One comment about whether the city of Detroit is devoting enough of its new resources to the neighborhoods and away from the redevelopment core:
No. Compuware got its new site for $1, but can responsible groups wanting to renovate abandoned housing get title from the city to move forward and do the one thing neighborhoods need most, which is to get stable individuals and families back into affordable housing? To have to ask the question provides the answer. Now let's bring it back to Detroit techno. Where has the city been in assisting one particular small business which is being dislocated due to the construction of the new stadiums? Not very much help, really; Submerge still is at 2030 Grand River but, as building after building around it has been torn down to make way for the eventual new facilities, the city has offered very little to help an organization that not only is a thriving locally-owned enterprise, but has responsibility for an operation and a building with worldwide renown. I have some respect for Mayor Archer (I'm not a Detroit resident, but I *am* in politics and this is based on experience) -- he has stabilized a good many things and offers a positive and informed attitude. But a much bolder vision is necessary to put Detroit, not just the downtown redevelopment zone coveted by the same old usual development suspects, back on the right track. And there are plenty of people ready to pitch in and make it work again when that happens. If the city wasn't convinced by the astounding turnout and support for the DEMF -- after it had sidetracked the permits for months on end -- then I don't know what will. Detroit is a city ready to step forward again, but will the politicians and business leaders let it? phred
