The Suburbs Alliance is really unique in its organizational culture. As I previously mentioned in my last blog, the actual space of the Suburbs Alliance is very open, colorful, and well lit. This working environment fosters a culture of collaboration, which the Suburbs Alliance is big on.
For example every Monday we have a staff meeting for two hours to share updates and what we need help on for the week. On Tuesdays from 1-5, we have “All hands” which is when everyone works on a project together. Last week, “All-hands” focused on redefining our areas of work, as we make our transition to becoming a more policy oriented organization. This past “All hands” we brainstormed mission statements, new names for the Suburbs Alliance and discussed our vision for the new organization. Our (the other interns and myself) opinions were valued; even know we’ve only been at the organization for three weeks.
I’m so impressed by the Suburb Alliance’s teamwork mentality because I’ve never worked in an office building where teamwork was emphasized so much. My previous internships have been very focused on individual progress and achievements, and as a result there was much less collaboration due to the company’s hierarchal structure. The physical office design of these companies reflected their hierarchal structure: the boss’s office was the biggest and furthest away from his employees, the assistant manager’s office was closest to the boss’s, and the rest of the employees worked on another floor. Contrarily to my previous internship experiences, us interns have had dinner with our boss twice, just for fun and to get to know him better.
Though I do not feel like I’ve had the opportunity to explore Detroit as much as I would like, I have made a few observations. One in particular is how spread out the city seems to be. Detroit is undoubtedly a car city. There are so many unoccupied buildings and not so many clusters of restaurants and shops. It almost seems necessary to have a car to get to the super market, drug store, bank etc. In addition to how spread out the city is Detroit seems to be pretty vacant throughout the day. I expected to see more people out and about, but perhaps the geography of the city has something to do with the lack of people outside. Lastly, I’m shocked by the number of people who cross all 8 lanes of Woodward in the middle of the road. It seems like hardly any Detroiters use crosswalks. I’m intrigued as to why that is—are the cross walks too far apart? In inconvenient locations? Or do they not change at a fast enough pace? All the reason more why we need some Bus Rapid Transit down Woodward to make for easier pedestrian access, mobility, and economic development.
Until next time,
Julia
