I'm Optimistic

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · June-13-12, 12:45 AM

I can't help but feel pretty optimistic right not about our city. Yes, the city government is pretty messed up, but I think that will improve, even if at the point of a gun.

What I am really chirpy about is the plethora of things that really seem to happening. Bridge announcement on Friday. Gilbert's buy and fixing and renting out lots of space. Masonic upgrade. New apartments getting build. Globe building renovation. Ilitch actually paying people to design an arena. Cobo renovations well underway. Lots of work to do in a million areas, yes. But a lot of work seems now to be getting done. I don't like the term "critical mass" because it implies that there is a single point at which there is no turning back. In reality, I think lots of stuff just happens to be going the right way.

Please be aware I am not trying to open a thread here about any paticular development. Some have more merit than others in our personal opinions of course. I'm only saying that every now and then, as we bicker and fight over Kwame and Bing and the Council and Snyder, we should step back and look at the big picture: bank account aside, I think Detroit is more alive in many ways than it has been in ages.

Did anyone see Tuesday's NY Post article about Detroit?
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainmen...FtFCnHbMzVuTzK

**gthomas** · June-13-12, 07:23 AM

I totally AGREE, also I believe we will have descent mass transit with BRB and Light Rail throughout southeast Michigan, hopefully before 2018? Things are for sure on the upward bound, but we seriously have to get change of leadership in this state and region.

**Artistic** · June-13-12, 07:24 AM

Thanks for sharing the article....I try not to travel down the negative side of the road, and agree that there are good thing happening within the city. More will follow......nothing stays the same!

**corktownyuppie** · June-13-12, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

I can't help but feel pretty optimistic right not about our city. Yes, the city government is pretty messed up, but I think that will improve, even if at the point of a gun.

What I am really chirpy about is the plethora of things that really seem to happening. Bridge announcement on Friday. Gilbert's buy and fixing and renting out lots of space. Masonic upgrade. New apartments getting build. Globe building renovation. Ilitch actually paying people to design an arena. Cobo renovations well underway. Lots of work to do in a million areas, yes. But a lot of work seems now to be getting done. I don't like the term "critical mass" because it implies that there is a single point at which there is no turning back. In reality, I think lots of stuff just happens to be going the right way.

Please be aware I am not trying to open a thread here about any paticular development. Some have more merit than others in our personal opinions of course. I'm only saying that every now and then, as we bicker and fight over Kwame and Bing and the Council and Snyder, we should step back and look at the big picture: bank account aside, I think Detroit is more alive in many ways than it has been in ages.

Did anyone see Tuesday's NY Post article about Detroit?
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainmen...FtFCnHbMzVuTzK

I'm optimistic for the same reasons. I recognize that there is tons of anxiety and conflict right now, but it's the right kind of anxiety that comes when when people finally confront components of their lives that they must overcome.

There's a battle going on right now. Deadline Detroit headline hits it on the head:

It's Detroit Vs. Detroit Vs. Lansing Vs. Detroit

We've seen more city council meetings and more arguments about the City budget over the last 6 months than we have over the last 10 years, it seems. Which means that we're finally doing something about our problems.

Sure, it's unpleasant most of the time, and even painful much of it. And it will likely get more painful in the near term.

But Detroit is hitting an inflection point right now that will change the course of the city for the next 50 years. When you're hitting an inflection point from a high point, there's no place to go but down. But when you're hitting an inflection point from the bottom....

**313WX** · June-13-12, 07:39 AM

Here's a pretty good, REALISTIC, opinion piece about Detroit from someone at the Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imani-...hp_ref=detroit

The New Detroit

Imani Mixon

Student, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism

As a native Detroiter, being back in the city for the summer is like encountering an old elementary school friend. You remember their name and why you got along for all those years, but they have been altered in nearly imperceptible ways. The person you used to greet with a hug now requires a polite handshake and a relationship that was once second nature has become foreign.

My maternal grandmother came to Detroit from Choctaw County, Alabama in 1962 in search of employment in the thriving automotive industry since General Motors had just hired her two brothers. Around this time, Hudson's was still on Woodward and the Bob-Lo boat could still be seen floating on the Detroit River on a leisurely summer day. My paternal grandmother has lived and worked in Detroit for her entire life. Our clan has been inextricably linked to the city, but these bonds have recently been uprooted with the decline of the housing market, troubled public school system and limited employment opportunities.

The city that once nourished our well-being and daily lives seems to have retracted its welcoming arms, forcing us to move elsewhere. My mother worked in the city for many years as an educator and transferred to a southern suburb in 2001 for work, while still living 45 minutes away in Detroit. My paternal grandmother was one of the many casualties of the cutbacks in the Detroit Public School System, resigning from her executive position after 35 years. A few years ago, my aunt lost her UAW job that she had acquired right out of high school. My maternal grandmother ended up working for GM for 30 years, but soon after retiring she realized that her neighborhood was no longer a safe place for a single woman, so she moved. My family moved out of the city last year, automatically making me an onlooker instead of the self-proclaimed city girl that I once was. A series of circumstances and life choices have left us only faintly involved with the city that shaped so much of our lives.

I'm a die hard East Sider, with the tiny bruises from Belle Isle's Giant Slide to prove it, but my beloved city is now a shell of what it used to mean to me. The people that once breathed life into its already vibrant atmosphere are relocating. Many lifelong Detroiters are now simply "born and raised" or "from the D," but not actually current residents.

My boyfriend, a lifelong suburban boy who has developed a fascination with the city, recently moved to downtown Detroit with a friend to be closer to his summer job. He's discovering Hart Plaza, Chene Park, Campus Martius, Belle Isle and many of the city's other jewels that were the ever-present background of my upbringing. I've taken the role of an unofficial tour guide, recommending local restaurants and sharing anecdotes of times passed. As much as I enjoy seeing people discover a newfound appreciation for the city, it becomes palpably clear that the city is undergoing an undeniable change.

On any given day, downtown Detroit looks like a perfectly sculpted movie set, complete with large buildings and a picturesque landscape, but it seems as if all of the actors and crew have taken an extended lunch break. There is a sense of idleness in the air. The same features that initially enticed my grandmother in the 1960s and supported my family's daily life is attracting a whole new demographic to the city. We are entering a peculiar era as a new group of Detroiters are moving in while many of the lifelong city dwellers are seeking lives elsewhere, oftentimes due to uncontrollable situations. This city is definitely on the brink of something, but will the people that have been there all along be incorporated into this new Detroit? All I hope is that it transforms back into the city that I've grown to know and love.

**illwill** · June-13-12, 10:05 AM

Another fact is more people are choosing to live cities allacross America. This includes entire families with children, empty nesters andsingles. Detroit/Windsor is STILL one of the original BIG cities and there'snothing that even compares to it in the state of Michigan. There's no doubtthat Detroit is a city on the make.

I feel very confident that Detroit should now be mentionedin the same breath as other regional International cities such as Toronto,Chicago and New York.

Our city is onlygetting stronger.

**kryptonite** · June-13-12, 10:15 AM

My optimism barometer is running very high. I have spent untold hours Downtown and neighborhoods and have lived in several Detroit neighbordhoods.

never have I seen so many people downtown for events and festivals.

In 2000 I walked around the DIA area with an old friend who is also a long-term Detroiter following a movie at the DFT. We both agreed that if we could park our car in Cass Corridor and walk to/from the DIA without a high level of fear that things had changed radically.

Currently the pace of renovations in Downtown/Midtwon/New Center, Eastern Market, etc. seems to be occuring at a faster pace than the abandonment that occured after the mid-70s.

It's nice to see Detroit getting national media attention for it's architecture, cultural and artistic community, theaters, etc.

Granted, the outlying areas are suffering horribly and it hurts to see some of my former neighborhoods deteriorating so badly. And our political/budgetary problems are a disgrace. Fortunately the Feds are no longer looking the other way and are aggressively pursuing elected local crooks who have victimized so many in the area.

Still I for one get the impression that Detroit's worst days are behind us and that many people worldwide are cheering us on. In many ways this is still a wonderful city.

**Gistok** · June-13-12, 12:07 PM

My optimism extends only as far as the Downtown-Midtown-New Center and the riverfront.

As for the majority of the city's neighborhoods... they are sliding farther into the abyss....

... just drive down the once stately 3 Mile Drive to see how pathetic the neighborhoods have become...

**dtowncitylover** · June-13-12, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by illwill

I feel very confident that Detroit should now be mentionedin the same breath as other regional International cities such as Toronto,Chicago and New York.

I'm optimistic too, but also realistic. Our city is still not as regional as these great dames. Sure, we're moving in the right direction but when it take over 5 years to get an RTA bill through the legislature, when you have a county executive telling another to kill himself, I think we still have work to do. And none of those cities' neighborhoods are as either widespread desolate or distressed than in Detroit. I feel the change coming on, but we have decades of work to do before Detroit is truly a city again.

**Gistok** · June-13-12, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

...when you have a county executive telling another to kill himself...

You do know he was standing right next to him when he said that, don't you?

DEFINITION OF SARDONIC HUMOR: This is where you are mocking the person trying to make it funny.

**corktownyuppie** · June-13-12, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

I'm optimistic too, but also realistic. Our city is still not as regional as these great dames. Sure, we're moving in the right direction but when it take over 5 years to get an RTA bill through the legislature, when you have a county executive telling another to kill himself, I think we still have work to do. And none of those cities' neighborhoods are as either widespread desolate or distressed than in Detroit. I feel the change coming on, but we have decades of work to do before Detroit is truly a city again.

I agree with this too. It took a generation of decline, it will take another generation to build back up.

As for the downtown vs. the neighborhoods issue, both are important. But the downtown has to be solid as a higher priority. Yes, this will make many angry, and I know I won't convince them. But here's why...Downtown Detroit is a regional experience. It's the one part of the city that 4 million people around the Metro Detroit area hold in common. In other words, this is the face of Detroit to the region, to the state, and to the world. When downtown is buzzing the desire to get involved and be around will trickle down [[sorry, not trying to sound like Reagan) to the surrounding neighborhoods.

That's how cities are designed.

When the core of the city is rotten, sure there will be loyalists at the perimeter of the city limits who care, but for everyone else, no one will have any pride.

Let's build downtown first. Make it world class. Make it an attraction for people all over SE Michigan, all over the state, all over the world. When it's full, vibrant, healthy, you won't have a crime problem in the surrounding neighborhoods, because instead of blight, you will have people lining up to live there in order to be close to downtown.

I'm optimistic too. I'm also patient. I'm also realistic. We're talking about a lifetime's worth of work to rebuild the area, schools, social structures, etc.

But I'm excited to be doing it, too.

**dtowncitylover** · June-13-12, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

You do know he was standing right next to him when he said that, don't you?

DEFINITION OF SARDONIC HUMOR: This is where you are mocking the person trying to make it funny.

Yeah, but it's still not an appropriate thing to say even if he was joking.

**Novine** · June-13-12, 01:42 PM

Who's out selling the Kool-Aid today? What's different about Detroit from the days when Archer was Mayor? It's poorer, less populated and in worse financial shape. Neither the state or the feds are in a position to provide much assistance. Some of you think the city has hit bottom and the only place it can go is up. Guess what, there's plenty of room on the downside. The reality of the "financial reckoning" that Daniel Howes repeats endlessly about is an impoverished city with the inability to provide even the basic city service. That's not a recipe for growth. There are areas where things look up. There are glimmers of hope. But Detroit is in a deep, dark hole and I'm not buying the idea that the city has reached the bottom yet.

**SWMAP** · June-13-12, 02:18 PM

I personally remember when Dennis Archer promised that Detroit would, once again, be a "world-class" city. Lot's of discussion ensued over the years as to what exactly "world-class" means. However, Detroit never became world-class, except in the arena of abandonment and ruin porn. There we apparently are equaled only by Pompeii and Beirut.

Many times over the years, especially at the end of KK's era, I thought that Detroit had hit bottom and that there really was no where to go but up. But then the bottom falls out like the floors of the cold storage building near Michigan central Station, revealing a deep pit of frozen black water and a never-missed corpse.

What exactly the "bottom" is is the current discussion.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · June-13-12, 02:57 PM

A few ideas inspired by some of the less-than-optimistic crowd.

1) Detroit's neighborhoods are still in rough shape and substantially depopulated. That's still true. But the downtown anchor area is getting better and gaining residents. It is from that area that development will flow outward. The improvements in the anchor [[I call the Woodward to downtown corridor "anchor" because it kinda looks like one on a map) are real. The neighborhoods have no shot at getting better if the core is rotting away. Also, the actual neighborhoods I don't give a hoot about. It's people living in physical danger, kids going [[or not going) to terrible schools, and other things that move me. I want people to have a decent roof over their head and food in their stomach, paid for by money they earned at their job. I could not care less if I ever utter a statement like "Well, the Boston-Edison neighborhood is really on the rebound."

2) I don't compare Detroit, as a general rule, to other cities. We aren't and won't ever be New York, Toronto, or Chicago. That's for both better and worse. We have our own population, geography, etc. Also, if we wanted to live in those cities, we would. Specific things [[Millenium Park vs Hart Plaza, etc) can be compared, but the overall life is different in most ways. Among other things: PEOPLE OF MODERATE INCOME CAN HAVE NICE HOUSES IN DETROIT. I made a ton of money when I lived in NYC, and I lived in a shoe box.

3) "WORLD CLASS CITY" should be stricken from our collective vocabulary. I want Detroit to be better for people here, not so people taking a survery somewhere can score us better relative to Tokyo or Helsinki. I like the "new" airport [[10 years old!) not because magazines now rate it highly; it's just a better place to fly into and out of.

4) I separate in my head the city of Detroit from the government of the city of Detroit. The city is the people and businesses and the institutions and the churches and the events. The government is just buildings full of messed up bureaucrats. It's a testament to our resiliency as a people that we are in as good shape as we are with those fools in office... That resiliency is one of the key reasons I am optimistic.

5) I am not even slightly antagonistic towards our suburban and outstate friends and neighbors. Healthy families have healthy extended families.

**corktownyuppie** · June-13-12, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

A few ideas inspired by some of the less-than-optimistic crowd.

1) Detroit's neighborhoods are still in rough shape and substantially depopulated. That's still true. But the downtown anchor area is getting better and gaining residents. It is from that area that development will flow outward. The improvements in the anchor [[I call the Woodward to downtown corridor "anchor" because it kinda looks like one on a map) are real. The neighborhoods have no shot at getting better if the core is rotting away. Also, the actual neighborhoods I don't give a hoot about. It's people living in physical danger, kids going [[or not going) to terrible schools, and other things that move me. I want people to have a decent roof over their head and food in their stomach, paid for by money they earned at their job. I could not care less if I ever utter a statement like "Well, the Boston-Edison neighborhood is really on the rebound."

2) I don't compare Detroit, as a general rule, to other cities. We aren't and won't ever be New York, Toronto, or Chicago. That's for both better and worse. We have our own population, geography, etc. Also, if we wanted to live in those cities, we would. Specific things [[Millenium Park vs Hart Plaza, etc) can be compared, but the overall life is different in most ways. Among other things: PEOPLE OF MODERATE INCOME CAN HAVE NICE HOUSES IN DETROIT. I made a ton of money when I lived in NYC, and I lived in a shoe box.

3) "WORLD CLASS CITY" should be stricken from our collective vocabulary. I want Detroit to be better for people here, not so people taking a survery somewhere can score us better relative to Tokyo or Helsinki. I like the "new" airport [[10 years old!) not because magazines now rate it highly; it's just a better place to fly into and out of.

4) I separate in my head the city of Detroit from the government of the city of Detroit. The city is the people and businesses and the institutions and the churches and the events. The government is just buildings full of messed up bureaucrats. It's a testament to our resiliency as a people that we are in as good shape as we are with those fools in office... That resiliency is one of the key reasons I am optimistic.

5) I am not even slightly antagonistic towards our suburban and outstate friends and neighbors. Healthy families have healthy extended families.

All very solid points.

**corktownyuppie** · June-13-12, 03:24 PM

Another wave of optimism is that the right people are finally winning the right arguments. Just remember back to when BRC was singing Onward Christian Soldiers at a City Council Meeting preventing the "suburban takeover" of Detroit's jewel, "Cobo Hall."

It took forever, but sanity finally prevailed and Cobo will once again be a top notch convention center that we can all be proud of. Same will soon be true with Belle Isle. Same will be true with Capitol Park, Grand Circus Park, Washington Avenue., etc.

You bet there's a takeover of Detroit. It's a the victory of sanity vs. delusion.

**stromberg2** · June-13-12, 04:01 PM

Bravo to both you guys, Mikey and Cyup!

Stromberg2

**Gistok** · June-13-12, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

Yeah, but it's still not an appropriate thing to say even if he was joking.

I don't think that everything everyone says should be taken verbatim... if your friend tells you to "jump in the lake"... they don't mean they want you to drown yourself.

I'm sure Patterson and Ficano have a decent working relationship, and on occasion take barbs at each other... nothing more, nothing less... we shouldn't take everything given to us with a media spin and swear by it... just look at the Belle Isle Aquarium story... took on a life of its' own!!

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · June-13-12, 07:16 PM

I have always thought that the resurgence of downtown and midtown was a precursor to the rebirth of the rest of the city. Now its true that it seemed like the bottom was hit before, but then the entire economy hit the crapper.Thanks GWB.

What seems to me to be different this time is that jobs are apparently not fleeing the city anymore, but are trickling back in. Whether its the "eds and meds", or Gilbert's jobs or BCBS, or the 70 Chrysler jobs or the Fossil folks making some watches.....if there are more jobs in the city more people will want to live in it.

**Adamkir** · June-13-12, 09:52 PM

No offense, but while yes I know GWB was a liberal Republacrat. Though you've got to say man its been almost four years! Even if you wanted to look back at that era you couldn't really miss Bumbling Barney Frank. As the lead Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, he pushed and pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to loosen their restrictions and ease lending practices. I'm thinking of all the problems hindering Detroit. The housing crisis has devastated Detroit harder than any other city since abandonment has been a epidimic for years.

I am happy Detroit seem to be moving forward slowly. Once we have competent leadership in this country hopefully we can grow Detroit even more. Businesses are still reluctant to hire and that is killing economic growth.

**Novine** · June-13-12, 10:09 PM

Barney Frank is your excuse for lending excesses in the residential sector. What's your excuse for the same practices in the commercial sector? The banks weren't giving out loans for strip malls to poor minorities. But we saw the exact same excesses in those loans.

**Hamtragedy** · June-13-12, 11:53 PM

After waiting on the Belle Isle Bridge for 45 minutes to get on the island, only to realized that the "traffic jam caused by incompetence" was from the GRAND PRIX TWO WEEKS AGO [[the barriers are still there), and the ensuing exit from the Island, [[also one lane), I am happy to report that the bottom is nowhere in sight.

**Detroitdave** · June-14-12, 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by Novine

Who's out selling the Kool-Aid today? What's different about Detroit from the days when Archer was Mayor? It's poorer, less populated and in worse financial shape. Neither the state or the feds are in a position to provide much assistance. Some of you think the city has hit bottom and the only place it can go is up. Guess what, there's plenty of room on the downside. The reality of the "financial reckoning" that Daniel Howes repeats endlessly about is an impoverished city with the inability to provide even the basic city service. That's not a recipe for growth. There are areas where things look up. There are glimmers of hope. But Detroit is in a deep, dark hole and I'm not buying the idea that the city has reached the bottom yet.

I guess Gilbert, Karmanos, Illtich, Penske, GM , Blue cross ,DMC, Wayne State, ect didn't get that memo ?
I think my money is going with the business leaders going in , I think they know a little about what makes a place work, All the above mention have VERY successful companies. Sure plenty have left over the years , but something is happening .The state/Government will NEVER let the international city of Detroit go under, NEVER , it just wont happen.
Sure things are dark now, but trust me it will come back , maybe not in our life time , but things are turning around

**Novine** · June-14-12, 08:33 AM

"I guess Gilbert, Karmanos, Illtich, Penske, GM , Blue cross ,DMC, Wayne State, ect didn't get that memo ?"

Plenty of people, including most of those that you listed, were investing in the city when Archer was Mayor. Still waiting to hear what's changed for the better since Archer was Mayor that makes anyone think that the city is in a better place than it was then or that would justify all the happy talk.