Long Blog 4- The Revival of Detroit

Run-down. Dangerous. Dirty. Poor.

These stereotypes of Detroit have plagued the image of the city and continue to serve as a deterring factor for many. Yet, as a place that has seen mass migrations, to and away from the city, civil unrest and abandonment by the governments, Detroit has begun its revival.

In the years since the bankruptcy of 2013, much of the current media includes positive tales of resurgence and the increasing trendiness of the Central Business District and Midtown areas, which span less than four square miles in the larger 143 square miles that make up Detroit. This area holds a draw to young people with an upcoming art, restaurant, and theater scenes that bring in tourists, low housing costs, and even a newfound phenomena of photographing the “ruins” of abandoned buildings around the city. (Kugel 2015) Lydia Woolever calls Detroit “Gritty yet cosmopolitan, bygone yet hip,” it’s a city whose “past and the present constantly intermingle.” This comeback is being watched by many, the positives “signaling that it’s safe and ready for tourists, investors, and residents.” (Reese et. al. 2016) The implementation of increased police force presence, concentration of retail business and restaurants, large respected institutions like Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center and increasingly positive social media coverage have enabled the rise of Midtown and Central Business District (CBD), the downtown area. (Reese et. al. 2016)

However, despite the rise in economic and social opportunity in Midtown and CBD due to isolated factors, poverty rates in surrounding areas remain at the high levels ever present from the recession. Employment opportunities are continuously held by people outside the city, often white employees from suburban areas, with the number of Detroiters holding jobs dropping from 36% to 23.7% in six years. (Reese et. al. 2016). Communities have come together to improve their homes, such as enhancements to public services and implementation of urban green spaces, “… however, these neighborhood initiatives have been focused on eliminating the impediments to revitalization after decades of neglect” from the governments at the local, state and federal levels. (Reese et. al. 2016)

A common concept visited in the case of Detroit is that of “islands of renewal in sea of decay”, coined by Brian Berry, referring to the limited scope of revival making up only 5 percent of the city’s area. (Barnes 1985) The efforts to revamp are isolated to small areas and do little to nothing in regards to addressing the still persistent problems of poverty, crime and unemployment that continue to affect the large population of the city. Reese et. al. contribute to telling the narrative of the city while acknowledging that “despite the increasingly crowded Detroit bandwagon, reality does not match the hype.” It is important to have a real understanding of the demographics and mechanisms of problems in the city to begin to address and fix them.

Many researchers focusing on Detroit believe that the most important step forward is decreasing the unemployment rate and thus, Detroiters will be able to generate a stable local economy, which would create higher demand for affordable housing and services. (Reese et. al. 2016) Another popular proposal for the city details the process of “shrinking” the city by encouraging residents to move inward and focusing public services to those densely populated areas. Due to the neighborhoods of Detroit being widely spread out, the density of residents is too little to generate sustainable development for the entire city. This relays that consolidating communities and businesses would help with resource distribution and recognizable improvements. (Reese et. al. 2016)

Urban agriculture is another implementation being explored by community leaders, as a practice with multilevel uses. By utilizing the vast array of vacancies, providing fresh foods to areas without sufficient grocery stores, creating employment opportunities, and most importantly, promoting “social cohesion, individual responsibility, social justice”, urban agriculture is a technique that could spur real change. (Draus et. al. 2013) A local nonprofit, The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is an all-volunteer organization that “seeks to engage members of the community in sustainable agriculture. “ (Mufi 2013) Their mission of reducing food insecurity and repurposing existing spaces is a strong foundation for the revival of the city.

In the case of Detroit, the positive trends, while inherently good for a small population, are extremely limited to a small area of the city and need to be expanded to the long term to sustainably improve conditions for residents and businesses. We must critically analyze all the factors affecting the resurgence of a once thriving city to move forward with new policies and actions. As the country’s prime example of urban regeneration, Detroit is on it’s way to a comeback.

Works Cited

• Reese, L. A., et. al. (2016) “It’s safe to come, we’ve got lattes”: Development disparities in Detroit. Cities 60 (2017) 367–377 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2016.10.014
• Kugel, S. (2015). In Detroit, cheap eats, D.I.Y. art and the charm of locals. New York Times
• Woolever, Lydia. “Detroit Is in the Midst of a Major Revival.” Baltimore Magazine, 6 Aug. 2020, www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/travel/detroit-is-in-the-midst-of-a-major-revival/.
• Berry, B. J. L. (1985). Islands of renewal in seas of decay. In P. E. Peterson (Ed.), The new urban reality (pp. 60–96). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institute.
• Draus, Paul Joseph, et al. “‘We Don’t Have No Neighbourhood’: Advanced Marginality and Urban Agriculture in Detroit.” Urban Studies, vol. 51, no. 12, 2013, pp. 2523–2538., doi:10.1177/0042098013506044.
• “All About MUFI.” Mufi, 2013, www.miufi.org/about.