This week I was lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of a historic moment in Detroit when my organization attended Ford’s announcement of their plans for Detroit Central Station. Detroit Central Station is located in Corktown, just to the north of Southwest Detroit where SDEV is housed. This is so important because to so many people Detroit Central Station is an icon of Detroit. I remember growing up and driving down 75 and one of the first things you see is Detroit Central Station and that’s when you know you’re in Detroit. As long as I can remember it has been abandoned, falling into disrepair. I can hardly believe this symbolic monument is going to be transformed.
Yesterday we stood among a crowd of Ford employees, media, and Detroit residents while Bill Ford explained their intention to transform Detroit Central Station into a large campus to develop the future of the automotive industry. Things like self-driving cars and new, cleaner fuel options. He explained that they plan to create 5,000 jobs and bring them to Detroit.
I wonder what this will mean for the people living in Corktown and Southwest Detroit. I wonder how different Michigan Avenue will look one, five, ten years from now. I remember being in highschool hearing about the changes happening in Detroit. Lots of people said Detroit would never again be what it once was. With Ford moving downtown I don’t think I will be hearing that anymore. I struggle with the idea that this is a huge step in bringing so many jobs to Detroit and in that way it is a good thing, but on the other hand I’m scared for what will happen to the people that are already here. One of my coworkers grew up in Southwest Detroit and lamented the constant use words like ‘comeback’ and ‘return of Detroit’.
“What do they ‘bringing people back downtown’? There are already people downtown..I’ve been here the whole time”
The one thing that is undeniable is that with Ford moving in to Detroit Central Station it really feels that Detroit has come to a point of no return. It feels like businesses have decided that Detroit is worth the bet and I’m sure that Ford will not be the last big company to move in and push a ‘New Detroit’. I’m scared for what that means for the people already here, but I’m comforted by the fact that there are amazing people living in these communities who have been taking care of Detroit all along and won’t stop any time soon.
Wow, the “bringing people back downtown” mentality is exactly what How to Kill a City called attention to and has been making me think about all the time. I haven’t grown up here so finding out about Ford’s renovation of the Detroit Central Station maybe isn’t as stunning or emotional to me, but I’ve been hearing that it’s shocking to a lot of Detroiters. I agree with your double-edged reactions, that its progress in some ways and scary in others, and I really agree that people who care about Detroit’s communities now will continue to protect them and do their best.