Dear Haley,
It has been a whirlwind of a first week in Detroit. So many explorations have already been accomplished; biking the Dequindre Cut, visiting Belle Isle, participating in a Slow Roll, walking the Riverfront, checking out Ponyride, eating Mexican food in Mexican town, plus more. But with each adventure, I find something new that I want to check out. To ensure that I get to see every inch of Detroit that I can possibly find, I have created a giant summer bucket list that fills an entire sheet of poster board. Hopefully I can check off each item!
The whole internship gang has really bonded through these events. Michael told me that I was the “mom” of the group because everywhere we go I make everyone get together for a group photo. I am just trying to capture all of the special moments! Here are a few of the squad pics I forced everyone to pose for:
Work has been been a mixture of dull and eventful. I spend some of my time frustrated with no work to do, but then some of my time doing really exciting work or going to events. The project I am working on is called Vernor Crossing, which is a lot Southwest Detroit Business Association wants to develop to include green space, improved bike infrastructure, an open market, a plaza, an incubator, and housing. I believe that developing this space would have a positive impact on the community in multiple ways. More green space is desperately needed on Vernor and more trees could help clean the air from industrial pollutants. An open market could create an environment similar to Eastern Market that serves the west side of Detroit and attract new customers to support local businesses. The incubator is needed because Southwest is an extremely entrepreneurial area with many micro-businesses and “side-hustles” operating out of people’s homes. Growing these small businesses would help grow the economy in Southwest and support residents. Finally, more affordable and safe housing options are needed in Southwest. Here are some pictures comparing what the lot is right now and what it could be if it is developed:
To get ideas of what the incubator could be, I got to visit two other incubators, Pony Ride and the Russell Industrial Center. Both places were incredibly cool and Southwest could definitely use spaces like this to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses. Here’s a picture of both maker spaces:
Other than that I have been able to attend a couple of community events. I went to the grand opening of Southwest’s self-policing station called crime stoppers and a new park on MLK avenue.
