I'm far from a definitive source on the matter, but as for your question of
whether new development/investment in Detroit is "an actual
investment in and by the community as a whole" I'd have to say there are a
lot of factors to consider.
Detroit's number one problem is that the city was built for 2 million people
and because of flight to the suburbs (sprawl) there are now probably less
than 1 million living in Detroit proper. That's a greatly deflated tax base,
and it's impossible to maintain all that infrastructure without somehow
generating revenue to account for the difference.
So in terms of generating $ for the city, things like the casinos, new
sports stadiums, Compuware headquarters relocation (to downtown from the
suburb of Farmington Hills) are good. Whether that additional revenue ever
gets allocated toward actually improving the lives/neighborhoods of real
Detroiters remains to be seen.
This has been a major point of contention within the city with a small
faction going so far as to call for the ouster of Mayor Dennis Archer
because they don't feel like they're getting their fare share of the pie
when it comes to this recent increase revenue. I personally, think they are
premature in their effort and that Mayor Archer is attacking the root cause
of the city's ill - lack of $$$$$. But we'll see in about ten years, once
everything is "online" whether any of that $ gets kicked to the hood, so to
speak.
This is, of course a gross simplification of the social and economic factors
that have made detroit what it is today (whatever you may call it), but I
think this is the heart of the matter. Of course, the issue of race has
played a major role, but exactly how major is, again, a hotly debated
subject. I've had the occasion to speak with/interview several PHDs from the
University of Michigan and Michigan State University who have authored books
on this subject and they have widely varying opinions.
That's another thread altogether.
But, hey, this urban decay certainly has left us with an interesting
playground in terms of the exotic locations where we get to enjoy "our"
music. The Packard Plant is a glaring example. Others are a huge (HUGE),
cathedral-like art deco lobby in of the David Whitney building in the
central business district (complete with a balcony on the second level
surrounding and overlooking the entire party), Several downtown office
locations around Capital Park (on Griswold, just west of Woodward and the
cbd) with breathtaking views of the skyline (it seems as though you could
reach out and grab the Ren Cen). Of course, there's the monolithic Train
Station on Michigan (which I believe is up on the ruins site) that makes for
a great post-dawn after party hangout, although I wouldn't got there at
night. Nothing like chilling on the roof of a seventeen story skeleton as
the sun comes up over the eastern skyline, what a way to "cap" a great night
of partying in the city!
hey man
can i get copies of these articles? for reasons i'm not even entirely aware
of myself, the idea of
urban recovery interests me greatly.. maybe it's a creeping suspicion that
all our cities are
heading that direction? i met that friend of y'alls who works for the urban
planning department
there but never had a chance to talk to her. i first started travelling to
detroit in '93, and i
can see what at first seem like improvements, though i wonder how much of
it is merely cosmetic?
demolishing abandoned buildings is one thing, but as you said replacing the
businesses they
represent in terms of socioeconomic infrastructure is another matter
entirely. one of the things
about your city that captures my attention is the sense of grass-roots
populist commitment to
improving things.. there's a sense of vitality that remains with me even
after my initial naive
romanticized ideas have faded.. it's funny to think back about my first
impressions.. the sense
that there was some homogenous militant techno underground in an abandoned
industrial wasteland..
funny, eh? never stopping to consider that the mundane facts of life were
as prevalent there as
anywhere, that people had day jobs, lives, careers, educations, family.. of
course there is a
vital music/arts community, and though Detroit is obviously the epicenter
of a cultural phenomenon
which is still developing, and very dear to me, i think it's grown beyond
mere geography despite
the parochialism displayed by some.. anyhow, my point was that to an
admitted outsider it seems to
be on the way up, and I wonder how much of this is speculative capitalist
investment by outside
interests or possibly some kind of state/federal grant program, or if it's
genuinely an actual
investment in and by the community as a whole. i'm not sure if i'm making
sense here? so yeh.. i'm
interested. ;p
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