What’s New in Detroit?

First, a big thanks to all my friends who now send me interesting articles about Detroit as a response to this blog.  Apologies for a long hiatus.

My husband and I are getting recharged about Detroit since he has connected our church’s youth group with the opportunity to do a service project there this summer.  It just so happens that we will be in Motown at the same time and will get the chance to stop by for part of their trip.  We are so thrilled at the idea of kids from Pasadena getting a taste of Detroit.

I have been seeing a lot in the last six months about revitalization in Detroit.  Today, I came across a link to this update concerning the remodel of the 1897 GAR building in Detroit.  Check it out if you are interested in historic buildings too.

Lastly, I have to give props again to Central Detroit Christian CDC.  I already knew that they are an excellent organization, but my dad told me how they helped him get a rent-to-own home for a family in need.  For the same price they were paying, this family can move out of their unsafe rental conditions and into a remodeled home.  When my dad shared how this experience went for him, I was amazed.  Seriously?  An organization where you can drive downtown, meet the director, and get this kind of turnaround?  I love this ministry.

White vs. Black

I have a lot of hope for the city of Detroit, but the most complex problem, least likely to be overcome by any human effort, is the racial reality of this city and surrounding area.  It has been said that there is no city more divided by color.  In short, if you meet a black person from Detroit, they are more likely than not from parts of Detroit that white people have never set foot in.  If you meet a white person from “Detroit,” they are more likely than not from a suburb that black people do not go to.

Previously, I linked to this picture to depict race and ethnicity in Detroit.

There is a lot of hype popping up about Detroit and the young, professionals with creative business models and artist sensibilities moving into Detroit.  I quoted an article about it just last week. This PBS article references the same idea.  But, as the comments to the PBS article can attest, race is a factor that this city could overcome with only supernatural help.

Commenters scoff at the white “creatives” moving back into the city.  Rightfully so.  A few hundred white people does not an accurate depiction of Detroit make.  At the same time, if we discount the importance of white young people moving in the city, then we make the same mistakes over and over again.  In a city that white people left for many wrong reasons, a new generation with a different perspective on race, culture, and lifestyle make their way in.  It does not solve the problems of the large community of people who have been disenfranchised in Detroit, harmed by a poor education system and corrupt government, but it does open the door for interaction, for being neighbors, for caring about the same community and the same city.

Detroit does not need any white saviors and it won’t get any, but some white taxpayers and neighbors could be a good thing.

What do you think?  What is the best case scenario for the city of Detroit and it’s 800,000 people if these suburbanites turned urbanites really do make a long-term home in the Motor City?   What is the worst case scenario?

The New TriBeCa

Are you a recent or soon-to-be college graduate?  Check out this article from The New York Times, which claims that “…[Detroit] seems like a giant candy store for young college graduates wanting to be their own bosses.”

It is a great article about the movement of young people and artists to the city.  With more than affordable rent and a virtual blank canvas, entrepreneurial young people have a chance to make it big in Detroit and some companies are even offering financial incentives to live there.

Detroit State of Mind

I love this video by the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Choir.  I love the sentiments about Detroit even more.

A Film About Asians in Detroit?

I can count the number of movies I have seen in the theater in the past five years on my two hands.  I have not made much time for movies since having my daughter.  Please forgive me if this is really old news for the rest of you.

Jeff ordered the movie Gran Torino from Netflix and we viewed it this weekend.  The acting stinks, save for Clint Eastwood who plays a racist, irreverent, Korean war veteran/former Ford plant worker/widower/Detroiter.

The movie is a touching story about Clint’s character (Walt Kowalski) who remains in his home in Detroit, despite the fact that the neighborhood has transitioned into a Hmong community, a people group whose name he cannot even properly pronounce.  Okay, so maybe touching is not the right word.  It’s touching and horrifying at the same time.

When I used to be a part of leading the Detroit Urban Plunge trips with InterVarsity for spring break, we heard about this Hmong population in Detroit during a history presentation, but I had never actually experienced it for myself.  In fact, the first Hmong people I met were from Wisconsin.  Nonetheless, there is a notable population of Hmong people in the Detroit area.

The movie was really filmed in Detroit over the course of 33 days.  You will see some real scenes from Detroit and will probably learn some things about the Hmong people from the story.  It’s worth a watch, but be prepared for the racism and dirty language of a cranky old man.

“Detroit (of all places!)”

Yesterday, I received a Christmas card in the mail.  Yes, you heard me right, a Christmas card in February.  The card came with a family photo and the obligatory year in review, detailing the family’s travels in 2010.  They chronicled their adventures and how on their way overseas, their plane had mechanical failures leaving them stranded in “Detroit (of all places!)”

Fortunately, they seem to have made it out alive, even if the experience did set them back a bit on their Christmas card delivery.

Delta travelers, you may be stuck with Detroit this month even if you make it to your destination.  It turns out that Detroit is featured in this month’s Delta Sky Magazine.  My aunt, who works with the Downtown Detroit Partnership website, tipped me off. Check out the bright and artistic office space on page 98 of the magazine that really caught my eye! You can also read about some places to eat, some businesses in Detroit, and the future of the city. Overall, the issue is what you would expect from a free in-flight magazine.  But, hey, anytime Detroit gets a shout out, I like to let you know!

“Imported From Detroit” – Detroit Makes It To the Super Bowl

With an average of more than 100 million viewers, I hope this advertisement which aired during the Super Bowl gets America’s attention.

Here’s what I like about the commercial:

1.) Detroit is proud. The commercial shows the pride of Detroit, the underdog who won’t allow herself to stay down.  The fight that comes out of going “to hell and back.”

2.) Detroit is beautiful.  When Eminem gets out of his Chrysler, the billboard at the Fox Theater reads, “Keep Detroit Beautiful.” The commercial unexpectedly declares the beauty of this depressed city and the scenes of in the commercial show some of that unique beauty!

3.) Detroit is the home town of important people. Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Kid Rock, Eminem.  Come on, these people are hard core.  Glad to see Eminem showing up in the commercial for the sake of Detroit’s image.

4.) Metro Detroit has an autoworker work ethic. The commercial says it best.  “Hard work, conviction, and a know-how that runs generations deep in every last one of us.  That’s who we are.  That’s our story.”

5.) American cars need a boost. I’m tired of hearing about buying local produce while we buy foreign cars.  Give American cars a chance.  No disrespect to Americans employed by foreign automakers.  Where I grew up, no one drove a foreign car.

6.) It makes fun of the media depictions of Detroit. “It’s probably not the one you’ve been reading in papers.  The one written by folks who have never even been here and don’t know what we’re capable of.”

7.)  The Music.  Slim Shady, the real slim shady.  Admit it, you like the beat.  His music always gets turned up in my Dodge Grand Caravan.

8.) The Tag Line. “Imported from Detroit.”  Imported is perhaps a way to make a Chrysler sound luxurious.  It’s also a way to make Detroit stand apart.  She certainly does not get love from the rest of the country, so Detroit might as well claim the term “imported” for the stuff she produces.

9 .) Motor City. The auto industry’s identification with the city of Detroit is overdue.  Americans have been rejecting American cars like they reject Detroit.  Together these underdogs can remake their image

10.) It’s placement during the Super Bowl. It’s time to pay attention to Detroit.  I sense the real potential for a come back.

Have You Heard of “Urban Porn?”

Last night I was catching up on my hulu and I watched the episode of Detroit 1-8-7 called “Ice Man/Malibu” (Season 1:Episode 11).  As I’ve mentioned before this new show likes to bring up the complicated issues as it pertains to the blight, the violence, the hope, and the change in Detroit.  The issue that came up in this episode was “urban porn.”  Please don’t google it.  You know how that will turn out.

According to the show, “urban porn” is when photographers come to a city like Detroit to photograph the blight and sensationalize it. The show features a European photographer who wants to capture the collapse of a major American city.  Elder cop and native Detroiter, Jesse Longford takes offense at the practice.  He captures the feeling that some Detrioters have that it’s simply unfair to photograph the blight selectively and ignore the new development to your left or to your right.  Detroit is a mismatch of old and new, broken and rebuilt.  Unless you want to capture both, you are just giving people the “urban porn” they want to see.

Check out the “before” and “after” slideshow in this link (right bottom of page) to see the Detroit RiverFront project and the great improvement there.  For instance:

Before, Rivard Plaza

After, Rivard Plaza

Lastly, my friend Emily sent me a cool link from an urban analyst’s website.  It is an article about how the lack of chain grocery stores in Detroit does not necessarily mean a dearth of food options in the city and how the independent stores are actually better for the city. In the future, I would love to research and write about the new urban farming happening in Detroit.  It’s fascinating.

Sundaes Anyone?

Just got this in the mail.  Thanks, Aunt Pat.  If you know Sanders and you feel jealous, just bring the vanilla ice cream and we’ll be happy to share.

Hilarious, Cold, Fun in Detroit

For five years, I had the privilege of taking college students to the city of Detroit to learn and explore.  One year,  on our day off, a group of students and myself discovered this amazing tree.  You could actually climb inside and slide right through.  It’s a tree on Belle Isle which the city intentionally sprays with water, creating an icy and slippery fun time.  We were absolutely freezing by the time we left, but it was an unforgettable and hilarious experience as we all slid around the tree and fell on our rears.  It’s pretty cool looking too.