Campbell Ewald Moving Offices to Ford Field

[dmike76]

Not to mention the positive effect of KEEPING PEOPLE HERE. That in itself will help the suburbs. More locals + more out-of-towners + more tourism=more tax revenue=better for the state. Pretty simple equation, one would think.

[Shollin]

You get there by creating new jobs. Not just moving jobs around.

[Detroitnerd]

You get there by creating new jobs. Not just moving jobs around.

Judging by your reactions to the posts here, I can only conclude that you've written the city off completely, and see any businesses moving into it as merely throwing good money after bad. The fact is that the jobs remain in our region; if that isn't enough for you, I figure it can only be because you don't consider Detroit to be part of the region in which you live.

[canuck]

we cant forget that the place they chose has a very open floorplan as it was part of the warehouse and allows them to make it theirs. a traditional office wouldnt allow them to do a lot of the things you see in the renderings. its not just about being downtown, its about finding a place that allows them to create the workplace they want. i doubt there are many other locations in the cbd where they could pull off what they are without buying an entire building.

Right, good point.

They must have shopped around to find the right building to be able to exploit the space they will have. There certainly has to be stuff happening all over downtown for things to bloom in retail and entertainment, restaurants. I am glad they didnt pick a Gilbert property, this shows that there is varied interest on the part of companies wishing to relocate. It is an ace in the hole move for the city.

[canuck]

The only obstacle is fiercely clinging to the old way of doing things: the attitude that we are not Detroit, that we are 140-odd little fiefdoms all fighting for a dwindling share of an aging, poorer, more provincial population.

These incremental moves seem to indicate a reversal of this trend. I hope it is, and that it serves to illustrate how a vibrant downtown will shine on the rest of metropolitan Detroit, because that is what it is, not metro Warren; which nobody gives a crab a pout.

[Detroit68]

You get there by creating new jobs. Not just moving jobs around.

I disagree. There is evidence to suggest a strong core will attract people, companies and, thus, jobs to the state/region. Attracting young people is key to this growth. Today, young people who grew up in the burbs want to live in a thriving, urban environment. When I lived in Chicago, Motorola, which is headquartered in Shaumberg, opened an office downtown because they were struggling to attract/retain young computer engineers who didn't want to live in the burbs. This strategy proved succesful.

[Shollin]

Judging by your reactions to the posts here, I can only conclude that you've written the city off completely, and see any businesses moving into it as merely throwing good money after bad. The fact is that the jobs remain in our region; if that isn't enough for you, I figure it can only be because you don't consider Detroit to be part of the region in which you live.

How many new jobs has this move added to the region? We've been talking about building a vibrant downtown since the 70's. I'm going to submit vibrant downtown to Lake Superior State list of ban phrases.

[mwilbert]

How many new jobs has this move added to the region?

Now you're just being silly; it hasn't happened yet, so it would be hard for it to have much effect. If you don't believe that it is possible to get enough people downtown, residents and employees, to make downtown more attractive, then it is reasonable for you to think that the move is irrelevant to the region's health. I don't believe that. I also think there is no way it is worse for the region to have those jobs downtown than in Warren--it is at a minimum a break-even situation.

[Detroitnerd]

In Shollin's defense, he's seeing things the way we typically have seen them in our region: Through a narrow lens distorted by home rule, competing municipalities, sprawl-oriented chauvinism, and fear and loathing of the city.

I can forgive the point of view. It's been hammered home for a long time, and it's hardly surprising that at least some people subscribe to it. If metro Detroit doesn't behave like a region -- and more often than not it doesn't -- then it's more like a crazy quilt of more than 100 competing governments, each one guarding its "own" job centers jealously against the other. If you really see things that way, it follows that you'll react to this move as Shollin does. Certainly, as a fellow citizen of the region, Shollin has a right to his point of view, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, informed, uninformed or misinformed. You're never going to be able to convince everybody that a tight metro with a vibrant downtown is better that a metro that consciously, intentionally sprawls all over.

What is important, and vital to the process, is that our elected officials understand this. They do not. For Shollin to feel as he does is forgivable and, in a lot of ways, understandable.

For an elected official entrusted with the public common welfare to feel this way? It is beyond irresponsible. It is insane.

http://www.oakgov.com/exec/Pages/brooks/sprawl.aspx

[gthomas]

In Shollin's defense, he's seeing things the way we typically have seen them in our region: Through a narrow lens distorted by home rule, competing municipalities, sprawl-oriented chauvinism, and fear and loathing of the city.

I can forgive the point of view. It's been hammered home for a long time, and it's hardly surprising that at least some people subscribe to it. If metro Detroit doesn't behave like a region -- and more often than not it doesn't -- then it's more like a crazy quilt of more than 100 competing governments, each one guarding its "own" job centers jealously against the other. If you really see things that way, it follows that you'll react to this move as Shollin does. Certainly, as a fellow citizen of the region, Shollin has a right to his point of view, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, informed, uninformed or misinformed. You're never going to be able to convince everybody that a tight metro with a vibrant downtown is better that a metro that consciously, intentionally sprawls all over.

What is important, and vital to the process, is that our elected officials understand this. They do not. For Shollin to feel as he does is forgivable and, in a lot of ways, understandable.

For an elected official entrusted with the public common welfare to feel this way? It is beyond irresponsible. It is insane.

http://www.oakgov.com/exec/Pages/brooks/sprawl.aspx

Well said, people are stuck in their ways here and not use to functionality and governing of a city and region. The things that are happening now in our city is nothing new to other major cities, you have to strengthen the core [[downtown)...the love will eventually spread out when there isn't enough development left and has to look just outside of downtown [[*Hint* "Midtown, Corktown, Lafayette Park, Woodbridge, Eastern Market" all thriving and spreading outward.)

Our region should be like our body, you need a heart, brain and many other things. Downtown is the brain [[the core "Business, Intelligence, Creative Ideas"), Midtown is the heart, where Detroit "love" is centralized and pumping energy throughout the vital areas, spreading throughout the body [[region). This is how your body works and this should be the way your city and region function also.

Without your heart and brain..what are you but...Dead.