Friday, July 15, 2005

Building Detroit

I second Mike's point on the 7/13 post... nice job, Detroit. It was amazing to walk from Comerica Park down to Jefferson Avenue on the riverfront via Woodward at 11:30 pm and actually see people out walking! I mean, people! Real people! On the streets and everything! Of course, there were still too many abandoned storefronts... and cops on every corner... but hell, it's a start!
Imagine if you could get a ballgame crowd like the one at the All StarGame every single day of the season. Imagine if folks moved back downtown to affordable apartments instead of $150,000 condo projects (which are nice, but missing the point- you need average families to live there). Why, it would look like Chicago, or Toronto, or any other properly functioning metropolis...
You can do it, Detroit. One step at a time. Just remember: families are your future... not one-time gala events (fun though they are) or having a winning baseball team (great as that is). When middle-income folks can come back... and find shopping... and places to go... and decent schools... and functioning public transportation... THEN, folks, Detroit will truly be reborn!

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