Why I Care About Detroit. (And you should too)

I didn't used to care about Detroit. I watched the Pistons and the Red Wings, occasionally the Tigers and Lions, but otherwise, I knew that Detroit had nothing going for it. The city was dangerous, there were no cool things to do, and the glory days were long gone.

Then one day, a year ago last weekend, I ended up moving to Detroit. My entire life I've lived in Michigan and never once has my goal or dream been to move to Detroit. In fact, I had a few opportunities for employment, one in Chicago and one in Detroit. By far, the sexier position was Chicago.

But clearly, in writing this post something has changed for me. I now care about Detroit. I care about the city. While I may not live my entire life here, I will always have a place in my heart and mind for the city of Detroit.

We've all heard the stories. A quarter of a million people left the city over the past decade. The city boasts illiteracy rates of near 50 percent. Hundreds of thousands of people live in poverty. The pictures of blown out buildings and vacant lots are everywhere and a drive down any main drag will tell you that times are tough. And of course, we all know about Detroit's infamous homicide rate which is often one of the tops in the nation.

So why on earth should I care about this city? And better yet, why should you? I've read this countless times on comments of articles and spouted from people's mouths who know nothing about the city. Why should we do anything to support a city that couldn't save itself? Let the city rot. Raze it to the ground and start over. All kinds of hurtful things for a city that is still very proud.

The reason why I care about the city lies in two reasons. The first is very selfish, as any good reason should be: I am from Michigan and am sick and tired of traveling places and having people feel sorry for me. I am proud of my state and happy to be a Michigander. But, Detroit is an incredibly negative image for the state. Too many people associate Detroit with the entirety of Michigan. This generally leads to the argument of dumping Detroit and starting over so that we can save the rest of the state, but I've got news for everyone. Four million people still live in the metro region. FOUR MILLION! That's still a very viable city and still, by far, the largest concentration of people in the state. Which means, no matter how hard you try to tell people you're from Rochester or Clinton Township or Canton or Wyandotte, you will always be from Detroit. And no matter how hard you try to tell people you live far from Detroit and its problems, Detroit will always be a reference point to people who are not from Michigan.

So, as a Michigander, it is incredibly beneficial for me to care about Detroit. A healthy Detroit is a healthy Michigan and a healthy Michigan is a lot more fun to talk about when you're out and about in the United States.

The second reason why I care about Detroit is far more unselfish: it is simply the fact that people still live here. The area is still home to a ton of people, many of whom seem lost. In fact, my blog title comes from the fact that I do not feel attached to any central city. There are suburbs and suburbs and a few cool things downtown, but no pulse. There is no attachment to the center city. And without that, there is no great central feeling for people and in turn we are all mindlessly driving around the suburbs searching for the closest Meijer or Red Robin or Trader Joe's (of course, if you can afford a car.)

So, it is incredibly hurtful to read comments from others, including those living in the northern suburbs or other areas of Michigan who want to raze the city or let it die. Why spend my money on a place with no chance? Well, because if we don't start putting our heads together and finding some ways to help out, the state as a whole is going to suffer the same fate.

And, if you'll allow me to speculate wildly here, I think this goes beyond just Detroit and Michigan. I think this is a soon-to-be or already-here epidemic of urban centers. Detroit is the epitome of industrial America. The factories gave tons of great jobs to poorly educated people. Race issues tore the city apart. Education failed. And then the bottom fell out of poorly run industries that cannot survive on the current economic policies of supporting tons of oil and energy consumption. To add insult to injury, Detroit is the iconic city of roads and superhighways that sliced through cultural neighborhoods and gave the clearest path for suburbanites to aggresively expand and gut the city.

When all of these great ideals of the early twentieth century are seen to fruition, you get Detroit. And so the city remains stuck in the past, clinging to old ideals and saddled by governments who never were able to get it right. People left as things didn't get adjusted, no new industries were coming in, and the schools were getting worse. The tax base left and still adjustments weren't made. In the end, all we could do was remember the good old days, as it were.

Now we are at a point where this no longer works. It doesn't work in Detroit or Cleveland or Pittsburgh or any other city where this model was put into place. And yet other cities have started their push forward. So what is holding Detroit back? I believe it started with poor government and a lack of trust, rightly deserved. But I also think it lies in the fact that there are so many who simply don't care.

We now have an incredible opportunity in Detroit. It is true that problems are everywhere, and they will not be fixed in the next year, five years, or probably even ten years. But with so much out of Detroit, we have a unique opportunity to reimagine the city for tomorrow. And I'm not talking about just Detroit here. We can use Detroit as a blueprint for every other American city. Detroit, the city that put America on wheels could be the first major city to start increasing density and promoting more mass transit. Detroit could be the first major city to start urban farming on a large scale and getting our food supply back to the source. Detroit could be the new example of what we want our future to look like, more sustainable with less waste and more community involvement.

I know there is no convincing everyone to pack up and move to Detroit. And honestly, even living here I often see the incredible problems and want to pick up and leave. I have no idea where to get started! But I do know that even if I do leave, I will still have a great interest in the city of Detroit. The city is at a huge crossroads with the chance to really make a change or to slip further into the oblivion. I believe, as many do, that Detroit will find its way. And I believe that when Detroit does, it will be leading the way for much of America to figure out how to be leaner, more efficient, more community based, and less dependent on shipping our goods and services to all corners of the country.

I care about Detroit because the people who live here are still fighting, every day, to make a living. I care about Detroit because its good for my state, its good for my health, and its good for me. And I hope that you care about Detroit because, well, you read my post and that means you probably have a lot of similar interests that I do. And those interests can be bettered by a better Detroit.