Philly could be a model for revitalization

Next American City’s editor in chief, Diana Lind, came out for Detroit’s
Creative Cities Summit. She discovered Detroit’s beauty and offers up
Philly as a potential model to bring Detroit back.

Excerpt:

Philly and Detroit are similar in many respects. They both had an
industrial past. They both have crime and education problems. They both
suffered some bad city planning. And yet, Philly has really rejuvenated
its downtown. I have to think that it’s because a number of small
groups do small things like Design Philadelphia where they make use of
the consequences of blight. They turn vacant lots into parties. It
seems that Detroit has often focused on large initiatives, that while
successful and important, don’t have the kind of frequency and can-do
energy that city needs. It’s important that young people and people
without connections can feel like they can have an impact on the city —
that message seemed to be lacking in the discussion at the summit last
week.

Read the entire article here.