Detroit Skyline mypeoplepc.com |
First of all I want to say how impressed I am with the fact that within a week of hitting 1500 page views, we've increased to over 1632. I feel very humbled by your overwhelming show of support. This means that there are people out there who actually believe that what I have to say has some value. For this, my gratitude is boundless. As always, I'll keep writing, if you keep reading.
Amidst all the hand hand wringing about the city of Detroit, Michigan, Kevyn Orr, the emergency city manager offers up an optimistic view on how the city can save itself. Mr. Orr points to the examples of northwest Washington D.C., South Beach Miami, and upper Manhattan as now vibrant communities that weren't so thriving fifty years ago. However, in as little as twenty-fives years, these communities have turned themselves around. What is the secret to their success? Let's find out what Mr. Orr has to say, shall we?
Upper Manhattan mykindoftown.com |
South Beach Miami, Florida best-beach.com |
Northwest Washington D.C. archfoundation.org |
The capital-market creditors aren't exactly pleased about Mr. Orr's plan to treat General Obligation bonds as unsecured debt despite being the backing of the city's "full faith and credit," which said creditors should have known means very little. The Cassandra-like investors are warning that he is setting a precedent that could mean increased borrowing costs for municipalities in the future. Mr. Orr's primary responsibility is to the city's 700,000 residents, not capital market creditors, and the 30,000 retirees and workers. Despite union opposition, Mr. Orr believes he has the support of the people he calls the silent majority.
In the four months since Mr. Orr has assumed control, things seem to be looking up. New streetlights have been installed and dilapidated houses are scheduled to be cleared. Detroit has placed orders for new Tasers, vests, cars, and computers for the police department and plans to contract out garbage collection to save an estimated $15 million per year. Cosmetic upgrades if you ask me. What's really needed are more substantive upgrades. Giving the police department new tasers, vests, computers, and cars are all well and fine but what would be genuinely is a program of community-based policing and a more efficient 9-1-1 system. The big problem is that Detroit is a twentieth century city trying to compete in a twenty-first century world. Mr. Orr is doing his best to sound enthusiastic about all this cosmetic work, saying "What big city still does some of these services?"I think he's trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
The one silver lining of progress, to date, is Detroit's revitalized midtown and downtown, where venture capitalists and private foundations have invested million. This is goes to the point I was making regarding an article posted on Planetizen's Linkedin page ("A re-imagined Detroit begins to take shape"http://www.freep.com/article/20130803/NEWS01/308030068/ARISE-neighborhood-cleanup). Part of my point is that private invest is necessary if public dollars are going to follow. One example is Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert, who moved his company's headquarters to Detroit, attracting eighty-five other companies through Rock Ventures, Mr. Gilbert's incubator company that provides office space for startups. These start ups bring with them young, technology oriented people who act as urban pioneers, These young people, who Mr. Orr believes are the untold story of Detroit, bring with them an entrepreneurial spirit, revitalizing the city's dormant night life and a synagogue (really).
Corktown, Detroit coolplacestolive.com |
Social problems still exist in Detroit. While Corktown is beginning to take on all the trappings of civilization, you further out and the scenery starts to resemble a John Ford western movie. There are no shopping centers or grocery stores. There are about 66,000 vacant lots and 78,000 abandoned or blighted building, including an old Packard factory that takes up 130 square miles. The yards are over gown and the buildings have broken windows which contribute to a heighten sense of discomfort. These neighborhoods were deserted decades ago by "white flight" for the suburbs. These flight into the isolated splendor of the suburbs was accelerated by the 1967 race riots and during the regime of Mayor Coleman Young, which inflamed racial tensions. Ironically, pot-stirrers the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are leading the charge against Gov. Snyder's appointment of an emergency manager. I say ironically because Keyvan Orr is African-American. In the words of Rev. Jackson, Mr. Orr would create a "plantocracy," that is a "plantation-ocracy. One reason, a city like Atlanta is thriving, for now, is that its African-American Mayor Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young were able to set aside their difference and work towards a common goal.
Much of the problem is just plain old complacency. Basically, for the longest time, Detroit was rich, lazy, dumb, and rich. How does a city that was once the heart of change in the United States during the twentieth century? Failure to adapt. The law of evolution, adapt or die. Again, we can look at Atlanta, for now. Fifty years ago Atlanta was a small town, now it's among the ten largest economies in the United States. Even though I recently blogged about the looming financial crisis headed the city's way, what brought the city to its position of prominence was adaptive political leadership that encouraged entrepreneurship and development. So what's Mr. Orr's solution?
Mr. Orr plan for recovery is to plant the seeds of recovery and leave the city with a plan that will move development out from the city center to the neighborhoods. "Detroit Future City," formulated by public leaders, community groups, businesses and philanthropist, is the model for Mr. Orr. This plan focuses on blight remediation, lighting and public safety ins six demonstration districts, with the hopes of it spreading outward. There is a risk factor that comes with returning control back to the city elected officials-politics. These is especially fraught with anxiety because it was the corruption, neglect, and mismanagement of the very same leaders that doomed the city. While civic elections in November offer a glimmer of hope, it still remains to be seem what the future will bring.
While it's easy to fall for Keyvan Orr's optimism, the fact remains that Detroit, Michigan needs more than just someone to "plant the seeds." We have the example of young, technology oriented urban pioneers going into rundown neighborhoods and taking matters into their own hands. Private investment is also the key to bringing back the city. While small improvements light selective demolition and fixing broken windows are a start, encouraging entrepreneurship and development is the real key to bring the Detroit area back.
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