great Lakes is resulting in yet another invasive species catastrophe. I don't think it is too late, even now, but Obama and Illinois do not want to upset Chicago's transportation and logistics sector and dockworkers. This Supreme Court, so willing to take extreme positions like opening the floodgates to corporate bribery of politicians or essentially banning Free Speech if it involves guiding questionable groups back to the mainstream, has been reluctant to approve even a temporary closure of the Chicago locks. It is as pitiful an example of cowardly leadership as I can think of - another slow moving train wreck in action in Michigan, but no one has the will to overcome the inertia.

Now, Obama, the Supreme Court, and Chicago/Illinois may be ready to sacrifice the Great Lakes for a few shipping jobs, but I, and most Michiganians, are not. Still, if they do nothing on their end, our lawmakers appear impotent to do anything...jurisdiction is jurisdiction after all. I think I may have a solution, however. It may be radical, will doubtless be the subject of lawsuits, but it is necessary, and we can do it in cooperation with the Canadians and other Great Lakes States who are on our side.

Here it is: Any ship going to or from Chicago, between the Great Lakes and Mississippi systems, must cross water controlled by either Michigan or its allies or dock in the territory of Michigan and its allies. Ships must either cross choke points at Mackinaw, Detroit, Port Huron, Sault Ste. Marie, or Buffalo or dock in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Indiana. I propose we ban any ship that has passed through Chicago's contaminated waters from passing the choke points controlled by Michigan's allies. I suppose an outright ban may be able to stand on environmental grounds (e.g., the ships may be contaminated with Asian Carp eggs - 10 year study needed to evaluate, and in the meantime there is a ban). Any ship caught in Michigan's waters from Chicago could be seized and destroyed. If an outright ban would be overturned, perhaps a $1 bn per ship penalty for ships coming from Chicago could be enacted. These are drastic measures to be sure, but I think they would quickly end the current Mississippi-Great Lakes ship traffic through Chicago as we know it - shippers would just find alternate routes (or simply offload from Mississippi boats, put on trucks, then put on Great Lakes boats in Chicago). With the paradigm shifted, Chicago would have no reason to keep the systems connected, and hopefully, they would act to permanently separate the systems.

What do you think? If you have a better solution, please share it!

Here are a couple of articles talking about this tragedy:
http://detnews.com/article/20100624/METRO/6240415/1409/Michigan-lawmakers-renew-war-on-Asian-carp
http://www.freep.com/article/20100624/NEWS06/6240387/1322/Carp-found-past-barriers-but-locks-will-stay-open

Happenings: Mackinaw Policy Conference, USSF, and Fireworks!

Some important conversations are happening these days. The Detroit Regional Chamber recently concluded its annual Mackinaw Policy Conference. The fate of a second bridge in Detroit was a central topic, but I hope some other tangible leadership comes out of that. Crain's had a good recap, if anyone wants to review the takeaways.

More notably, the US Social Forum will be coming to Detroit next week. It has been described as something similar to the World Economic Forum, but for more...egalitarian and progressive people. Certainly, there promises to be quite a few interesting sessions, though of course, there are also some questionable and odd ones. There is also an entire programmatic stream dedicated to Detroit. I would encourage everyone who has some time to pick some sessions and try to participate and learn something. Visit the site for more info: http://www.ussf2010.org/

Here is why they chose to have this big event in Detroit:

"To win nationally, we must win in places like Detroit. The Midwest site of
the USSF marks a fierce resistance movement for social, racial, gender, and
 economic justice. Detroit has the highest unemployment of any major city in the 
country—23.2% (March 2009)—with nearly one in four Detroiters unable to find
 work. Michigan has had the highest number of unemployed people in all 50 states
for nearly four years. Thousands of living wage jobs have been permanently lost
 in the automotive industry and related sectors. Some think that it will take at least until 2025 for Michigan to recover from the economic collapse and social
dislocation.
What is happening in Detroit and in Michigan is happening all
across the United States. Detroit is a harbinger for what we must do in our communities!
 As grassroots activists and organizers, we work to address the indignities 
against working families and low-income people, and protect our human right to the basic necessities of life. In Detroit, we can make change happen!
The US Social Forum provides this space—drawing participants from
 different regions, ethnicities, sectors and ages across the U.S. and its 
colonies. Community-based organizations, Indigenous nations, immigrants, 
independent workers organizations, unions, unemployed, youth, children, elders,
queers, differently-abled, international allies, academics, and advocacy organizations will be able to come together in Detroit for dialogues, reflection and to define future strategies."

It seems like the USSF believes, as I do (though perhaps in a different way), that Detroit is ground zero for changing the world for the better. There is still hope, but it will be difficult.

On a more lighthearted note, it is that time of year where many people come to the city for the International Fireworks. The Free Press has prepared a guide if you are going to the city next Monday night (June 21st): http://www.freep.com/article/20100618/FEATURES01/100618029/1318/Detroit-River-fireworks-guide - tips to avoid the typical traffic/parking hassles, basically. Of course, if you don't want to go downtown (I went last year, and it was quite nice), a number of alternatives will be available over the upcoming weeks: http://www.freep.com/article/20100618/NEWS06/100618030/1318/

Detroit Kids - Very Sad

I came across this last week, and thought I would share:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100516/NEWS01/5160413/High-lead-levels-hurt-learning-for-DPS-kids
http://www.freep.com/article/20100516/NEWS01/100514045/
http://www.freep.com/article/20100516/NEWS01/100514031/Map-shows-lead-levels-in-Detroit

We all know that Detroit's educational system is a mess, with an extremely poor graduation rate, near bankruptcy, etc. There is a lot of blame to go around, but maybe not as much as you might think. According to the Free Press, basically, about half the kids in Detroit Public Schools have a history of lead poisoning, which can cause cognitive and mental problems. It seems that, despite the hard work in put by everyone, the students and teachers of Detroit may be fighting this battle with one arm tied behind their backs...

Educational reform, best practices, Robert Bobb, etc. can only go so far in fixing this. Certainly, things can be better, but maybe not as great as we would hope.

Return of entrepreneurs

A little bit of upliftment from the News today, in a piece describing the stories of some entrepreneurs with Michigan roots who have come back to help with the rebuilding: http://detnews.com/article/20100503/BIZ/5030310/Emotional-ties-to-Michigan-brings-entrepreneurs-home

Needless to say, we need more of this. I think a lot of people with Michigan roots still have emotional ties to hope. We need to appeal to this emotion and help stem the flow/exodus of talent from our area. There is no way we can recover without more people like this.

This article in today's Free Press was also enlightening, describing how quickly parts of Detroit can fall into blight: http://freep.com/article/20100503/NEWS01/100503007/1322/Securing-Detroits-future-is-a-challenge. Mere hours after a house is abandoned, it can be ripped apart, left gutted for the arsonists. Certainly, after it is gutted, no one will buy it. Bing's plan to demolish houses is putting a bandaid on the problem - he can't tear them down faster than they are abandoned, I think...Another sad stat from this piece - only 8,000 people in the city made over $150 k last year...that is just awful.

Detroit's battered image

The results of a new survey about Detroit has recently been released by Intellitrends and the Detroit Regional News Hub. Unsurprisingly, most Detroiters think the city is portrayed negatively by the media (91%), and we also think Detroit is viewed negatively nationwide (85%). Thankfully, only 61% of non-Michiganians have a really bad perception of Detroit, though of course this still needs to be improved.

Most damning: "Six in 10 non-Michigan residents think Detroit and southeast Michigan is a poor place to live; one in two think it's a poor place to invest in, and one in three think the region is a poor place to do business" (http://freep.com/article/20100421/NEWS01/4210362/1320/Survey-Many-love-life-in-metro-Detroit)

On a positive note, about half of us love living in the area, despite its flaws. Also, almost one third of Metro-Detroiters go downtown weekly, and visiting among 18-34 year olds to downtown appear to be higher. Hopefully, the renewed interest in downtown by a younger demographic will help bring revitalization at last.

Full results can be found at www.thedetroithub.com

Best park

After yesterday's troubling designation as one of the world's most dangerous cities, a bit of positive news today. Campus Martius was named the nation's top urban park by the Urban Land Institute: http://freep.com/article/20100416/BUSINESS06/100416019/1318/Detroits-Campus-Martius-named-top-U.S.-urban-park

Campus Martius is small, just two acres, but a lot of activities happen there at various points of the year - if anything is happening downtown, it likely takes place (in part at least) at Campus Martius. Of course, the problem is, I don't believe it is terribly well utilized unless something is happening downtown.

It is too bad Belle Isle isn't just a little closer to downtown.

Now we just need to get Detroit's other parks in order...and maybe clear up some more nice park space downtown and midtown while we are at it.

Bad news...is Detroit as dangerous as Karachi, Juarez, Beirut or Baghdad?

Unfortunate, and I have a hard time believing it, but CNN has identified ten cities as the most dangerous in the world. It didn't rank them, but alas, Detroit is on the list. What do you think? http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/04/10/dangerous.cities.world/

Sure Detroit is not safe, but I don't think it is in the same category as a chaotic place like Juarez or Baghdad.

In other bad news, it looks like Cobo might NOT expand after all. It is nice that the new regional authority is showing some fiscal responsibility and is evaluating the NPV of expanding, after years of massive losses, but I don't think SEMI can afford to lose a signature event like the NAIAS. That is exactly what is at stake here. Seeing as the economic impact of the NAIAS runs in the hundreds of millions of dollars, I hope the regional board can conclude that expansion is worth it. It would seem like it is, if they don't just consider Cobo's own cash flow. I am afraid that they might not consider it, however...
http://freep.com/article/20100413/COL06/4130366/1318/
http://freep.com/article/20100413/BUSINESS06/4130312/1318/Cobo-Center-might-not-expand

On the positive side, it looks like more good news is coming out of Midtown (after DMC, Henry Ford mega investments). We will be getting a nice greenway belt around a 2 mile loop near Wayne State. Groundbreaking was today: http://freep.com/article/20100413/BUSINESS04/4130339/1322/Work-to-begin-on-Detroits-Midtown-Loop

Also, we will be hosting a massive congregation of activists this summer. 10,000 do-gooders like ourselves will be massing in Detroit, ground zero of the Great Recession. There's some economic impact for you...http://detnews.com/article/20100413/METRO01/4130344/Global-gathering-seeks-economic-solutions

Lastly, if you ever wondered what sections of Detroit Matty Moroun controls, the Free Press did a nice piece on it. Here it is: http://freep.com/article/20100411/BUSINESS04/4110471

U-M helps lay foundation for future of Detroit

U-M helps lay foundation for future of Detroit

Deborah Meyers Greene
Public Affairs

Through their work on the new Detroit Residential Parcel Survey (DRPS), the Ginsberg Center, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the university’s Detroit Center, and 26 current graduate students and recent alumni have played a foundational role in strategizing the city’s future.

Following a period of extended economic and cultural challenge that dates back to the 1950s, vast stretches of the city lay blighted or vacant.

“The harsh reality is that some areas are no longer viable neighborhoods with the population loss and financial situation our city faces,” Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said March 23 in his State of the City address. “Strengthening our city will take a long-term strategy for how we use Detroit’s 140 square miles more productively.”

DRPS data will help decision-makers identify exactly which neighborhoods are threatened by blight, which can be revived with support and which continue to thrive. This critical knowledge will help the city’s leadership determine “what areas of our city are best suited for residential use, commercial and industrial businesses, parks and green space,” Bing said.

“According to the survey, 86 percent of the city’s single-family homes are in good condition, and only about 9 percent require relatively minor repairs,” says Margaret Dewar, Ginsberg faculty director and professor of urban and regional planning at Taubman College. “This means that 95 percent of the city’s single-family housing stock should be suitable for occupancy.” The survey also found that 91,000 residential lots, or 26 percent, are vacant.

Carrying primary responsibility for fieldwork coordination, the Ginsberg Center utilized the university’s Detroit Center as a base of operations for the recruitment, training and supervision of 48 surveyors, who drove in three-person teams through every Detroit neighborhood during six weeks in August and September 2009.

Anticipating Bing’s promise that “every Detroiter has a voice and a role in this process,” at least one, and sometimes two of the three were current residents of the city. Together, they assessed and recorded the condition of approximately 343,000 residential properties housing from one to four families.

“It was an awesome experience,” says Robert Linn, a 2009 social science graduate of the Residential College, now in his first year of the Taubman College’s Master of Urban Planning Program. “I learned there’s a real debate, that there is not a singular vision for the city. Everyone has an opinion and a stake in the outcome.

“My family and friends from my old near-east-side neighborhood have one vision that people from the northwest or southwest sides don’t necessarily share,” says Linn, a native Detroiter and creator and host of the weekly “From Belle Isle to 8 Mile” jazz and soul music show, now in its fifth year on U-M student radio station WCBN.

“These are the best data ever accumulated on the city’s residential properties,” says Dewar, “and they have many uses.” One example is the 2010 U.S. census. The Census Bureau will use the data to help allocate staff who follow up with census non-respondents.

“The data also could help in decisions about where to locate city services like public safety and health resources, mass transit, garbage collection and more, like reshaping the public schools,” says Eric Dueweke, community partnerships manager at the Taubman College and overall site supervisor for the survey.

The data, which are accessible in the university’s Spatial and Numeric Data Services lab, promise to support current and future teaching and research. “We’re using the data in a class that Eric and I are co-teaching this semester,” Dewar says, “and I can see countless research applications for the future.”

DRPS was underwritten by the Detroit Economic Growth Association with funds coming from Living Cities, a philanthropic collaborative of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions dedicated to improving the lives of low-income people in America’s urban areas.

DRPS is a project of the Detroit Data Collaborative, which includes the Detroit Office of Foreclosure Prevention and Response; Community Legal Resources, Detroit Vacant Property Campaign; Data Driven Detroit (formerly Detroit-Area Community Information System); and Living Cities.

Link: http://www.ur.umich.edu/update/archives/100412/taubman

"Fresh Food Access in Detroit -- A Community Action Panel"

I just received the following email today, and thought I'd pass it along in case people are interested and didn't know about it already:

-------------------------------------------

Ypsilanti Health Initiative and Public Health Students of African Descent present:

Fresh Food Access in Detroit -- A Community Action Panel

Tuesday, April 13
SPH II Room 1020
4:30-6:00

With the following speakers:

1. Meredith Freeman, Director of Fair Food Network Detroit
2. Russ Russel, Chief Development Officer of Forgotten Harvest
3. Dan Carmody, President of Eastern Market Corporation

Food will be provided!! Hope to see you there!!


Stefanie DeVita
MPH Candidate, 2011
Department of Epidemiology
University of Michigan School of Public Health

Noam Kimelman
Health Policy & Urban Planning
MPH & MUP Dual Degree Candidate, 2012
www.theyhi.wordpress.com
http://getfreshdetroit.blogspot.com/
617.459.1900

Re-population vs. downsizing

Mayor Bing has made it a priority to downsize the city, and certainly, it could be a solution to many of the problems facing Detroit. The tax base is too thin to support a city larger than Manhattan, Boston, and San Francisco. However, the focus should not only be on demolishing old buildings, closing schools, and returning huge chunks of city to wilderness. That is important, but I believe that it is equally important to focus on initiatives to attract people back to the city.

There are a number of unconventional ideas I can think of to bring people back - here are a couple:

• We have become a low cost area - people live on less in Detroit than any other big city in America (http://detnews.com/article/20100324/BIZ/3240322/1001/Study-puts-Detroiters-at-bottom-of-nation-s-spenders) - we should promote this to attract businesses and people back, as you don't need to pay/earn to much to thrive in Detroit
• We could give away houses or land (or vacant office space) for free as incentives for people (or business to give to employees) relocating to Detroit - such land allocation is how the country awarded settlers during the 1800s (begging the pardon of the Native Americans), so I imagine that this tradition could work in Detroit as well - instead of sitting on ever increasing amounts of real estate or selling property for peanuts at auction, we can use these resources as tools to incent people to move to Detroit
• We could work out a deal with the US immigration department to fast track visas and green cards for people moving to the city

What do you think?

Advice from all sides for Detroit

Lots of interesting articles today in the Free Press and News with help or advice for Detroit. Some highlights:

• Toni Griffin, a renowned urban planner, has been hired by the Kresge Foundation to help the city plan for and deal with downsizing: http://detnews.com/article/20100318/METRO01/3180406/Noted-urban-planner-coming-to-Detroit
• A study called "Global Detroit" lays out a plan to help revitalize the city through immigration; instead of downsizing, we should be attracting all the people who want to come to America - let them come to Detroit; this article discusses how immigrants are more likely to be entrepreneurial and have some of the skills we need in the City - http://detnews.com/article/20100318/OPINION03/3180422/ - instead of letting immigrants bypass the city straight for the suburbs, we should do more to attract them to the core...
• On the flip side, another article points out that attracting people and businesses to the city without overall regional growth is a zero sum game - cannibalism: http://detnews.com/article/20100318/OPINION03/3180338/1008/Without-growth--regionalism-is-cannibalism
• There was an interesting (private) discussion about the story of Detroit and how to better portray the city to help with the turnaround - http://ourdetroitstory.com/2010/03/03/taking-charge-of-our-story/ - it was webcast, so maybe a video is available
• Not surprisingly, Detroit Renaissance/MBL has come out with updated figures showing Michigan is last in economic growth; we are behind in 90% of economic sectors; Michigan still has competitive advantages, but we need to sell ourselves better: http://detnews.com/article/20100318/BIZ/3180365/1001/Study--Mich.-last-in-economic-performance
• Lastly, some interesting insights from a Wall Street guru - he thinks the real problem we are facing is the overborrowing and captivation with fake growth that came at the expense of our base, manufacturing like Detroit: http://detnews.com/article/20100318/METRO08/3180405/1439/METRO08/Wall-Street-guru-H.-Rodgin-Cohen-has-words-for-Detroit

Let's Save Michigan!

Today is the last day to participate in an interesting contest led by the DIA and a public outreach organization. You can vote on your favorite poster for use in a campaign to inspire local awareness and rally Michiganians together. Vote here: http://letssavemichigan.com/

A new day for Detroit Public Schools

Very interesting news coming out today about the future of Detroit Public Schools. A 20 page report called "Taking Ownership: Our Pledge to Educate All of Detroit's Children" was issued by an influential group of Detroiters (from the mayor to the heads of key foundations) called Excellent Schools Detroit. The goal is to create the "fastest improving school district in the country", and the emphasis is on the kids instead of unions, bureaucracy, contractors, or other stakeholders. The mayor would take control, the board would be disbanded, the foundations would invest, schools would close, new ones would open. The objective is a complete overhaul to help Detroit students become the first major city with 90% high school graduation.

Of course, mayor control did not necessarily work in the past (1999-2005 didn't work out at all). However, with the involvement of players like the Skillman, Gates and Kellogg foundations, I hope this time would be different.

Some links to articles covering this story:
http://freep.com/article/20100310/NEWS01/303100003/1318/Plan-for-Detroit-schools-Ambitious-transformation
http://freep.com/article/20100311/COL10/3110440/1318/
http://freep.com/article/20100311/NEWS05/3110446/1318/

In other news, it looks like the Silverdome is shaking off the mothballs. I am not sure how I feel about its reversion to stadium-hood (it has so much potential for other things too), but better than the wrecking ball. http://freep.com/article/20100311/COL06/3110462/1320/Vision-for-the-Silverdome

Cobo infusion

Some good news coming out last week in terms of economic impact on Detroit. An influential trade group, the American Society of Association Executives has decided to host its 2015 convention in Detroit. Basically, this is the association of associations, the Super Bowl of conventions. The honchos who decide where various conventions and conferences will take place are going to be visiting Detroit - 5,500 decision makers in total. The MDCVB estimates we will get over 1,300 spin-off events from this convention, as 20% of the attendees plan a future event in the host city within five years of the convention. If we do a good job in 2015, this convention could help boost the image of the City tremendously, given all of the potential secondary (and tertiary, if anyone comes back for a visit with family) visitors. We have five years to get our act together...Still, a bit of good news and good luck for Detroit! The investment in our tourism and hospitality sector, including the airport, Cobo, hotels, etc. looks like it may start paying off soon...

Here are the reports from the Free Press and News:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100306/BIZ/3060312/1001
http://www.freep.com/article/20100304/NEWS01/3040439/1322/Meeting-planners-are-headed-to-Detroit-in-15

Future for State Fair?

As you may recall, last year the Governor decided not to provide any funding for the annual state fair (the nation's oldest), effectively putting it out of business. The early intention was to redevelop the fairgrounds into something else, as if there isn't enough vacant, useless land in the city waiting to be developed. Thankfully, it looks like there might be a good solution on the horizon, as the Huron-Clinton Metroparks board may take it over and turn it into a full time park while continuing the fair. I hope it works out.

See the Free Press article for more details: http://freep.com/article/20100225/NEWS05/2250572/1318/Possible-land-lease-could-bring-back-the-state-fair

Top airport

This week, a new JD Power study has concluded that Detroit's airport was the best in the country last year. The new North Terminal helped a lot, I think, since any traveler who doesn't fly Northwest/Delta used to go to Smith - now they have a nice shiny terminal. Hopefully, we can attract more airline activity and Detroit can be a bigger hub, spurring some economic development. Aerotropolis, here we come!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/02/24/airport.satisfaction.study/index.html?hpt=T2

Going, going..back back..

Here's a short op-ed piece in the NYTimes that caught my attention. I thought the story brought up some interesting points in terms of the types of people moving back into the city and the reasons why, which may also be related to the recent attention Detroit has been given on young and new entrepreneurship: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/opinion/21barlow.html

Op-Ed Contributor
Snowbirds Come Home to Roost
By TOBy BARLOW
Published: February 20, 2010


RON AND PATTY COOLEY met and fell in love 42 years ago as students at Eastern Michigan University. After a stint at Ford in the early ’70s, they left Detroit behind, taking over her family’s modest real estate business upstate. The company prospered: for 30 years the two worked together, helping to finance, build and sell more than 1,000 homes.

With their two sons grown, Ron and Patty sold the business and semi-retired down to Naples, Fla. Ron took up golf, sometimes seven days a week, occasionally 36 holes in a day. Patty gardened. Their lives in the Sunshine State were relaxed and tranquil, the sort of serene ending that retirement brochures promise to us all. But, unsurprisingly, the collapse of the housing market had a serious impact on a couple with a nest egg tied up in real estate.

Ron and Patty looked around and did the math. Florida’s economy seemed to be declining even more steeply than the Motor City’s. In Detroit, they had roots, their sons had moved into the city and started a barbecue restaurant, grandchildren had arrived. So, weighing their options, they came back. They moved into a downtown loft, just a few blocks from the empty lot where Tiger Stadium once stood.

I first encountered Ron and Patty at an early morning fund-raiser for a neighborhood charity. Talking to them, I found that just like other new arrivals — the artists and recent college graduates coming here from other towns — they spoke of Detroit’s potential with an almost exalted optimism. Instead of depressing or slowing them down, the move has been a thrilling one and they shared examples of how exhilarating their life is downtown.

Being at the center of things means they can walk to the Avalon bakery on Saturday mornings and to the new Comerica Park for baseball games in the spring. Instead of endless golf, they now go to events like the fund-raiser where we met or lectures on design and sustainable development.

Talking about Florida, Ron sounds like someone who made it onto the lifeboat in the nick of time. Yes, they had to sell their home down there at a loss, but a former neighbor in Naples recently sold a similar house for less than half of what the Cooleys got. Ron estimates that with the nation’s battered 401(k) accounts, it could take decades before Florida returns to any sort of substantial growth.

Meanwhile, Patty and Ron are helping their sons expand their restaurant to a new location. Patty is involved in the local school system’s literacy program. Ron enjoys walking down the street to spend time with his grandchildren, the kind of time that, in his ambitious, younger days, he didn’t get to have with his own boys.

In the nation’s shared imagination, Detroit continues to be worse than a punch line — it’s an apocalyptic wasteland teetering right at the edge of the end of the world. When people hear that I live downtown, they ask, “Where do you get your groceries?” and “Where do you get your dry cleaning done?” and when I answer “Well, at the grocery store and the dry cleaners,” they simply look confused. In fact, few can imagine living a life here.

The truth is that my Detroit — and Ron and Patty’s Detroit — might no longer be a city where dreams come true the way they once did. But this story still demonstrates some important things: how lives and businesses can thrive here, how rewarding it can be to have family close and, at the very least, how nice it is that we’re not in Florida.