6 Things I Love About Detroit... So Far
Sitting on an airplane midway through one of about a dozen trips between Philadelphia and Detroit in the last few months, I opened my laptop to wrap up some legalese for an exciting new venture. Despite feeling exhausted in the terminal waiting area as I waited to board my flight, I suddenly felt invigorated. It occurred to me that I was excited to get back to Detroit, where I have made my second home as part of an experiment in entrepreneurship. Now mind you, I travel often and visit different, cool cities all the time. Chicago, New York and San Francisco have become regular stops with a few others like Vegas and Denver peppered in more for recreational purposes. Detroit is not exactly considered a destination city, but I absolutely adore the place and I find myself spreading the Motor City gospel to friends and colleagues in Philly and beyond on a regular basis.
Downtown Detroit Revitalized by Businesses Relocating
The Motor City could be headed down the same road as General Motors and Chrysler took recently. Detroit is teetering on bankruptcy. Right now, a 10-member board appointed by Michigan's governor is deciding if the state should appoint an emergency manager to help run the city. But in the face of Detroit's financial crisis, something just short of amazing is happening. Young people and businesses are moving to the city`s downtown. It’s an effort to revitalize a city that has been in decline for decades.
Detroit’s Urban Agriculture Movement Could Help ‘Green’ the City
Often dubbed a “shrinking city,” Detroit has been plagued by urban decay and is known for its vacant houses and abandoned plots of land. But in some areas local residents are reinventing the urban landscape and attempting to “green” the city. Back in 1989, the organization Greening of Detroit was formed with the goal of improving the city’s suffering ecosystem. After the mass urban expansion in the last century where an estimated 500,000 trees were lost to concrete and buildings, this nonprofit had the idea of reforesting the city. Now agricultural initiatives, environmental education schemes, and community buildings are flourishing, and many open spaces are being reclaimed for planting and farming projects across the city.