Quote Originally Posted by dtowncitylover View Post
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.