Corktown : Buzz

Meghan McEwen, a magazine editor and mother of two small children, says you can find a family-friendly life inside the city of Detroit. Her husband is Ryan Cooley, the developer. She admits that the city lacks basic urban conveniences, but because she and her husband were able to find real estate so cheap, she's able to work part time.

And she says it's exciting to be part of an effort to rebuild a city.

That enthusiasm gives Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., hope. He says the city will never return to its past vibrancy without young, talented professionals. Glazer says the brain drain from the city has been devastating.

It may not be a flood of artists, business owners and young professionals coming back to Detroit, but many in the Motor City say those trickling back in are giving many during these tough times something they haven't had for a long time ... hope.

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"Kids in the neighborhood always ride by on their bikes and give us the thumbs-up; sometimes they stop and ask questions but sometimes they just yell, 'Yeah, that's the Lot, man!' Leisen says, noting that, because of this project, she's gotten closer to everyone in the neighborhood.

"I don't think that what they are saying is, 'Yeah, experimental outdoor art spaces that reclaim unused land are cool!' I think they just like the letters, and that it makes them feel like they're a part of something." Vandalism is a concern, but Leisen is confident that people generally respect what's going on there. She also says the Lot could only exist in Detroit. 

"Space is readily available here. We are crawling with empty lots — but what's more important is the attitude here, that's what makes it possible," she says. It's this sentiment that informs the Lot's slogan: We live here for a reason. 

"Living in Detroit is very different from living in other cities — we have different expectations," Leisen says. "Just living here is a radical notion to some people, but a concept such as putting art in an empty lot is something that people in Detroit are quicker to embrace."

Nearly a decade later, I find it difficult to communicate just why I love the city.

It’s not for lack of trying. Whenever anyone will listen, particularly these days, with Detroit’s troubles all over the news, I chew their ear off.

Do they know about the Detroit Institute of Arts, with its stunning Diego Rivera murals? What about the beautiful summers, or Saturdays in the historic Eastern Market district? How about that Michigan beer, that Detroit-style pizza, the annual electronic music festival on the Detroit River. What about the nearby Great Lakes? Yes, the nightlife really is that interesting. And all within an hour’s flight of New York. And did I mention that the locals are half-crazy but mostly harmless, and always amusing to talk to?

Marcos Valdez, 12, said he wanted the train station to reopen so it could benefit him in the future. "I was thinking about making it into a military training facility," he said.

Timothy McKay, executive director of Greater Corktown Development, said he thinks chances to save the depot may be greater now that people of all ages are involved.

The most successful shrinking strategies, like Pittsburgh's, are not top-down affairs driven by all-knowing governments, but organic, bottom-up, community-based efforts. While Pittsburgh government and business leadership pressed for large-scale urban renewal - stadium-building, convention centers, and more far-fetched schemes for local mag-lev trains - its real  turnaround was driven by organic, bottom-up initiatives. Community groups, local foundations, and non-profits - not city hall or business-led economic development groups -  were the driving forces behind neighborhood stabilization and redevelopment, university-based economic development, water-front revitalization, park improvements, and green building among others.  This kind of bottom-up process takes considerable time and perseverance. In Pittsburgh's case, it took the better part of a generation to achieve stability and the potential for longer-term revival.

All of which brings us back to a big question: What about people versus place strategies? I agree with Glaeser: people must be the priority. Especially in tough economic times, public investment should flow toward people. Early childhood investments, as James Heckman has shown, are the most important, longest-running and highest-paying investments we make.