Assignment Detroit

[DE]

Hmmm.....

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...oit/index.html

This summer the news division at Time Inc. bought a house in Detroit. Why? Following the lead of editor-in-chief John Huey, the editors agreed that even Detroit's unequaled influence on the economic and social evolution of America as the cradle of the nation's middle class was scraping bottom, and that the city's rise and fall and struggle to rise again reflected the harshest of changing American realities. So what's it really like to live in Detroit? That's where the house on Parker Avenue comes in.

The intention of Time Inc.'s Assignment Detroit is to flood the zone with journalists, photographers, videographers and bloggers from TIME and Time.com, FORTUNE and Fortune.com, CNNMoney.com, Money, as well as the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Group. Some staffers will live in the house, and others will stay there while in town reporting. It was dubbed the D-Shack after Kid Rock dropped by with a housewarming gift of a Gothic D for the mantel and a keg of his locally brewed Badass Beer; you can't throw a rock from the porch without hitting a strong story.

The wounds are open. Since the scorching riots of 1967, no other city has suffered more depressing economic trends. The politics can be toxic, and there are continuing issues of race and class, as well as health care and education. Not one national chain operates a grocery store within city limits; the functional illiteracy rate is pushing 50%; the unsolved murder rate is near 70%; unemployment is up to 29%. And yet outside of Michigan, Detroit has been underreported.

From SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's perspective, Detroit is above all a sports town, and SI kicks off Assignment Detroit this week with a cover story by senior writer Lee Jenkins, who reports how Tigers owner Mike Ilitch responded to the economic crisis not by cutting costs but by reinvesting dramatically in his franchise and what that has meant to the people of Detroit. What has unfolded at Comerica Park this summer, one year removed from a last-place finish, has lifted the city.

"For all the disadvantages facing Detroit right now, the city has something crucial going for it," Jenkins says. "Scores of people and families have been in the area for generations and care deeply about it, as demonstrated by the passion they show for their sports teams. As Kid Rock said when asked about this year's Tigers: 'We'll take whatever we can get. We have nowhere to go but up.' "

Detroit is fighting for life. And yet in its relationship with the Tigers it is possible to see a future when better days -- and perhaps the World Series -- come back to town.

[WTFchris]

The problem is that while the sports teams are a source of pride for many, it doesn't really help the city recover. People won't move there without jobs being created. I love that they are doing well (for the most part), but the economy is far more important.

[Big Swami]

That's pretty fucking crazy that they're doing that. I bet that house has a ton of fascinating conversation going on inside it.

I just want to see people talking about Detroit again, paying attention to what's "hatnin" here.

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

This whole area is depressing. There are parts in this state where you can escape it (Ann Arbor, Traverse City) but the rest of the state just gives you a sense of hopelessness.

Once I get my degree, I'm strongly considering moving out to So Cal. My uncle told me he can hook me up with an accounting gig at Qualcomm in downtown San Diego. Because seriously, there is no reason for anybody to even bother getting their hopes up for the city of Detroit. The city is racist, the schools are beyond pathetic, the city council is a circus act, and no self-respecting, up-and-coming businesses have any incentive to headquarter within the city.

There is nothing great about Detroit. I used to try and convince myself that the city really isn't what it's made out to be, and that there are areas where the city has some potential. But then all I have to do is go to a mediocre city like Baltimore, Knoxville, Minneapolis, or Cincinnati--all of which there is far more to do--to remind myself how much of a wasteland Detroit really is.

[WTFchris]

San Diego is nice. Went there for a conference. If I didn't already live in a nicer place I would think about SD.

[Timone]

I have a cousin that lives out there. Don't talk to him, though.

It's also the hometown of someone we know very well.

[Uncle Mxy]

I can see the news reports now...

"I tripped over two dead bodies before breakfast. Looks like it'll be a slow day."

[geerussell]

Youngstown, Ohio has the right idea.

For decades the city tried to stem the number of people moving away. Then city planners decided to take a different approach - accept being smaller and clear away clutter.

Millions of tax dollars are being spent to demolish vacant houses and buildings and open up green space - redefining the tough, blue-collar environment of the gritty city so that parks may grow, crime may drop and property values may rise, city officials hope.

The idea is that if Youngstown becomes more livable, job and population numbers may stabilize or grow. The city estimates that it has lost more than 40,000 manufacturing jobs. The population is about 82,000, about half of what it was some 40 years ago.

THIS. Bulldozing half the city is radical but Detroit needs to accept that a city built for 2 million can't survive with less than half that remaining. The only way to break out of the death spiral is to consolidate what's left and hope to grow organically from a solid base.

[b-diddy]

there was a story in the freep recently about this being discussed by actual city officials (forget who). its an idea discussed forever by everyone but the people in charge.

3 reasons i'd bet against it happening:

1) it involves doing something.
2) a lot of the vacant property of detroit is either publicly owned, or privately owned by public officials. and they dont want to take a hit by selling low on their real estate investments (yea right...).
3) i 100% put stock in the theory that detroiters dont want a better city.

[Uncle Mxy]

Youngstown, Ohio has the right idea.



THIS. Bulldozing half the city is radical but Detroit needs to accept that a city built for 2 million can't survive with less than half that remaining. The only way to break out of the death spiral is to consolidate what's left and hope to grow organically from a solid base.

Youngstown's more like Flint or Pontiac than Detroit, and it's not at all clear that what it's doing will actually work. I wouldn't cite it as a great example of what Detroit should do.