I recently stumbled upon a really cool initiative called "One D" at www.OneD.org .

It seems like a great initiative[[led by Edsel B. Ford II) that is focused on the progress being made in Detroit. It appears to be a place for discussion about the City and its surrounding areas. It also has some great information at www.OneDscorecard.org which looks at the status of the region and has some great statistics comparing it to other major metropolitan areas.

As described by One D:

One D is collaborative initiative that supports regional progress in Southeast Michigan by connecting, convening and influencing change. One D focuses on five overarching priority areas: Economic Prosperity, Educational Preparedness, Race Relations, Regional Transit and Quality of life.

One D strives to connect the community of Southeast Michigan for the purpose of:

•Increasing awareness about the state of the region
•Providing a new and comprehensive way to understand regional Detroit
•Encouraging an informed public discourse about the region
•Communicating how the region is progressing against itself and against other large metropolitan areas in the country
•Increasing collaboration and reducing redundancies
•Increasing awareness of important programs and projects in the region
•Sharing best practices
•Encouraging local foundations, businesses, civic and other organizations to focus on regional priorities and a common path

One D's mission is to keep the focus of Southeast Michigan on regional challenges and progress and to encourage collaboration and action toward change.