What do you hope for in 2022, Detroit? We asked our writers and photographers to tell us what they can't wait to cover more of for Model D, and what they are looking forward to this year.
What should we be covering? Tell us in the comments!
Erin Miller, Writer
As a reporter that has covered small businesses and "small tech" in Detroit over the last three years, I'm looking forward to seeing what 2022 has in store for our city's entrepreneurs and workforce. I'll be on the lookout for stories that show us how the economic impact of the pandemic has changed work and business in Detroit, for better or worse.
I'll also be scoping out stories about new entrepreneurs and trailblazers overcoming the unique challenges of these times, and stories about how Detroit's tech industry is (still) giving Silicon Valley a run for its money — and, hopefully, making technology more ethical as we move further into the 21st century.
Kahn Davison, Writer
Every decade it feels like Detroit is fighting a national narrative we didn’t ask for. In the early 2000s Detroit was a struggling urban city. We watched writers and photographers from all over the world come here to document the relics of Detroit’s great blue-collar yesteryear. Now Detroit is being rebranded as the “comeback kid” city.
But despite unpopular belief; Detroit never went anywhere. For 2022 I hope the collective voices of Detroit’s homegrown artist community continue to write and create their own stories. I know many in the creative community took the confinement that came with the pandemic as a time to create new works, build new things, and tell new stories. I hope this results in an outburst of gallery exhibitions, virtual presentations, live performances, and a plethora of published poems, essays, and stories from Detroit natives.
David Sands, Writer
Looking forward to the coming year, I'm excited to see how, if at all, climate change is embraced in the city going forward. I wrote several pieces in 2021 related to the topic for Model D's
Resilient Neighborhoods series about Eastside Community Network's
sustainability work and Bridging Communities' call for greater climate-related emergency planning across the region. So, having covered the issue a lot this year, I'm curious to see if this year's flooding has been a wake-up call for greater action on climate-related issues, which are sure to have outsized repercussions on frontline communities in Detroit, but also provide opportunities to address equity issues through the development of green infrastructure.
What's more, I'm interested in seeing what sort of impact the mammoth federal infrastructure bill that was recently passed and the Build Back Better Act, which [at the time of writing] is still working its way through Congress, might have on Detroit in regards to climate change mitigation and green infrastructure. So there's plenty to be keeping an eye on when it comes to climate-related developments in 2022.
Kyla L. Wright, Writer
In 2022, I'm excited to see the rise and re-elevation of Detroit in a national spotlight – specifically on the entertainment front. From the city being featured in TV shows on national television, to being the premise of many shows, and movies, this is the perfect way for Motown's image to return to what it once was. From Fox's "The Big Leap" to
Starz's "BMF", Detroit has created a quick and longstanding buzz on social media, and likely in the minds and hearts of the country. Standing on the shoulders of
Motown legends like Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Diana Ross, and others, we're beginning to make a modern "comeback," to the rest of the country, that is, because a
real Detroiter knows that the city, our pride, and our talent, never left.
![]()
Plans for the Motown Museum will be one development our journalists are watching this year.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.