Week 10

There were two big reasons I wanted to work in Detroit this summer.

First, I was attracted to the pride that people had in Detroit.  There is so much history in Detroit that makes each neighborhood unique.  I don’t consider myself to have a hometown.  I say I am from Iowa, but I only lived there for 5 years.  When people are from Detroit, they let you know it- being from Detroit is an important part of their identity.  I don’t share that identity, but I wanted to understand it and know what it felt like to be in a community that deeply cares for their city.  Even though I am an outsider in Southwest, the community makes me feel valued and welcomed.  My contract to work at SDBA is being extended for an undetermined period of time.  I want to work more in the city in the future, but I am having an internal struggle about whether or not that is best for the city.  The combination of having moved several times growing up and my personality that desires new experiences makes me want to never stay in one place for long.  It’s definitely a weird quirk of mine.  I won’t buy books because I don’t want to have to lug them around when I move.  I will only own enough stuff so that it all fits in my car.  So does someone like me belong in Detroit?  I’m not sure.  I feel like my work at SDBA has had a positive impact, but how do I measure that exactly?  These are topics that I regularly analyze and talk about.

Second, I thought that because there was so much need for work in the city, that even I could have an impact as an intern.  In my first blog post, I mostly wrote about development of the Vernor Crossing market, public plaza, and retail space that I thought I would be working on. After only 3 weeks in, the focus of my work was changed to be about completely different projects and I am glad that switch happened.  The Vernor Crossing Project is truly remarkable, but I preferred my work on other projects because they had a closer end-goal and more tangible accomplishments.

The work that people do at my organization is astounding.  SDBA practically does the city’s job and then some.  But projects take YEARS to complete, and visible results may take even longer.  The results may not even BE what the community wanted or what the planners had in mind because we cannot predict the future.  The nature of the work in this field has made me analyze my desire to be an urban planner.  Fortunately, I have several coworkers to discuss my internal struggles with and they offer me helpful and inspiring advice.

I feel as though I have learned more this summer than I did during an entire semester at school.  I think I could drop out right now and continue working and learning on the job at SDBA, but societal expectations will keep me in school to earn a degree.  This job will definitely impact the choices I make when I go back to school.  I have decided that I need to learn how to graphic design and code because those skills will be beneficial to any field.

Also in my first blog post, I talked about how I wanted to see as much of the city as I can.  I would estimate that I biked about 12 miles a day, and in that time I got to see what people never think of when they imagine Detroit.  It pisses me off when people lump all of Detroit together, when it is incredibly diverse and unique, and the assets and challenges of each neighborhood are the same way.  Because of this, I am presenting some of my favorites places during our final ceremony.  I feel bad because I didn’t go everywhere in the city, but I am glad that I at least got to experience several.