http://www.metromodemedia.com/blogs/...poris1125.aspx

This Metromode blog post by Michael Poris made my day.

Detroit bows to no city when it comes architecture and history. I cannot understand why the leadership in this region cannot see this as an economic edge. Even Edsel Ford's One D initiative--a brilliant plan for the region--seems to miss this point completely.

If I were to become Poris's "czar", one of my first acts would be to create a regional plan for historic interpretation and preservation for the purpose of economic promotion. We need to channel the entrepreneurial spirit of the people who built the landmarks we love today. When we demolish buildings like the Lafayette and Michigan Central Depot, we demolish the past, present, and future of our economic genius in Detroit. The people who are proponents of this have no foresight, no imagination, no sense--and no business being in leadership.

Thank you, Michael Poris, for finally getting right: Preservation is not a sentimental exercise; it is an economic genesis.

Let us flex these muscles that we have so long abused and neglected! Let us claim our past: That we are one of the single greatest world cities of the 20th century and that we will build on that heritage to be great again in the 21st century.