Kellogg grant to promote Detroit's tourist nodes

The Kellogg Foundation has granted the Tourism and Economic Development Council $75,000 to support "Developing the D," a plan to build a "Destination Districts" initiative that will attract and retain residents, draw new visitors and spur investment in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Monroe counties.

In the city proper, TEDC director Jim Townsend says the aim is to leverage and support existing developments -- like the RiverWalk -- and to ultimately link them.

The program's targets are tourists as well as current and potential residents. He says the same amenities that make a visit to a city enjoyable also make it livable. "It's really interdependent and kind of symbiotic," he says. "People travel to urban destinations for many of the same reasons that people move to or stay in an urban area."

Initiatives that TEDC will be looking at connecting and promoting include transit, housing, greenspace and greenway developments. He says great cities and cool neighborhoods offer "walkability" and "unexpected great moments."

"Detroit has bones, pockets, of the same experience, there are some isolated successes, but to really achieve our goal for talent and tourists, we've got to build out and link and effectively market," he says.

Ultimately, Townsend hopes that each distinct district -- those being Greater Downtown, Dearborn/Wayne, Macomb County and North and South Oakland County -- work in collaboration and support with one another, rather than in competition. "They're all quite different," he says.

Source: Jim Townsend, TEDC
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Photo: Marvin Shaouni