Ann Arbor News editorial encourages support for Detroit’s success

After hearing a speech Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gave to the Washtenaw Economic Club, the Ann Arbor News published an editorial supporting his efforts to revitalize the city.

Excerpt:

A housing boom – including several upscale developments –
is bringing new residents to the urban core. Street repairs,
building facade rehab, and development along the riverfront,
much of it keyed to last year’s Super Bowl game in
Detroit, have helped improve the appearance within certain
pockets of the city. Major entertainment hubs, from Comerica
Park, Ford Field and the casinos, are breathing new life
into formerly depressed areas.

Kilpatrick can’t take credit for all of this, even if
he’d like to. Leaders from the private sector –
including Roger Penske, Doug Rothwell, Edsel Ford and
Christopher Ilitch, among others – have stepped up to take
responsibility for helping turn the city around.

But if you haven’t been to downtown Detroit recently,
none of this will matter. You’ll still remember
whatever bad experience or perception you had there 20 or 30
or more years ago, and that’s a shame.

Read the entire article here.