During the second week of the program, Rebecca, Ashley and I were walking back from the Whole Foods on Woodward when a lady on the street asked us for 50 cents for cigarettes. We declined, and she proceeded to call us (in a demeaning tone) yuppies and hipsters. “Like hell you can’t spare 50 cents… shopping at Whole Foods!!” Interactions such as this one have made me contemplate the city dynamics in Detroit, and that, precisely, is the focus of this blog entry.
Detroit has an odd dynamic between its residents: young urban professionals/artists versus struggling long-time residents. When I think of Detroit, two cities come to mind; the flourishing Midtown /Corktown/Downtown areas and the post-industrial vacant dystopian regions.
A lot of people at my organization complain about the “gentry,” who are driving up rent prices and exploiting Detroit. Gentrification has become an issue in Detroit over the past few years as private investors have pumped money into redevelopment plans (primarily in the areas that I mentioned above). These wealthy enclaves are relatively safe due to private security and they boast microbreweries, art galleries and coffee shops. The “yuppie renaissance” in the Motor City hasn’t benefited the majority of residents in the city. Detroit’s schools are still suffering, the population continues to decease, and the redevelopment hasn’t reached most neighborhoods. Some urban planners maintain that the way to rejuvenate the city is by attracting young, creative professionals; however this “trickle-down urbanism” only helps a select few, most of who are not long-term residents. Everyone in this city deserves a chance to succeed, but many are forgone that opportunity due to structural impediments such as housing discrimination.
The other side of Detroit is populated by residents who have survived for decades in increasingly uninhabitable areas. Besides a few magnet schools such as Renaissance, Cass Tech and Detroit School of Arts, Detroit Public Schools are consistently underperforming at both the state and national level, one of the many reasons families have moved out to the suburbs. Running water, a human right, has systematically been cut off for residents who can’t afford their water bills, and many Detroiters lack access to fresh produce.
Detroit is the most segregated city in America:
The red dots show white people, blue is black, orange is Hispanic, green is Asian, and yellow is other, according to maps of 2010 Census data by Eric Fischer.
Rather than growing closer during its post-bankruptcy era, I fear that Detroit will become even more separate and unequal. However some grassroots initiates give me hope in the future. I have a lot of respect for Detroiters. I think they are do-it-yourself kind of people. Residents have become jaded and tired of waiting for change to come, so they have begun their own projects in the city; many neighborhoods have put together their own form of night-watch security; community gardens are sprouting up around the city; and I have seen/heard of a large number of community development corporations and other innovative non-profits across the city.
For now, Detroit’s population will continue to bleed unless more emphasis is placed upon the neighborhoods, where most residents live instead of the central 7.2 square miles.
